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Local News/Northwest News Network Primary Format : News Language : English Also Listed as: News City : Pullman State/Province : WA Country : USA Region : NA User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: news | View this Podcast on a Google Map. Podcast iTunes Link Text Only listing of Northwest News Network Podcasts Methings.com listings of Northwest News Network Podcasts If you like this podcast, you might also like:

Oregon Tax Package Fails, Could be Brought Back A 730-million dollar budget balancing tax package is suddenly in jeopardy in Salem. One of the tax bills failed on the floor of the Oregon Senate today. The surprise development came down to one vote. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | University of Idaho Starts Inquiry on Sheep Research The University of Idaho has begun an investigation into allegations that its veterinary center kept quiet about research into disease transmission among sheep. The revelation is important because of the debate about domestic sheep grazing on public land in the Northwest. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | New Telephone Scam Targets Grandparents It’s being dubbed the “Grandparent Scam” and the target is Idaho seniors. The Idaho Attorney General’s office reports a growing number of complaints about this new telephone scam. Boise State Radio’s Don Wimberly has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lawmakers Give Initial Approval Soccer Stadium Financing The Oregon House today approved a five million dollar grant to help renovate a minor league baseball park into a soccer stadium. The money would come from income taxes paid by players and staff of the team. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Catch Rainbow Trout Win Cash State officials are now offering a big cash incentive to anglers who catch rainbow trout. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick explains why. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | StoryCorps Wenatchee: Harriet Bullitt and Wilfred Woods The retired publisher of the Wenatchee World newspaper, Wilfred Woods, told his friend Harriet Bullitt about the role played in the creation of the dam by his father and the founder of the paper, Rufus Woods Sr. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Feds Halt Deportation of Widowed Immigrants Years of work by a Portland immigration lawyer are paying off. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano granted a reprieve today. It applies to foreign born spouses of American citizens who face deportation after their partner’s death. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon House Passes Two Major Tax Measures Corporations and people in upper income brackets would pay more income tax under a pair of bills narrowly approved today in the Oregon House. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Study: Wildfire Mitigation Work Misdirected A scientific review published today says only a small fraction of the federal efforts to reduce fire danger in the West is happening near the homes that face the greatest risk. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Community Colleges Consider Financial Emergency Declaration The community and technical college system may declare a “financial emergency.” It would allow the college presidents to fast-track lay-offs of full-time and even tenured faculty. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The New Face of Northwest’s Uninsured: Middle Class As more-and-more people lose their jobs, the new face of the uninsured has become middle-income Americans. Correspondent Austin Jenkins profiles a Northwest woman who’s out-of-work and uninsured. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Cruise Ships to be Used as Lodging for Vancouver Olympics Hotel rooms are so scarce for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver next February that four cruise ships have been chartered to add temporary rooms during the Games. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Woman Dies of Swine Flu Oregon saw its first death from the H1N1 virus, or swine flu. Correspondent Jes Burns has the details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Bill Would Result in Fewer Mandatory Workplace Meetings Oregon Senate lawmakers approved a measure to prevent employers from requiring their workers to attend meetings related to religious or political matters. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Give Initial Approval to Health Care Expansion Even as the state budget is under stress, Oregon is one step closer to adding people to state funded health insurance under a bill approved today in the Oregon House. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Number of Washington Unisured Keep Growing As of April this year, the U-S Bureau of Labor Statistics reports Washington’s unemployment numbers hovering just below double-digits, at nine percent. Consequently, the state’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner says the number of people without health insurance has spiked over the past year. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Republican Reacts to Basic Health Plan Higher Premiums Washington state will not cut 40-thousand people off state-subsidized healthcare as was expected. Instead, the state will impose higher premiums and co-pays on Basic Health Plan enrollees. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Cherry Harvest to be Big, a Little Late The Northwest cherry harvest will begin next week, a little later than usual. Andrew Willis from the Northwest Cherry Growers says the cool spring has finally given way to summer-like weather. He says that’s allowing the already-formed fruit to ripen. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | What's the Future for the Umatilla Chemical Depot? It’s unusual for 20,000 acres of undeveloped land to become suddenly available for new use. But discussions are underway about what to do with a valuable parcel near the Columbia River in eastern Oregon. The only trouble is it’s been home to 12% of the nation’s chemical weapons. Correspondent Anna King has the story. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Basic Health Plan Cuts to be Announced Today Officials in Washington state will announce later this morning how they plan to reduce the number of people on the Basic Health Plan by $40,000 in order to close a $9 billion budget gap. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Last Push for Digital TV Conversion Starts The U.S. officially converts to digital television on Friday, June 12. The Federal Communications Commission and community groups are working to make sure all Northwest viewers will be able to pick up the new signals. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | OR Bills on Ethanol, Beer and Driving While Using Cell Phones on the Fence As the end of the Oregon legislative session draws near, many bills are getting left behind as lawmakes try to balance the budget. Correspondent Chris Lehman looks at a few. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Jobs and Revenues Will Lag as WA Economy Recovers Washington state coffers won’t start filling back up again until late 2010. That’s the prediction from the state’s chief economic forecaster. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Wolves in Washington Slowly Gain Presence Washington’s wolf population is quietly rebuilding. The state is doing what Idaho and Oregon have already done: writing a plan for how to manage wolves. Doug Nadvornick takes us to a valley where residents are adjusting to life with wolves nearby. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Chief Economist Predicts Recovery, But Slow Washington state tax revenues won’t start to bounce back until late 2010. That’s the word today from the state’s chief economic forecaster. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Budget Cuts Mean Shift in Prison Guard Training Some Oregon prison guards are objecting to a plan to de-centralize training for new recruits. Supporters say the move will save more than eight million dollars and won’t harm safety. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Unemployment Rate Hits 22 Year High State Labor Department spokesman Bob Fick says the rate went up .8 of a percentage point in May. He says that came as a surprise because April’s jobless rate was unchanged. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lawmakers Vote to Place New Restrictions on Towing Companies Oregon lawmakers voted today to limit when towing companies can make off with your vehicle. The measure would require tow truck drivers to take a photo proving that any car they tow is parked improperly. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Eastern Washington’s Energy Northwest Considers Building New Nuclear Plant Twenty five Northwest public utilities are considering whether to pony up 25-thousand dollars each to study the possibility of a new nuclear power plant. What’s surprising is the request comes from Energy Northwest. That’s the company, renamed now, that brought the Northwest the failed WPPSS “Whoops” project back in the 1970s and 80s. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Concerns as WA Prepares to Cut 9400 Offenders From Community Supervision Washington state is preparing to stop supervising nearly 10-thousand ex-cons on probation. That’s because of budget cuts - and a policy decision to focus on the highest-risk probationers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon’s Umatilla Army Depot Starts Destroying Mustard Gas The last nasty chemical weapon that remains at Umatilla Chemical Depot in eastern Oregon is mustard blister agent. The U.S. Army just got the go ahead from the State of Oregon to start destroying more than 2,000 massive containers of the chemical weapon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Two Major Tax Bills Moving in Salem Two major tax bills aimed at balancing Oregon’s budget got their first official stamp of legislative approval today. The measures would increase taxes on corporations and upper income earners. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lawmakers Back off Nickel Grab Oregon lawmakers are backing off an attempt to divert millions of dollars of unredeemed bottle deposits into state coffers. But an amended version of the bill would shed light on how much money drink distributors collect. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Blaine Border X-Ray Nabs Two Illegal Stowaways Customs and Border Protection officers spotted the stowaways as the train passed through the border on Sunday. An X-ray scanner picked up the outlines of their bodies. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Secretary of State Concerned About Plan to “Out” Referendum Petition Signers Opponents of Washington’s newest gay domestic partnership law plan to start gathering signatures this week. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State’s office is now voicing concern about a plan by gay rights activists to publish the names of petition signers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fiat/Chrysler to Obey State ‘Lemon Laws’ The Chrysler bankruptcy won’t affect Chrysler owners in the Northwest who try to use their states’ “Lemon Laws” to get their cars fixed. State attorneys general announced today they have reached an agreement with the owners of the new company. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Klamath Tribal Members Share Their History In the early part of the twentieth century, the Klamath tribes were one of the few success stories of the reservation era until the reservations were taken from them. Correspondent Andrew Bartholomew brings us an audio postcard from tribal members. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Battle Over Grey Wolves Heads to Federal Court The howling is far from over. The battle over whether wolves in Idaho and Montana should be put back on the federal endangered species list is heading to federal court. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Wolf Recovery Plan Challenged Again Conservation groups and the state of Wyoming are challenging the Obama administration’s decision to end federal protection for Rocky Mountain wolves. The wolves went off the list last month. The two parties each filed lawsuits today, but for very different reasons. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Puppy Mill Bill Advances to Governor’s Desk Oregon dog breeders face new regulations under a bill approved today in the Oregon Legislature. The law is aimed at making sure dog breeders treat their animals humanely. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | ID Senator Crapo Calls for Salmon Recovery Discussions Idaho Senator Mike Crapo says if settlement discussions produce a consensus that the Snake River Dams need to be removed for salmon recovery he would support it Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Boardman Power Plant Would Have to Reduce Pollution Under New Plan, Enviros Say it’s Not Enough A new proposal from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality would cut back smog from Oregon’s only coal-fired power plant. Pollution from the facility has been found to reach as far away as Mount Rainier. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Renters Could Get Reprieve if Rental Unit is Sold in Foreclosure Renters in Oregon could get a temporary reprieve from their landlords’ financial problems. The Oregon House today approved a measure that gives renters at least 30 days to move after the unit they’ve been living in is sold in a foreclosure proceeding. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Restaurant Menu Labeling Bill Headed to Governor’s Desk Lawmakers in the Oregon Senate today approved a bill that would require chain restaurants to post information on calories beside all items on the menu. The law would only apply to restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Waiting List For WA Health Insurance Explodes as Deep Cuts Loom It’s an irony not lost on Washington state officials. Just as they’re preparing to cut 40-thousand people from state-subsidized healthcare, the waiting list for that very program is exploding. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho School Districts Declare Emergencies About a dozen Idaho school districts have declared financial emergencies as the state cuts their funding. Under a new state law, the declaration means districts can renegotiate labor contracts. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU Postpones Target Date for Budget Plans Washington State University says it will announce its final budget decisions by mid-June. Correspondent Glenn Mosley explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Yakama Elder Keeps Her Native Language Alive It’s not that often a person in their 80s pursues a doctorate. That’s what Virginia Beavert is doing at the University of Oregon. The Yakama elder is studying linguistics and teaching her native language Sahaptin. Correspondent Rachael McDonald reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fungus May Help Eradicate Invasive Cheatgrass in NW One of the most dangerous fuels for wildfires across the West is cheatgrass. It’s hard to kill and spreads rapidly. Now, scientists are testing a new biological control called the Black Fingers of Death. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gas Tax and Vehicle Fees Win Final Approval Beginning in 2011, Oregon drivers could pay 6 cents more for a gallon of gas. A bill approved today by the Oregon state Senate would also raise vehicle fees. Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski plans to sign the massive transportation bill, now that lawmakers have given the final nod. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon House Votes to Close Blind School The Oregon House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly today to close the state's School for the Blind, and sell the property. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lost Boys of Sudan Among WA Foster Scholarship Recipients It’s been a harrowing journey for two “Lost Boys of Sudan” who came to Washington state nearly four years ago. Today they will be among 44 Washington foster youth to receive scholarships to attend college. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Whitman County Reports First Swine Flu Case A Washington State University student is the first confirmed case of swine flu in Whitman County. Dr. Timothy Moody of the County Health Department says the student went to the university Health and Wellness Service on May 21st. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Headed Toward Session of Multiple Tax Increases Majority Democrats in the Oregon legislature say they have the momentum and votes to impose multiple tax hikes to balance the books and expand some state services. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | 371 Dogs Extricated from Eastern Washington Puppy Mill Operation Officials in Benton County, Washington and the National Humane Society are trying to care for 371 dogs that were rescued from a puppy mill operation in Kennewick. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Rare Case: Nurse Pleads Guilty to Drug Tampering A nurse from Fall City, WA has pleaded guilty in a rare case of prescription drug tampering. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Atheist Ad Campaign Targets Moscow, Idaho The American Humanist Association is running bus and billboard ads in selected cities around the country. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports the organization picked Moscow, Idaho for its unique mix of people. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hospital Tax Would Insure Thousands of Oregonians Oregon lawmakers say they've reached a deal with hospitals that could expand health coverage to 60,000 adults and 80,000 children. Funding for the plan would come from a tax increase on commercial insurance premiums and on hospitals themselves Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | EPA Fines North Idaho Mine for Water Quality Violations The Environmental Protection Agency is levying a big fine against a north Idaho mine: 177-thousand dollars. Hecla Mining’s Lucky Friday Mine extracted silver, lead and zinc. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Urbanization is for the Birds A long-term research project is pecking some holes in the conventional wisdom about the environmental effects of suburban sprawl on birds. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | OR Budget Cuts Could Mean Fewer Forest Monitors Timber companies in Oregon must follow strict rules when they harvest trees. But will anyone follow those rules if no one is around to enforce them? Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Farmers Frustrated with U.S. Cuba Trade Restrictions Idaho Senator Mike Crapo sees dollar signs every time he thinks of Cuba. He’s introduced a bill to ease trade restrictions with the island nation. Correspondent Adam Cotterell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Synergy Systems in Redmond WA Closes An Alaska Native corporation has shut down one of its Pacific Northwest subsidiaries. Officials say Redmond, Washington-based Synergy Systems lost out to the recession. Correspondent Ed Schoenfeld reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Changes How It Monitors Swine Flu The Washington State Department of Health is changing how it monitors possible cases of H-1-N-1 swine Flu. Now that the outbreak seems to be mild, officials are focusing their attention on people who have been hospitalized and fatal cases. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU Budget Discussions Coming to an End A monthlong series of discussions about the budget at Washington State University is nearing an end. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Congress Rubber Stamps Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail In late March Congress authorized the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. It spans four states. The bill means many historic sites in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana will be enhanced by the National Park Service and private groups. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Power Must Now Sell it's Green Tags to Lower Rates Being green or saving money, it’s a tug-of-war Idaho Power is very familiar with. Idaho’s largest utility is constantly being pulled back and forth by its customers, shareholders, board, and government regulators. The most recent round appears to be pulling the company toward the saving money side. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sea Lions and Trappers Disengage Oregon and Washington wildlife agents are dismantling their sea lion traps below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. The states think the trapping, and ten executions, reduced the predation on this year’s spring salmon run. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Spokane Hospital to Stop Taking Serious Trauma Cases Several Washington hospitals have given up advanced trauma care in the last few years. A Spokane medical center is the latest to say it will stop treating critically injured victims from incidents like car accidents or shootings. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon House Votes to Raise Taxes and Fees for Roads A gas tax increase to modernize Oregon roads has cleared a major speed bump in Salem. The Oregon House approved the 300 million dollar a year measure today. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Our Northwest Series: Ceramic Cements In Northwest Public Radio’s Our Northwest Building Green, Sueann Ramella reports on an ancient building material which competes with concrete, and may be easy on the environment. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Federal Officials Review Plans for Threatened Salmon Behind Closed Doors Top federal environmental leaders were in closed-door meetings in Portland to review plans for threatened salmon in the Columbia River. Rob Manning reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Environmental Groups Decry Oregon Transportation Package A transportation bill pending in the Oregon Legislature is attracting an unusual mix of critics. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports, Republicans don’t like the taxes and environmentalists don’t like the heavy emphasis on roads. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Scientists Work to Track Tiny Salmon Down Columbia River to Ocean Northwest scientists hope new technologies can help them use 3-D to track salmon. Just as scientists use radio collars to track wolves, now they are using Cherrio-sized sonic tags to monitor tiny juvenile salmon. The tags help researchers develop 3-D animations to plot the fish’s movements. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is Initially Impressed With Supreme Court Nominee Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, says he’s impressed by President Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor for nomination to the Supreme Court. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Couples Disappointed that Gay Marriage Ban Upheld in California News that the California Supreme Court has upheld a ban on gay marriage has saddened many same-sex couples in the Northwest. Some of them were recently married in the Golden State. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | University of Idaho Plans on Agriculture Budget Cuts The University of Idaho will wait utnil December to announce a plan to restructure the Agriculture and Life Sciences budget. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Ground Broken at New Veterans’ Cemetery Near Spokane Washington will break ground today on its first state-run cemetery for veterans. The grounds will stretch across 80 acres near the town of Medical Lake, near Spokane. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Lethal Injection Trial Expected to End this Week Lawyers for death row inmates in Washington state hope this will be the week they convince a judge to block the use of lethal injection as a form of capital punishment. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Waste-to-energy Firm Hooks Up with Big Trash Hauler A small Northwest company has scored a breakthrough deal to deploy its waste-to-energy technology more widely. Bend, Oregon-based InEnTec L-L-C announced it’s creating a joint venture with the nation’s biggest trash hauler, Waste Management Inc. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gas Tax Increase Could Fuel Oregon Highway Construction Memorial Day weekend is a time when many people in the Northwest hit the road to the beach or the mountains. Lawmakers in Oregon say many of their state’s roads just aren’t good enough for hauling all those people and products. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Gas Tax Increase Moves Forward Oregon lawmakers are moving ahead with a 300 million dollar transportation package. The bill is more modest than what Governor Ted Kulongoski proposed last fall, but the measure voted out of committee today is designed to appeal to tax-wary Republicans. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Vancouver Olympics Sponsors Hang Tight Preparations for the 2010 Winter Olympics seem to be on track, but still the people of Vancouver fret about getting stuck with a bigger bill. Corporate sponsorships underpin the one-and-three-quarter billion dollar budget for the sports spectacle next February. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington Has First Death Under Assisted Suicide Law A cancer patient from Sequim has become the first person to use Washington’s new assisted suicide law to hasten her death. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | NW Environmentalists Differ on Collaborative Projects For the first time in years, conservation groups see a real chance to enact bills that had received cold receptions. Some of those groups are pushing hard to get as much as they can. Others are proceeding more cautiously. Correspondent Dough Nadvornick reports on those differences in environmentalists. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | TLC for Military Marriages The U-S spends billions on hardware to protect our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. What you may not know is how many millions the Pentagon is spending to protect a softer target here at home: Military marriages. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Spokane Group Wants Psychologists Investigated for Involvement in Detainee Torture An anti-war group in Spokane is urging the federal government to investigate whether two local psychologists should face criminal charges for their role in interrogating prisoners. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon School for the Blind Faces Possible Closure Supporters of the Oregon School for the Blind protested and lobbied, but Oregon lawmakers are still moving ahead with a plan to close the 136 year old institution. A measure that would shutter the School for the Blind cleared a legislative panel this morning. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington’s Lethal Injection Method on Trial How Washington state executes death row inmates is the subject of a four-day trial now underway in Olympia. Testimony today featured a condemned killer. At issue is whether the state’s lethal injection protocols ensure a painless death. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Climate Change Hearing Draws Hundreds in Seattle A hearing today on climate change drew several hundred people to Seattle's waterfront. Many came to testify to the Environmental Protection Agency about its proposal to regulate greenhouse gasses. The EPA recently found that carbon dioxide and other gasses contribute to global warming and threaten public health. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Reaction to New BIA Chief Mixed Larry EchoHawk could be sworn in as the head of the U-S Bureau of Indian Affairs as early as tomorrow. The Utah law professor is Idaho’s former attorney general. He is a Mormon and a Native American. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Legislature Approves Ban On Phosphates In Dishwasher Soap Governor Kulongoski plans to sign the Oregon Legislature's bill on dishwasher detergent. The measure would ban the sale of dishwasher soap that contains more than point-five percent phosphorous starting next year. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Our Northwest: Xeriscaping to Save Water Spring is here and the garden is calling. Often, we answer the call with fertilizers and lots of water. But many people are looking for green alternatives to landscaping. Sueann Ramella reports on a green alternative many gardeners are excited about: Xeriscaping. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Our Northwest Series: Building with Wood Composite Materials You can huff and puff and not blow down the house made of straw - if you use straw-based boards. Sueann Ramella reports on sustainable building materials in our series, Our Northwest. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon State Workers Brace for Layoffs If government stimulus money is aimed at giving the economy a boost, then government layoffs could have the opposite effect. As Oregon lawmakers hash out the details of the state’s next two-year budget, one thing seems certain: Many public employees will lose their jobs. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Voters in Springfield, Oregon Reject Gas Tax Springfield voters rejected a measure Tuesday that would have added a 2 cent tax to every gallon of gas. The funds were meant to fund street maintenance. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Power Shareholders Want Carbon Reduction Goals A group of shareholders in Idaho Power wants the utility to create specific plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Those shareholders will present their request tomorrow at the company’s annual stockholder meeting in Boise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Sues Over $100M Lehman Bros Loss The collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers cost Washington’s retirement system more than 100-million dollars. Now the state is suing in an effort to recoup some of those losses. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | A Warning about Fake Charities from Washington State Attorney General and Sec. of State The Washington attorney general and secretary of state have issued a warning about dozens of dubious charities and their fundraisers. Many groups claim to raise money for police, firefighters and veterans while keeping most of the money for themselves. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon House Approves Signature Gathering Restrictions People who gather signatures to get initiatives on the Oregon ballot would face new restrictions under a bill moving through the Legislature. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Alaska Air Shareholders Get“Say on Pay” Alaska Air Group became one of the first public companies in the nation to give shareholders a voice on executive pay. Stockholders at the airline’s annual meeting overwhelmingly ratified the pay package for the company’s top executives. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Signs 2 Year Budget; Restores Funding to State Auditor Washington Governor Chris Gregoire has signed into law a new state operating budget that spends 31-billion dollars over the next two years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA CPS Promises Changes in Colville; Prosecutor Says It’s Not Enough A follow up now to a story we brought you last week about Child Protective Services in Northeast Washington.State officials say they will take immediate action to improve services in the wake of a critical Ombudsman’s report. It found a breakdown in communication is putting children and families at risk. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington State Unemployment Holds Steady in April Unemployment in Washington State stayed the same betweenMarch and April. The rate held steady at nine-point-one percent the state reported today. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Budget Writers Unveil Proposal $2 billion in cuts to state services. $800 million in higher taxes. Those are the key elements to the long-awaited spending plan unveiled Monday in the Oregon Legislature. Correspondent Chris Lehman explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Birders Draw Attention to Southern Idaho’s Raptors This is the time of year when serious bird watchers across the Northwest pull out their binoculars. In southern Idaho, one group is trying to turn wild birds into tourist attractions. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hazing Seal Lions to Protetct Salmon Since early March, the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho have had federal permission to kill sea lions that prey on endangered salmon in the Columbia River. But there's also an effort to haze sealions away from salmon. Correspondent Sadie Babits reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gregoire Signs "Everything But Marriage" Bill A new law in Washington State will soon give gay and lesbian couples all the same rights and benefits as married couples, except marriage. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Budget Proposal Contains $2 Billion in Cuts Legislative budget writers in Oregon released a spending plan that would result in widespread layoffs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax hikes. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Legislative Budget Writers Release “Lean” Budget Budget writers in the Oregon Legislature released a spending plan today that would cut about 17-hundred state jobs and rely on 800 million dollars in new taxes. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Richland Community Responds to Article about Hanford in Washington Federal stimulus money is starting to make its way to Hanford contractors. That’s lead to increased scrutiny into how those companies do business. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | A Bill in Congress Could Affect Oregon and Washington Climate Change Plans Congress is working on a bill that has major implications for Oregon and Washington's plans to fight climate change. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Takes Step Toward Universal Healthcare with Bill Signing In the midst of deep budget cuts, Washington state is embracing a bold goal: make “affordable” heath care available to all its citizens by 2014. The call for universal health coverage is part of a bill Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law today. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | New Domestic Partnership Bill Signed by Gregoire A new law in Washington State will soon give gay and lesbian couples all the same rights and benefits as married couples, except marriage. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Get First Look at Budget The battle lines will be drawn in Salem today. Legislative budget writers are set to issue a spending plan for the next two years. It comes as the state faces a $3.9 billion budget deficit. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Mt. St. Helens Sleeps on 29th Anniversary of Eruption It's been 29 years since Mt. St. Helens erupted. Correspondent Tom Banse visted the mountain to check on how peacefully the volcano slumbers today. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | High Schoolers See Mt. St. Helen's Close Up The Johnston Ridge Observatory reopens for the season on Sunday, allowing visitors once again to get up close and personal with Mount St. Helens. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Minnick Urges ID Graduates to Be Leaders Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick told graduates of the University of Idaho that he hoped they would become leaders in their communities. Correspondent Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Revenue Outlook Better Than Expected Call it a small victory. The latest Oregon revenue forecast, released Friday, shows the state’s budget hole won’t be as large as lawmakers had feared. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Advisory Panel Opposes Elevating Mt. St. Helens to National Park A Congressional advisory committee isrecommending that Mount St. Helens remain under Forest Service control and not be elevated to a national park. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | U of I Cuts Budget by $11.7 Million The University of Idaho will cut 62 positions and close 35 academic programs as part of its budget reduction plans. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Barge Carrying Two Million Gallons of Gasoline Hits The Dalles Dam A barge carrying two million gallons of gasoline struck The Dalles Dam’s lock on the Columbia River early this morning. Washington State Ecology officials say no gas has leaked into the river yet. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Revenue Forecast Foreshadows Tough Choices Oregon lawmakers have the dreaded numbers in hand. State economists today released their highly anticipated revenue forecast. It shows a state budget deficit that’s in the neighborhood of four billion dollars. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Online Health Record Banks Launch in WA and OR Washington and Oregon are each developing what are known as online “health record banks.” Those allow people to create and maintain their own medical files. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports on one such project underway in Spokane. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Governor Not on Short List for US Supreme Court Washington Governor Chris Gregoire is not on the short-list for U.S. Supreme Court. Gregoire had been mentioned as a possible candidate after news of Justice David Souter’s retirement broke late last month. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Democrats Make Case for Tax Hikes On the eve of a potentially devastating revenue forecast, Oregon House Democrats are making their case for tax hikes. Lawmakers are facing a multi-billion dollar deficit as they prepare to craft a state budget for the next two years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | 1.5 Billion in Cuts Likely for Oregon Budget Leaders in the Oregon House say Oregonians should brace for one-point-five billion dollars worth of cuts to state services. Those include schools, social services, and public safety. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Taxes in the Mix as Salem Lawmakers Tackle Budget Oregon lawmakers are bracing for the bad news they’ve been anticipating for weeks. State economists will release the May revenue forecast today. It’s expected to contain deep cuts and tax increases. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Looking for a New Career? Consider Childhood Loves For many in the Northwest who have lost their jobs during this recession, the pink slips came as a surprise. But some have had time to plan, not just for new jobs, but for completely different careers. Such was the case for one former Spokane newspaper reporter who had an inkling she’d be laid off. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Leaks of Trace Amounts of Mustard Agent at Umatilla, Oregon Chemical Depot No one’s in danger, but this week there were two leaks of Trace amounts of mustard agent at the U.S. Army’s Chemical Weapons Depot in Umitalla, Oregon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fisheries Managers Adjust Chinook Fishing Seasons State fisheries agencies in the Northwest are adjusting fishing seasons in response to a lower than expected return of spring Chinook salmon. Today the Idaho Fish and Game Commission voted to change the limits on some waterways. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Growth in the Hispanic Population Locally Holding Fairly Steady The rapid growth of the Northwest’s Hispanic population shows few signs of abating, judging from new population estimates released by the Census Bureau. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | House Democrats Say One Point Five Billion in Cuts Likely Leaders in the Oregon House say Oregonians should brace for one-point-five billion dollars worth of cuts to state services. Those include schools, social services, and public safety. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Native Mill Succeeds in Down Economy The Warm Springs Indian Reservation Mill has found a niche market sending their timber to Japan. The plant provides much-needed jobs on the Warm Springs Reservation, where the unemployment rates runs at about 70%. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Drivers Swapping Out of Pricey Leases The poor economy and rising gas prices are driving more people to swap out of expensive car leases. A website that helps people transfer auto leases reports a double-digit increase in listings from the Northwest. Correspondent Tom Banse has our story. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | 2010 Vancouver Olympics Tickets For Sale in U.S Forty-thousand tickets for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics go on sale today for U-S winter sports fans. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Two Northwest Women Switched at Birth Become Celebrities Overnight This week two middle-aged women from the Northwest, who were switched at birth, have unexpectedly become media sensations. After the women learned of the mix-up they told their story to a small-town Oregon newspaper. After the story hit the AP wire this week, national news outlets have been clamoring for interviews ever since. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Senate Reverses Four Year Old Vote on Primaries It’s hard for politicians to say they made a mistake. But that’s what the Oregon Senate did today. Lawmakers there voted to overturn a four-year-old law that restricted who could nominate minor party candidates. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Teacher Layoffs Start in Washington This week, school districts across Washington are notifying teachers that they may not have jobs next fall. Seattle is expected to lay off more than 150. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Seeks Humane Way to Cut 40,000 People Off Basic Health The cuts were ordered by the legislature. The question now is what’s the most humane way to decide who keeps health coverage and who gets dropped. Healthcare experts grappled with that question at a meeting in Olympia today. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tribal Health Clinic Succeeds By Treating Non-Natives Years of bare-bones funding for the Indian Health Service has forced one Northwest tribe to go its own way. This week, we're taking a closer look at tribal economies. In our third installment, Amanda Loder, reports on how one reservation clinic has become a regional healthcare hub. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Funding Approved for Seattle's Largest Tunnel Highway The $2.4 billion tunnel will replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which was damaged in an earthquake in 2001. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Jury Convicts Man for Trying to Set Up Terror Training Camp in S. Oregon A federal jury today convicted a Lebanese born Swede on multiple charges of supporting terrorism, including trying to set up a training camp in rural Oregon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Democrats in Salem Eye Taxes to Balance the Budget Oregon lawmakers are bracing for what they expect to be a brutal revenue forecast this Friday. Majority Democrats say the only way to fill an expected four billion dollar budget gap will be to raise taxes. Meanwhile, Republican leaders said today they’re opposed to raising taxes to balance the budget. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hanford Leaders Debate Whether to Cocoon Reactors, or Tear Them Down Nine decrepit nuclear reactors sit like sentinels onthe banks of the Columbia River at Hanford. For years the Department of Energy has been working to cocoon, or seal up, the reactors for the next 75 years. Now, the feds are looking into the possibility of tearing down the reactors instead. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tribal Village Remodels but Poverty Remains The village of Celilo was falling apart until tribal members asked the Army Corp of Engineers to rebuild the community. While the constructions is almost complete, this native village remains a poor. Correspondent Sadie Babit reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Supporters Say National Guard Bill Gaining Momentum Now that 27 hundred National Guard troops have headed off for training in advance of a deployment to Iraq, an effort to limit Guard deployments from Oregon is getting new energy in Salem. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hanford Officials Take Their New Plan on the Road Officials at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation are shopping around a plan that would concentrate more cleanup efforts near the Columbia River. Public hearings are scheduled for this week in Seattle and Portland. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Child Welfare System in Colville Faces Criticism A new Ombudsman report is critical of the child welfare system in Colville, Washington. The report seems to confirm what community leaders have been saying for months. Austin Jenkins has this report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tribal Members Becoming Homeowners Despite Housing Bust Homeownership among Native Americans is significantly lower than the national average but the Umatilla Indian Reservation is hoping to change that with a program to help tribal members become first time home-buyers. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Eye Unclaimed Bottle Deposit Money Two lawmakers in Salem say Oregon should stake a claim on millions of dollars worth of unredeemed bottle deposits. The bill gets its first hearing today. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon National Guard Soldier Commits Suicide Outside Readiness Center An Oregon National Guard soldier committed suicide outside the Anderson Readiness Center in Salem. He was not slated for military deployment. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU Approves Tuition Hike Students attending Washington State University will have to dig a little deeper into their wallets starting this fall. WSU Regents approved tuition increases for each of the next two years. Correspondent Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Zoning Comes to the Ocean You’ve heard of land use planning to shape growth on land. Now it seems the great, wide ocean isn’t big enough for all the different interests that want a piece of it. The surge of wave power projects may be the final straw to bring zoning to the high seas. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon House Approves Energy Efficiency Bill Oregon’s carbon footprint would shrink under a bill narrowly approved today by the Oregon House. The measure would affect everything from the fuel you buy to the tires you drive on. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Jobless Rate Holds Steady On the same day the national unemployment rate rose to eigth point one percent, Idaho got relatively good news. Its jobless rate remained steady in April, at an even seven percent. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Montana Jury Acquits W.R. Grace Company A jury in Missoula, Montana has acquitted the W.R. Grace Company and three of its former executives. They were accused of knowingly exposing the residents of Libby, Montana to deadly asbestos for more than 25 years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Legistature Proposes to Increase Number of Uninsured Despite Economy Even in the face of a budget shortfall, the Oregon Legislature is developing a proposal to dramatically increase the number of people who are insured. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Neither Rain, Sleet, Snow or Budget Woes Keep Mail From Idaho Backcountry The U-S Postal Service has changed its mind about stopping airmail service to about 20 families that live in the mountains of central Idaho. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Considers Funding for Klamath Dam Removal Backers of a plan to fund removal of dams along the Klamath River say they’re gaining ground in the Oregon Legislature. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Want You to Have a Pint, Honestly When is a pint not a pint? When it’s less than 16 ounces, of course. Oregon lawmakers want to make sure beer drinkers aren’t getting ripped off when they order a tall cold one. The Oregon House today passed a measure that would give honest barkeeps a way to show everyone they’re on the level. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Homicide is One Leading Cause of Death for Native Women The FBI investigated the deaths of 16 women dating back to the 1980s. The new report concludes they were not slain by a serial killer, but many of those cases remain unsolved. As Correspondent Anna King reports, one of the leading causes of death for Native American women is homicide. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Snowpack Normal in Some Places, Dry in Others Rivers in the Northwest are beginning to run high because of the spring melt. Forecasters expect the runoff to be normal in most areas of the region. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Won’t Call Special Session Washington Governor Chris Gregoire says she will not call a special session of the legislature. Gregoire said today that House and Senate Democratic leaders could not agree on an agenda for a one day special session. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Army Drops Appeal Against Iraq War Objector The Army officer who gained fame for refusing to deploy to Iraq had a legal victory Wednesday. The government has moved to dismiss its appeal against Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada. Correspondent Amy Radil reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | U of I to Share $16 Million Biomedical Research Grant Ten higher education and research institutions in Idaho will share a $16.5 million grant to support biomedical research in the state. Correspondent Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Investigator Resigns from Eugene Police Inquiry The private investigator hired to assist the Eugene Police Auditor’s office looking into allegations of police misconduct has quit. Correspondent Rachael McDonald explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | King County: Budget Cuts Threaten Swine Flu Response King County officials say looming budget cuts threaten their ability to respond to swine flu and other health threats. They're seeking new taxing authority from the state legislature. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Liquor Control Board Votes to Increase Markup The Washington State Liquor Control Board voted today to increase the markup on liquor from about 39 percent to about 52 percent, starting in August. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Universities Receive Federal Grants for Next-Gen Nuclear Research For decades nuclear power research at universities has languished with little funding. But today the federal government said it will infuse 44 million dollars into nuclear research over the next three years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Health Officials Issue Mosquito and West Nile Virus Warning Although swine flu has been in the headlines, public health officials in the Northwest are turning their attention to another illness: West Nile virus. As the weather warms after a wet winter, they say the mosquitoes that spread the virus are starting to breed. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Banks Getting Federal Money Could Face Added Scrutiny Oregon lawmakers want to force managers at state-regulated banks receiving federal bailout money to show their faces in Salem. The Oregon House voted today to compel officials from those banks to explain to the Legislature how they used the cash. The bill passed the House narrowly. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Rural Health Care Providers Worry about Paperless Record Costs The Obama administration is nudging the medical industry into making a fundamental shift to a paperless system. The goal is to greatly reduce health care costs. But some rural health care providers worry whether they’ll be able to afford the change. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Will the Ocean be Zoned to Meet Energy and Fishing Needs? Spilling of secrets, range war, guinea pigs and stacked pennies. Who knew zoning could be so interesting? You’ve heard of land use planning to shape growth on land. Now it seems the great, wide ocean isn’t big enough for all the different interests that want a piece of it. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Swine Flu Closures in Mexico Could Hurt Northwest Growers Who Need Harvest Workers The swine flu outbreak has forced the closure of U.S. consulate offices in Mexico and that’s delaying interviews and paperwork for Mexicans applying for temporary work visas. Mike Gempler with the Washington Growers League says he expects delays in getting workers to Northwest orchards and fields. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | CDC Confirms Nine Cases of Swine Flu in Washington The Centers for Disease Control today confirmed nine cases of the H-1-N-1 swine flu in Washington state. The positive test results are the first among the 45 probable swine flu cases that state microbiologists sent to the federal lab in Atlanta. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Central Washington Kids Show Their Swine, Despite Flu Swine flu cases continue to pop up in the Northwest, but that news hasn’t dampened the spirits of Northwest farm kids. This week near Yakima, a spring livestock fair is going on as planned. Hundreds of children are showing their pigs, sheep and cattle at the Toppenish Fairgrounds. Anna King dropped in on the event. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Ethnic Buying Power Increases in Northwest The Northwest’s largest minority is gaining ground when it comes to total spending in the regional economy. Northwest Hispanics are also building economic clout more rapidly than Hispanics across the nation. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Flu-Closed Schools Urged to Reopen The chief of Communicable Disease Control in King County says the flu virus seems to be fairly widespread in the community, so closing one school at a time “is not a practical way to respond” and no longer advisable. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Health Officials Address Potential for Over-Reaction to Swine Flu Northwest health officials, school principals, and even the media are fielding questions today about whether we’re over-reacting to the current flu outbreak. Oregon's public health director agreed there is a potential for overreaction, which he said would undercut the government’s credibility. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Referendum Filed to Repeal Expansion of WA Domestic Partnership Law As promised, conservative groups will challenge Washington’s newly expanded domestic partnership law. It gives registered partners all of the same rights as married couples in Washington. A referendum filed today [Monday] would let voters decide this November whether the expansion of rights should become state law. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon House Votes to Close Handgun Records Oregonians can no longer go snooping at the courthouse to find out which of their friends and neighbors have a concealed weapons permit, under a bill moving through the Legislature. The Oregon House voted 54-to-4 to limit the public release of information about concealed handgun license holders. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU Budget Plan Depends On Tuition Increases The 54 million dollar budget reduction plan announced by Washington State University on Friday depends upon stable enrollment and large tuition increases. Glenn Mosley explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA State Senator Calls Referendum to Roll Back Gay Rights “Regrettable” Conservative groups in Washington state hope to repeal an “everything but marriage” bill that passed the legislature this year. The Washington Values Alliance today [Monday] filed a referendum with the Secretary of State’s office in Olympia, to let Washington voters decide this November whether same-sex couples who register with the state should have the same rights as married couples. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Spring Wine Release Bright Despite Slow Economy and Swine Flu Scare A slow economy and fear surrounding the swine flu haven’t dampened spirits for a major wine gathering in Walla Walla this weekend. The southeast Washington valley famous for wine is hosting its annual spring release. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Health Officials Address Potential for Over-Reaction to Swine Flu Northwest health officials, school principals, and even the media are fielding questions today about whether we’re over-reacting to the current flu outbreak. Oregon's public health director agreed there is a potential for overreaction, which he said would undercut the government’s credibility. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Closure of Theatre Department Draws Protests at WSU Students studying theatre and dance at Washington State University have been told their academic department is being eliminated, but they’re not going quietly. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Western Oregon University Students Ignore Calls to Stay Put Many Western Oregon University students are heading home this weekend despite calls by campus officials for them to stay put. About one-quarter of the school’s five-thousand students live on the Monmouth campus. Classes and all university events are canceled until at least Tuesday after a 22-year-old student came down with a probable case of H1N1 swine flu. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Western Oregon Students React to Closure Students at Western Oregon University in Monmouth are reacting to news that they won’t have classes until at least Tuesday. The campus closure comes after one student came down with a probable case of swine flu. Chris Lehman visited the campus and has this report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Backers of Immigration Rights March in Salem Supporters of immigration rights descended on Salem today. It was a smaller crowd than the May First rallies in previous years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU to Cut 370 Jobs Statewide Washington State University is proposing to cut hundreds of jobs and eliminate several academic programs to balance its budget. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Budget Includes $500K to Study Closing State Institutions The Yakima Valley School for the developmentally disabled and the Naselle juvenile rehabilitation camp were spared in the final Washington State Budget, but that's not the end of the story. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Exterminator Fined for Woman's Death The Environmental Protection Agency fined a Eugene extermination company in the 2005 death of a Florence woman. Angela Kellner reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Increased Funding for Ferries May Hit Resistance Washington and Alaska lawmakers are teaming up to push for more federal ferry funds. Washington Senator Patty Murray calls for $200 million for the nation's ferry systems. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon: First Probable Case Swine Flu Reported Health officials say Oregon has its first probable case of Swine Flu. The case involves a woman from Multnomah County who attended a large family gathering. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Spokane Elementary School Cleared of Swine Flu Spokane Health District personnel said there is little to no risk of swine flu at an elementary school where a parent of students may have the 2009 H1N1 virus. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Swine Flu May Be in Idaho Too A woman in her sixties from the Coeur d’Alene area reported getting sick with flu symptoms. Cynthia Taggart from the Panhandle Health District says the woman had just returned from Texas. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tribes Hail Stimulus Money for Fishing Sites Federal stimulus money is going toward building new fishing sites for tribes along the Columbia River. The Army Corps of Engineers announced this week that about 28 million dollars will be used to create new fishing access points near The Dalles and Cascade Locks, Oregon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pacific Northwest Ports Gain Cruise Visits at Mexico’s Expense During May and June, Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruise lines have redirected some seven-night cruises that were scheduled to sail to Mexico from Los Angeles. Instead, they will now head north to Seattle and Victoria. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | States to Get Testing Capability for Swine Flu In order to confirm swine flu, microbiologists have to send a sample to the C-D-C in Atlanta. That will change for the better next week. The state health labs in Washingon, Idaho, and Oregon, expect to gain the capability to confirm swine flu locally. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Eastern Washington’s Hispanic Community Reacts to Swine Flu The Northwest’s population of migrant workers is expected to grow during the upcoming summer farming season. That worries many Hispanic families in the Northwest who have closely monitored swine flu developments in Mexico. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Probable Cases of Swine Flu Discovered in Washington State Public health officials have reported the first probable cases of swine flu in Washington State. 3 are in Seattle, 2 in Snohomish County and 1 in Spokane County. Deborah Wang reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Butch Otter Hears Grievances from Normally Supportive Crowd The Idaho Governor was grilled by a normally supportive rural crowd during a community town hall meeting tour. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Senate Takes Aim at Scrap Metal Theft Scrap metal thieves came under fire in the Oregon Senate Wednesday. Lawmakers approved a bill that supporters say would make it harder for people to profit from stolen metal. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington State Tests 6 People for Swine Flu Washington State Public health officials are reporting the first suspected cases of swine flu. 6 people with flu like symptoms in Seattle, Snohomish County and Spokane were tested. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Convinced Special Session is Needed Soon Washington Governor Chris Gregoire is renewing her call for a short special session of the legislature. She said today that lawmakers should reconvene soon and for just one day. The key issue: a bill to allow school districts to increase their levy capacity. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | OR Governor Pushes for Quicker Action on I-5 Bridge Governor Ted Kulongoski today pushed officials and organizations working on the proposed I-5 bridge over the Columbia River, to move faster. Rob Manning reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | New Salmon Enhancement Technique May Revive Runs A coalition of Klamath River area fishermen, farmers and county officials is hoping a new salmon enhancement technique can help revive precarious salmon runs. The technique is met with some hesitation by tribes and state agencies. Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Bill Deadline Means Flurry of Activity in Salem There’s nothing like a deadline to fan the flames of democracy. Oregon lawmakers were busy yesterday as they rushed to beat a key legislative deadline. Chris Lehman reports on some of the bills that squeaked through. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Deaf Contestant in Poetry Out Loud a First Oregon’s finalist in the national “Poetry Out Loud” contest didn’t make it into the finals in Washington D.C., but she was the first deaf student to appear in the national competition. Jessica Robinson has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | University of Idaho Braces for Budget Cuts Outgoing University of Idaho President Steven Daley-Laursen says the UI is considering various options to deal with expected reductions in state budget appropriations. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon House Wants You to Hang Up and Drive Oregon lawmakers want you to keep your hands on the wheel. The Oregon House voted today to ban people from using hand-held cell phones while driving. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Beware of Swine Flu Swindles Though swine flu is just getting a foothold in the U.S., entrepreneurs are already using it to try to make money. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports consumer advocates are warning people to read claims carefully. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pullman Businesses Relieved About Apple Cup Outcome Merchants in the Pullman area say they’re relieved that the Apple Cup football game will not be moving to Qwest Field in Seattle. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington Fines Gold Mine for Water Violations A gold mine in north central Washington that opened last October has already been fined for violating its water quality permit. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon's Paid Family Leave Bill Advances Some Oregon lawmakers are resurrecting the idea of paying workers who take extended leaves of absence to care for family members. The same proposal died in 2007. A Senate committee voted to try again. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Domestic Partner Name Change Made Easier in Oregon A bill that passed the Oregon House would tweak some rules regarding the state’s domestic partnership law. The measure would streamline the process for gay couples to change their names when they register as domestic partners. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Doctors in Idaho on Lookout for Swine Flu Doctors in Idaho have been asked by state health officials to be on the lookout for possible cases of swine flu. There are four people with flu-like symptons, but no confirmed cases in the state. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Speaker of House Open to Special Session; Republicans Not Washington lawmakers have adjourned and gone home. But perhaps not for long. It appears the legislature will have to reconvene in Olympia to pass a couple of bills necessary to implement the budget. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | First Bank of Idaho Goes Under The First Bank of Idaho is the latest in a run of bank failures across the nation. After F-D-I-C closed the Ketchum, Idaho-based bank, its customers’ accounts are now managed by U-S Bank. The new owner is assuring those customers that their money is safe. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU to Announce Budget Action Washington State University will announce its budget plans this Friday. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Swine Flu: Alaska Airlines Still Flying Nearly Full to Mexico The swine flu scare is creating turbulence in the travel industry, including Seattle-based Alaska Airlines. Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | No Swine Flu in WA/OR, but Health Officials on Heightened Alert Washington State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky says health officials are on heightened alert for people showing symptoms of the disease. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Swine Flu: Wash. Governor Says No Reason to Panic Northwest health authorities are preparing for a possible outbreak of swine flu. Oregon and Washington have asked for hundreds of thousands of doses of anti-viral drugs from the federal emergency stockpile. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gregoire on Special Session: Work Remains to be Done Governor Chris Gregoire issued a statement that suggests a special session is likely. She said – quote - “work remains to be done,” and she will meet with legislative leaders to determine “when the Legislature will reconvene.” Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Legislative Session Ends On Time but Special Session Likely Washington lawmakers have adjourned what was called the toughest session in 25 years. The final gavel fell at one o’clock this morning. But a “special session” may be necessary to complete unfinished business. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Deadline for Oregon Bills Looming Oregon lawmakers are moving quickly to narrow their agenda. Tuesday is the deadline for bills to gain initial committee approval. That means the clock is ticking for lawmakers and lobbyists. Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Senate Approves Tolling on Seattle's 520 Bridge Drivers on Washington’s 520 bridge would pay tolls under bill approved by the state Senate Friday. It’s a main artery for commuters in the Seattle area. The money collected would go toward replacing the 43-year-old structure. Ryan Morden reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Republicans Blame Dems for Budget Woes This weekend the Washington State Senate is expected to pass a new two-year budget that would dramatically cut spending for education and social services. Republican State Represenatative Barbara Bailey blamed Democrats for the budget woes. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Budget Passes WA Legislature; Heads to Governor On Saturday night the Washington state Senate passed an austere two-year budget that doesn’t raise taxes. It now goes to the Governor. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA House Passes Budget After Lengthy Debate On Friday night the Washington state House approved the budget bill on a mostly party line vote of 54 to 42. It aims to close a nine billion dollar gap. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Auditor Blasts Fellow Democrats Over Budget Cuts Washington budget cuts are hurting the state’s ability to follow through with voter-approved initiatives. That’s the complaint Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag lays out in a scathing letter to a fellow Democrat: Speaker of the House Frank Chopp. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Will the Practice of Field Burning Die Down? The roasted smell of burning grass fields has been part of Northwest farming culture for generations…and so has the eye-stinging haze. But will we see an end to the practice in the Northwest? Dough Nadvornick and Chris Lehman report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Republicans Say They’re Left Out of Budget Process Partisan tempers are flaring as Washington lawmakers head toward adjournment. Minority Republicans say they’ve been shut out of the budget-writing process in Olympia. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Democrats Release Details of Budget Agreement The Washington House plans to pass a two-year budget today that cuts 4 billion dollars in spending. But so far, majority Democrats have released only some details of their budget agreement. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | University of Oregon Grad School Ranks High in U.S. News and World Report The University of Oregon earned high marks in the “U.S. News and World Report’s 2010 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools.” The results were released yesterday. Angela Kellner reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Dept. of Health Confirms First Death With Dignity Requests It’s been less than two months since Washington’s Death with Dignity Act took effect. Now patients are beginning the process of using the law. The Washington Department of Health reports on its website that it’s received several of the forms required under the law. Austin Jenkins explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tax Measure Appears Dead in WA Legislature The Washington legislature appears unlikely to send a sales tax increase to voters before adjourning this Sunday. Key lawmakers today announced there aren’t enough votes in the House to pass the measure off the floor and send it to the State Senate. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Mull Tax Amnesty Oregonians who have skipped out on paying their taxes might get a break. Lawmakers are considering a bill to grant amnesty to people who haven’t paid up. And they’re hoping the olive branch will yield big dividends. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gonzaga Students March for Clean Water in Africa Students at 11 U-S universities are doing something this week that many African women do every day: they’re carrying large containers of water on their heads. The purpose is to bring attention to the need for more clean drinking water in Africa. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Alaska, Horizon Will Charge For First Bag Alaska Airlines is joining the ranks of air carriers charging for the first checked bag. The Seattle-based company announced today that it will begin charging a $15 fee on July 7th. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Proposed ID Nuclear Power Plant Praised and Panned The nuclear power industry has seen a renaissance in the last few years. In Idaho, a proposed commercial nuclear plant is generating heavy static. Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | "Sigh of Relief" for Alaskan Way Viaduct Supporters The deep-bore tunnel replacement plan for the Alaskan Way viaduct in Seattle cleared the Washington House last night. The plan heads back to the state Senate for amendments. Ryan Morden reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | ID County Commissioners Will Decide Fate of Proposed Nuclear Power Plant After a year of debate, the fate of a proposed nuclear power plant southeast of Boise is in the hands of three county commissioners. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Business Group Pushes Corporate Tax Proposal An Oregon business group says its members want to pay higher taxes. Its leaders floated a plan today to raises taxes on corporations to help balance the state’s budget. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA House Approves Higher Tuition College students in Washington may soon face double-digit tuition increases. Majority Democrats in the House today passed legislation that eliminates the current 7-percent cap on annual tuition hikes. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Defense Plans to Offer Some Hanford Downwinders As Much As $150,000 Each After nearly 20 years of litigation, a lawsuit by Hanford downwinders could be getting close to a settlement. Some plaintiffs could get as much as 150-thousand dollars each from the federal government. The new offer is the latest twist in the protracted case over Hanford Nuclear Reservation releases. Anna King has the story Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Mercury Releases from Cement Kilns The federal government has announced new regulations that for the first time cut mercury emissions from cement kilns. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, the dirtiest kiln in the nation is in Oregon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Nellis Named 17th President of the University of Idaho Dr. Duane Nellis, provost of Kansas State University, was introduced today as the 17th president of the University of Idaho. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Some WA Democrats Frustrated by Lack of Big Reforms in Legislature As Washington’s legislative session lurches toward adjournment, some Democrats are expressing frustration. They say their own party should have done more to reform state government – especially in the midst of a 9-billion dollar budget crisis. They worry the opportunity for big change is passing them by. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Going to Canada? Take Your Passport Thinking of crossing the northern border? Take note of some changes coming soon to checkpoints along the U.S.–Canada border. Tom Banse reports on the latest update from U-S authorities at Washington’s famous Peace Arch crossing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Legislators Go on Tour to Ask for Budget Ideas Sometimes the best advice for legislators comes from outside of Salem. That’s what state budget writers are hoping as they take their show on the road. They are looking for help from everyday Oregonians. Chris Lehman has this report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA House Committee Votes on Temporary Sales Tax Measure A proposal to ask Washington voters to temporarily raise the state sales tax has cleared a key hurdle. It passed the House Human Services budget committee. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Feds Urge New Restrictions on Pesticides Some common pesticides used on vegetables and lawns pose a threat to West Coast salmon runs. That's the warning from federal fishery managers who are calling for new restrictions. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Passport Requirement on Canadian Border Looms Planning to drive to Canada this summer? The Department of Homeland Security has advice for you. Apply for a passport now if you don’t have one already. The deadline is June 1st for U-S and Canadian border crossers to carry a passport – or an equivalent “passport card.” Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA House Votes To Suspend Teacher Raises Washington state voters approved an initiative in 2000 to give school teachers cost-of-living raises. Today the Washington state House voted to suspend those pay increases during the next two years, as part of lawmakers’ plan to close the 9 billion dollar budget shortfall. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Kulongoski Signs Bill to Extend Unemployment Benefits Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed a bill today that makes more people eligible to collect unemployment benefits. The move comes as Oregon’s unemployment rate soared to 12-point-one percent last month - the second highest rate in the country. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Legislature: Tax Measure Passes Out of Committee With just days left in Washington’s legislative session, lawmakers are one step closer to sending a tax measure to voters. The House Human Services budget committee today narrowly approved a temporary sales tax increase to buy back cuts to healthcare. But it’s unclear if it has enough momentum to pass. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | "Gold Rush" on Ocean Wave Power Ebbing Two years ago, there was a “gold rush” on the ocean to stake claims for wave energy. Now the spray is settling. Energy developers have given up on about a quarter of the wave projects they proposed along the West Coast. Some tidal power proposals are ebbing away as well. This slowdown is just fine with some coastal residents who still harbor doubts about the technology. Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon's First Budget Hearing Draws Overflow Crowd The first of eight public hearings on possible Oregon budget cuts drew an overflow crowd in Lincoln City last night. Members of the Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee listened as people voiced their support for funding everything from community colleges to mental health treatment. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Legislature Approves More Health Care Access for Kids The Washington legislature gave final approval today to a bill that would expand access to the state’s health insurance program for children. The measure would allow families earning as much as 3-times the federal poverty level to enroll their kids in what’s known as “Apple Health.” Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pullman Area Businesses Worry About Losing Apple Cup The idea to move the annual Apple Cup football game between Washington State University and the University of Washington to Qwest Field in Seattle has Pullman area businesses concerned. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tax Proposal in WA Legislature is Up in the Air This is supposed to be the final week of the Washington legislative session. But lawmakers still have to pass a new two-year budget. And a big question still looms: will Washington lawmakers send a tax package to voters. A new poll raises serious doubts that such a proposal would pass. Austin Jenkins has the latest. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Public Lukewarm to Temporary Sales Tax in WA In a major development in the Washington legislature, majority Democrats in the Senate are backing off a plan to put a tax measure on the November ballot. That’s because of a new poll that shows the public’s appetite for taxes is lukewarm at best. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | OR Legislature Takes Budget Hearings on the Road Oregon lawmakers are hitting the road this week. The Legislature’s budget-writing committee is holding hearings across the state to sample public opinion about how to deal with a looming budget deficit. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Trying to Establish Medical Education in Idaho The Idaho State Board of Education has formed a committee to develop an implementation plan on current and future needs of medical education in Idaho. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sheep Bill Goes to Idaho Governor’s Desk Idaho lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that aims to keep bighorn sheep separate from domestic sheep around Hells Canyon. Supporters are trying to prevent diseases from spreading between sheep herds and their wild counterparts. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Tax Hike Proposal Debated at Hearing Majority Democrats in the Washington legislature may vote next week whether to put a tax measure on the November ballot. This morning lawmakers took testimony on the leading proposal: a temporary 3 tenths of one percent sales tax increase to offset cuts to healthcare. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | New Effort Would Limit Political Contributions in Oregon Oregon is one of a handful of states that allows unlimited donations to political candidates. A bill in Salem this year would change that, by capping contributions to local or legislative candidates at 500 dollars. Candidates for statewide office could only receive donations up to 1000 dollars. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Could See Rail Improvements From $8 Billion in Stimulus The Pacific Northwest could see some benefit from a plan announced by President Barack Obama to spend money on high-speed rail. The president allocated 8-billion dollars in federal stimulus spending for trains. The plan aims to relieve congestion and save energy. Correspondent Ryan Morden explains how the run stretching from Vancouver, British Columbia to Eugene, Oregon might benefit. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Men Losing Jobs Twice as Fast as Women Women and men hold an almost equal number of jobs in Washington state. But the recession has been taking a much heavier toll on men. Based on the number of people filing unemployment claims for the first time, men are losing their jobs twice as fast as women. John Ryan has the story. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Controversial Squirrel Eradication Stopped in Spokane for Now Park officials in Spokane have stopped the practice of using a lethal weapon to kill squirrels in a city arboretum, for now at least. Instead, they say they’ll try another way of reducing the population. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | House Speaker Singles Out State Agency for Elimination Oregon lawmakers are gearing up to make deep cuts to state government. The details of those cuts won’t become clear for at least another month. But one legislative leader dropped a big hint to reporters recently about a state agency that might get the hook. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Kulongoski Testifies Against Off-Shore Drilling At a hearing in San Francisco today, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski testified against opening up the west coast to off-shore oil drilling. It was the last of four public hearings on the subject by Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | New Definition of K-12 Passes WA Senate The Washington state Senate has narrowly approved a new definition of what constitutes a basic education. A similar bill previously passed the House. Today’s vote came despite strong opposition from the teachers’ union, Republicans and even a few Democrats. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Could Receive High-Speed Rail Stimulus The Pacific Northwest could see some benefit from a plan announced today by President Barack Obama to spend money on high-speed rail. The president allocated 8 billion dollars in federal stimulus money for trains. The plan aims to relieve congestion and save energy. Washington state transportation secretary Paula Hammond says the rail corridor that stretches from Vancouver, British Columbia to Eugene, Oregon could see a number of projects. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA House and Senate at Odds Over Welfare Program Democrats control both chambers of the Washington legislature. But that doesn’t mean they always see eye-to-eye. In fact the House and Senate are currently in a stand-off over one program in particular. The conflict is over a welfare program called General Assistance Unemployable. Speaker of the House Frank Chopp is a fierce defender of G-A-U. But Democrats in the Senate want to pare it back. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | You're Invited to Tour Hanford's Historic B-Reactor Starting today the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is offering tours for the first time of its historic B-Reactor. Hanford tours usually sell out very quickly. This facility was recently declared a National Historic Landmark. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Anti-Tax “Tea Party” Protesters Rally In Olympia Anti-tax conservatives across the country spent tax deadline protesting government spending with so-called “tea party” rallies. In Olympia, around four-thousand people gathered in front the capitol. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | OR Governor Signs Revised Ethics Bill Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed into law a bill revising rules for government ethics. The measure is meant to address deep concerns by small-town officials over a pair of ethics laws passed in 2007. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | OR House Votes to Require Insurance to Cover HPV Vaccine The Oregon House voted to require health insurance companies to cover the H-P-V vaccine in girls. The Centers for Disease Control says the vaccine prevents some types of sexually-transmitted cervical cancer. Opponents of the measure called it an unfunded mandate for insurance companies. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Confirmed Wolf Killing in Eastern Oregon Federal wildlife officials confirm a wolf or a pack of wolves were responsible for two attacks on livestock at an eastern Oregon ranch last week. That would be the first such incident in Oregon since wolves were reintroduced. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Stimulus Money Goes to North Idaho Cleanup Project For about 10 years, crews in old north Idaho mining towns have been removing dirt contaminated with heavy metals from residential yards. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tax Day Protestors Converge in Salem A national protest against taxes was well represented in the Northwest. Dozens of communities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho were sites for so-called “Tax Day Tea Parties” today. Chris Lehman reports from an event at the Oregon state capitol. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Domestic Partnership Bill Passes WA House; Heads to Governor It’s not gay marriage as Iowa and Vermont now have. But registered domestic partners in Washington state would have the same rights as married couples under legislation now headed to the Governor. The final vote today in the House of Representatives fell along party lines. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Offshore Wind Energy Blows in to NW Coast A Seattle company is hoping to float a wind farm. This would be off the Oregon Coast near Tillamook Bay. The offshore developer hopes mooring the floating windmills that far out will short-circuit opposition due to spoiled views. Correspondent Tom Banse reports from the Oregon Coast. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Marketing Art on the Palouse The hilly region where southeast Washington meets north central Idaho isn’t exactly the center of art in the Northwest. The area known as the Palouse is made up of small towns and wheat fields. But there are creative people there who would like to make a living from their art. Now, a non-profit group in Moscow is teaching them how to market their work and, in the process, trying to add a new dimension to the region’s resource-based economy. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Offers Critique of Legislative Budgets Washington governor Chris Gregoire has sent a seven page critique to House and Senate budget writers. In the memo, she asks them to consider revisions to their proposed budgets. Lawmakers are working to close a nine billion dollar shortfall.Correspondent Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Unemployment Rate Accelerates in WA Washington State’s unemployment rate jumped nearly a full percentage point in March. The State Employment Department announced that widespread layoffs have pushed the jobless rate to 9.2 percent. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tax Day Spurs Potpourri of Rallies Tomorrow is the deadline to pay your taxes. April 15th is also a day when pro and anti-tax activists will take to the streets across the county, including dozens of northwest communities. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Offers Critique of Legislative Budgets Washington governor Chris Gregoire has sent a seven page critique to House and Senate budget writers. In the memo, she asks them to consider revisions to their proposed budgets. Lawmakers are working to close a nine billion dollar shortfall. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Unemployment Rate Accelerates in WA Washington State’s unemployment rate jumped nearly a full percentage point in March. The state Employment Department today announced that widespread layoffs have pushed the jobless rate to 9-point-2 percent. In February, it was 8-point-3 percent. State labor economist Greg Weeks describes the big jump as “very troubling.” Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Spokane Phosphate Ban Has Mixed Results Newly released data show Spokane’s 10-month-old ban on phosphate-laden dishwasher detergents is having its intended environmental effect. But it’s not very popular with consumers. That’s why Washington’s Department of Ecology is asking the public to stay patient. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon's Unemployment Rate Shoots Up to 12% Oregon's unemployment rate is at an all time high. Reaching 12.1 percent, that is higher than the nation's average of 8.5 percent. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Legislators to Cut Funding for Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Services Every time you pay a traffic ticket in Washington State, a portion of that fine goes to a fund that helps people with traumatic brain injuries. But legislators balancing the budget will take the funds elsewhere. Correspondent Ryan Morden has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Musicians to be Defined as Independent Contractors Oregon clubs and concert venues will no longer have topay unemployment taxes on musicians, under a bill approved by the Oregon Senate today. Local club owners complain the tax laws threaten Oregon's indie music scene. The Oregon Department of Revenue defines musicians as employees of the venues where they play. Oregon taxes the clubs for thatwork, even for a one-night gig. Democratic state Senator Floyd Prozanski [pro-ZAHN-skee] told his colleagues the new policy would treat b ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | NW Biodiesel Makers Fear Biggest Customer May Sail Away Northwest biodiesel producers fear they’re about to lose their biggest potential customer. Many biodiesel companies are barely surviving the down economy. Then again, the big customer in question, the Washington State Ferries, has money issues of its own. Correspondent Tom Banse reports on the difficult balance between Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Democrats Split Over Unemployment Insurance Reform in Olympia A bill in the Washington legislature has revealed a nastyintra-party split between pro-business Democrats and those more oriented toward labor. This week House Democrats are mending fences over legislation to reform the state’s unemployment insurance system. Austin Jenkins explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | SEIU Healthcare Workers Rally Against Cuts in Olympia Local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) healthcare workers, rallying in Olympia on Friday, brought a giant visual aid to make their point. The SEIU is lobbying the legislature to raise taxes for healthcare services like the Basic Health Plan, rehabprograms, and mental health treatment. Zandy Hardison says the union brought a fishnet to demonstrate what’s at stake. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Daughter Says Father Denied 'Death with Dignity' Washington state’s new physician assisted suicide law is more than a month old. Advocates for the voter-approved initiative complain some patients aren’t getting access to their new end-of-life choice. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Old-Time Cowboy Music Finds New Audience Thanks to Internet Cowboy performers at the 6th Annual Columbia River Cowboy Gathering say their music is more popular than ever thanks to the internet. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Secretary of State Urges Community Involvement Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed is urging college students to become more engaged in their communities. Glenn Mosley has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sonar Use in Strait of Juan de Fuca Raises Concerns The U.S. Navy confirms it used sonar when it passed through the Strait of Juan de Fuca earlier this week. That concerns animal advocates who say the sonar could harm endangered killer whales. Liz Jones reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hanford Engineers say Tests of Scale-Model Waste Treatment Plant Successful The federal government is building a massive radioactive waste treatment plant at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. To make sure that factory works the government built a quarter-scale model in Richland. Today federal scientists and engineers said testing is nearly complete and their 90-million-dollar experiment worked. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Virtual Schools Come Under Scrutiny Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would add new restrictions to online charter schools. About four-thousand Oregon children are enrolled in these so-called“virtual schools.” A measure pending in the Legislature would cap the number of kids those schools can enroll from outside the charters’ host district. It would also limit virtual schools to students in grades 7 through 12. Backers of these schools say the new regulations would effectivelyshut them down. Angie Armstr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Days May be Numbered for Oregon School for the Blind In a year of budget cuts, nothing is sacred. The Oregon School for the Blind has weathered many financial storms in the past. But this year could be different. With every dollar under scrutiny, Oregon lawmakers today gave initial approval to a plan to shut the Oregon School for the Blind down in a matter of months. The money would serve blind students elsewhere. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Misconduct Laws Now Apply to Light Rail Spitting, littering and other harassing behavior will soon be illegal on light rail. The Washington state House voted to extend the state’s law on illegal conduct on buses to trains and ferries. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Asparagus Farming Back to Life in Washington Some of the first asparagus of the season will be picked today in south-central Washington. This may be the first year since 2001 that asparagus acreage is up in the Northwest. The arrival of new vegetable processors and relatively good crop prices are credited with the turnaround. Correspondent Anna King has the story. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA State Senator Warns of Special Session A key Washington state senator is warning, the legislature may go into overtime. Senator Rodney Tom is the number two Democrat on the budget committee. He says time is running out for House and Senate Democrats to agree on a budget and pass it before the last day of the session - April 26th. That would extend the clock with a special session. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Disadvantages Outweigh Benefits in WA Aerospace Business Washington state is not doing enough to remain the airplane-building capital of the nation. That’s the upshot of a new state-funded study released yesterday. In response, Governor Chris Gregoire is proposing to create a new aerospace council. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Craft Distilleries Taking off in Washington Many sectors of the economy are stuggling. But one niche industry appears to be growing in the Northwest. Small distilleries of fine spirits are sprouting up in Washington in the same way wineries and microbreweries took off years ago. A 2008 state law gives hard alcohol makers some of the same rights to serve and sell as their brewing brethren. Craft distillers in Washington hope this will allow their industry to grow as it has in neighboring Oregon. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Report Says WA at Disadvantage to Keep Boeing, Aerospace Washington state is not doing enough to remain the airplane-building capital of the nation. That’s the upshot of a new state-funded study released today. In response, Governor Chris Gregoire is proposing to create a new aerospace council. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Bee Colony Collapse Disorder is Not as Bad as First Thought, But Still Unsustainable A mysterious bee-killing disease that we first reported about two years ago has again taken a heavy toll. But a leading researcher in the Northwest says scientists are finding clues to the cause. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA State Senator Warns of Special Session A key Washington state senator is warning, the legislature may go into overtime. Senator Rodney Tom is the number two Democrat on the budget committee. He says time is running out for House and Senate Democrats to agree on a budget and pass it before the last day of the session - April 26th. That would extend the clock with a special session. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Thousands Apply for WA Basic Health Plan as Cuts Loom Here’s a sign of the economic times we’re living in. The wait-list for Washington’s state-subsidized Basic Health Plan has ballooned to more than 14-thousand people in the past few months. At the same time, the Governor and state lawmakers are proposing to slash more than 40-thousand slots from the program. So what will happen to the people on the program – and those waiting for coverage? We have team coverage from Correspondents Doug Nadvornick in Spokane and Austin Jenkins in Olym ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Organic Farms Continue to Grow in the NW Organic farm acreage continues to grow at a fast pace in Washington state, but not as fast as in 2006 and 2007 according to a new report by Washington State University. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | New Flight Option for Frugal Eugene Travelers People flying out of Eugene Airport now have a new, and inexpensive, destination available. Allegiant Air announced it will offer two flights per week to Oakland California. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Temporary Sales Tax Idea Leads in WA Legislature A legislative proposal for an income tax on rich people in Washington appears to be dead – at least this year. Instead Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown is floating a new idea – a temporary three-tenths-of-one-percent increase in the state sales tax to restore cuts to healthcare. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Legislature Includes Transgender in Hate-Crime Protection The Washington legislature today approved modifying the state’s definition of a hate-crime to include transgender people. The definition of transgender is broad to include cross-dressers and others who live their life in the opposite sex than as they were born. Attackers charged under the hate-crimes law get more jail time. Democratic Representative Jamie Pederson says transgender people deserve the same protection already afforded to minorities, gays and women. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Legislature Increases Incentives for In-State Movie Production The fictional vampire saga Twilight is set in ForksWashington. But as far as Hollywood is concerned, Vancouver and British Columbia is the best place to film the next installment in the movie series. Washington state lawmakers have voted a big increase in filmmaking tax incentives to make the state more competitive. Democratic Representative Phyllis Kenney says the change will help restore a balanced playing field with neighboring Oregon and Canada. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon House: Smoking in Cars with Kids Around is a No-No Oregon lawmakers say if you want to light up in your car, there shouldn’t be any kids around. The House today voted to ban smoking in vehicles when anyone under 17 is present. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Senate Proposes Increase in Sales Tax to Support Healthcare In Olympia, Senate Democrats are backing off the idea of a state income tax on high-wage earners. But now there’s a new proposal: a temporary sales tax increase that would need voter approval. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown says the leading idea is a state sales tax increase of three-tenths of a percent. It would be coupled with rebate checks to families that make less than 41-thousand dollars a year. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | CO2 From Power Plants Down Nationally, Not in NW Carbon dioxide emissions from U-S power plants decreased last year, reversing a long upward trend. But the supposedly“green” Northwest bucked the national trend for the greenhouse gas. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Army Chief of Staff Tells Soldiers Budget Cuts Won't Hurt Their Families Army Chief of Staff General George Casey sought to reassure troops that recently announced budget cuts won’t affect the social safety net for soldiers and their families. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU Men’s Basketball Team Welcomes New Coach Ken Bone Washington State University welcomed its new men’s basketball coach to Pullman today. Ken Bone is the former head coach at Portland State. On the first day of his new job, he said he’s going to loosen up WSU’s playing style and encourage more three-point throws. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | NPR Ombudsman Stresses Importance of Public Media National Public Radio Ombudsman Alicia Shepard says public media are specially important during this time when the media landscape is facing so much change. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Schieffer, Thomas Share Murrow Award at WSU Veteran journalists Bob Schieffer and Helen Thomas, recipients of this year’s Edward R. Murrow Award at Washington State University, say journalism is in the midst of a technological revolution. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Proposes Allowing 28% Tuition Increase Over 2-Years The cost of attending a 4-year university in Washington could goup 28% over the next two years. Governor Chris Gregoire today proposed granting universities new tuition-setting authority to help offset budget cuts. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon State Hospital, "Cuckoo’s Nest", Comes Tumbling Down One of Oregon’s most iconic buildings is coming down. This week, crews started dismantling the main building at the Oregon State Hospital--the mental institution made famous by the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | NPR Ombudsman Visits Lewiston: Speaks on Importance of Public Radio National Public Radio Ombudsman Alicia Shepard sayspublic media are especially important during this time when the media landscape is facing so much change. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Nurse Home Visit Program Spared in WA Budget Cuts Democrats in Olympia are presiding over the dismantling of a social safety net they helped build. Washington’s 9-billion dollar deficit means cuts to healthcare for low-income workers, no cost of living raises for teachers and reduced assistance to people who are unable to work. But amidst all the slashed spending, some programs are being saved. One of them is called the “Nurse-Family Partnership.”Ryan Morden has this profile. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Expect Tolls on Seattle's 520 Bridge Not I-90 The Washington state House transportation committee approved a measure to impose electronic tolls on the 520 bridge. Republican representative Tom Campbell says the committee should have also addressed tolling on a parallel route: I-90. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA State Treasurer Pans $3B Bond Measure for Schools Washington’s State Treasurer is panning a newly proposed 3-billion dollar bond measure to fix up schools and create jobs. Democrat Jim McIntire says the state would be over-leveraged if it borrowed that much more money Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Unions Seek to Represent Childcare Workers for State Funds Washington’s unions are hoping to add thousands of childcare workers to their ranks through a bill before the state legislature. The bill would allow unions to represent childcare centers in negotiations with the state. Unions say they can give childcare providers a stronger voice and win more aid for low-income children. But many childcare providers oppose the idea of state money going for union dues. Amy Radil reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho State Board Approves College Student Tuition and Fee Hikes College and university students in Idaho will be paying more toattend those schools next year. Glenn Mosley explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | "Smart Grid' for Electricity; What it is and Issues Putting it in Place The national‘Smart Grid’ for electricity is the new buzz-worthy idea in the green movement. It’s gained so much traction that General Electric even spent millions of dollars to promote it in a Super Bowl commercial last winter. Amanda Loder attended the National Smart Grid conference in Spokane today.She explains what a Smart Grid is, and what some of the obstacles are to getting it in place. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Lawmaker Proposes $3B Bond Measure for Schools, Jobs A three billion dollar bond measure to fix up schools and makethem more energy efficient. That’s the proposal from a key Democrat in the Washington legislature. But the State Treasurer is wary. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Kulongoski Makes Plans, Lays Low Both Oregon and Washington are facing deep budgetshortfalls this year. The crises are spurring efforts to enact overhauls of state government. In Washington, lawmakers have been loudly debating new tax policies. But in Oregon, Governor Ted Kulongoski has been largely working behind the scenes to craft a long-term restructuring plan. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Economy Thwarts Regional Cap-and-Trade Plan on Climate A plan to regulate global warming emissions at the regional level has stalled. The twin culprits are the recession and the arrival of new blood in Washington, D-C. Last year, the governors of seven Western states– including Oregon and Washington -- agreed to a regional “cap-and-trade” system. But of the seven state legislatures called to endorse to plan, only one -- California’s -- seems in the mood to play along. Correspondent Tom Banse looks at what happened and what might com ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Reaches Deal with Daimler Trucks Oregon and Daimler Trucks have reached a deal over a controversial lawsuit. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, the hope among local businesses is that the deal will keep Daimler's head office and its 2000 jobs in Portland, at least for a while. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Budget Uncertainties Lead to Anxiety at WSU More than a hundred students rallied in protest over possible budget cuts at Washington State University Thursday. It’s all part of the anxious atmosphere in higher education as state budget negotiations continue. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | March Rains Improve Lagging Northwest Water Supply Slightly Sure, it’s been wet lately. But a new spring and summer water supply forecast shows the Northwest’s workhorse rivers including the Snake and Columbia are still running behind their long term averages. Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pressure Increases on WA Democrats to Raise Taxes Pressure is mounting on majority Democrats in the Washington legislature to do something no politician relishes: raise taxes. This week the House and Senate rolled out their budget proposals for the next two years. Both blueprints call for about four billion dollars in cuts to education, healthcare, social services and corrections. Now advocacy groups are stepping up the call for lawmakers to buy back some of those cuts with a tax hike. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Potential Cuts Paint Bleak Picture Oregon legislative leaders released a worst-case scenario today (Friday) on how to deal with a massive budget shortfall. Lawmakers have already been facing a three billion dollar budget gap in the next funding cycle. As Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman reports, the new list identifies possible cuts in case the gap gets even wider. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Federal Government Says “No Action” on Water Study for the Yakima Valley After four years and 15 million dollars studying possible dams to water Washington State’s Yakima Valley, federal officials say they have no clear solution. In the last few decades drought has repeatedly decimated farmers’ orchards and threatened salmon populations. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Senator Brown Talks About Income Tax Idea Oregon and Idaho both have an income tax. So why not Washington state – at least for high income earners? That’s the debate unfolding between Governor Chris Gregoire and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Water Rights Issue at Heart of Rancher Farmer Dispute in Pasco Eastern Washington dryland wheat farmers are trying to fight off an industrial-sized feedlot. The growers say the proposed cattle feeding operation would draw too much water from ancient basalt aquifers in the area. After a contentious meeting last night in Pasco, Washington’s Department of Ecology is now considering the water right request. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Viaduct Replacement Inching Closer to Approval in WA Legislature The deep-bore tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way viaduct in Seattle is inching closer to approval in the Washington legislature. The House transportation committee signed off on the project today . Correspondent Ryan Morden explains that spending is bringing up geographical differences. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Pans Income Tax; Lawyer Says Could Pass Constitutional Muster Washington Governor Chris Gregoire is reiterating her opposition to an income tax. The comments come in response to proposals by key Senate Democrats to impose an income tax on high-wage earners. But as Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports, the real question is whether it would require a constitutional amendment. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Revisiting the Columbia River Treaty This week in Coeur d’Alene, a diplomatic process kicks off over hydroelectric power. The U-S and Canada are laying the groundwork for renegotiating the treaty that guides how the dams on the Columbia River are operated. Some of the people who may be involved in that are beginning informal discussions at a conference this week in Coeur d’Alene. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Execution Team Resigns The members of Washington states execution team have resigned. The members stepped down because they feared their anonymity was at risk. Patricia Murphy reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Obama Administration Backs Away from Spotted Owl The Obama Administration has backed away from the previous government's plans for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl. Rob Manning reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Sues Swiss Bank to Recover Lost Retirement Funds The state of Oregon is joining a lawsuit against a Swiss bank in an effort to recover millions of dollars in lost retirement funds. The bank, called U-B-S, admitted to tax fraud earlier this year. The value of the bank’s stock dropped dramatically as the scandal unfolded. Oregon Treasurer Ben Westlund says that put a 25 million dollar dent in the state’s public pension fund. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Revamped Ethics Law Clears Oregon Senate An ethics law two years ago led to a wave of resignations by officials in rural Oregon towns. Now, that law is one step closer to being changed. The Oregon Senate today approved a measure that would put an end to rules that critics call intrusive. Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Coal Power Plant Cuts Deal to Cut Mercury & Regional Haze More than a year of closed-door negotiations has produced an agreement to cut mercury and regional haze pollution from one of the two big coal-fired power plants in the Northwest. It’s the one in Centralia [Washington]. Environmental groups want Washington State to reduce mercury emissions even further at the TransAlta plant. Tom Banse has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Food Stamp Benefits Increase Today Federal stimulus money is trickling down to low-income families in the Northwest. Beginning today, food stamp benefits are increasing by 13-point-six percent nationwide. In Washington, that means about 20 dollars more per month, per person. In Idaho about 15 dollars more and In Oregon, that means 16-24 dollars more per month, per person. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Senator Brown Floats “Millionaire Tax” Idea on Her Blog Washington state has no income tax. But the top Democrat in the state Senate is floating the idea of taxing high-wage earners. Senator Lisa Brown of Spokane says Washington’s sales tax is regressive. So she’s asking readers of her blog: should Washington consider an idea being pursued in New York State - a so-called millionaire’s tax. Austin Jenkins has details Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU President: WA Budget Cuts One of Worst in the Nation for Higher Ed Washington State University President Elson Floyd says the House version of the state budget released on Tuesday is even more draconian in terms of cuts in higher education than the Senate version. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lawmaker Proposes Making Smokers Get Cigarette Prescriptions One Oregon lawmaker is imagining a future where smokers will have to ask their doctor for a prescription for cigarettes. Portland Democratic Representative Mitch Greenlick says he wants to make any product containing nicotine a prescription drug -— available only from pharmacies. Greenlick will make his case to the House Human Services Committee Wednesday. He says just because it will be April First doesn’t mean fellow lawmakers shouldn’t take his idea seriously. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Surprises in the WA Budget Proposals This week majority Democrats in the Washington House and Senate published their proposals for the next two-year budget. The hefty blue and tan books list of thousands of cuts to close a nine-billion-dollar shortfall. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports on some of the reductions that could be easily overlooked. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Legislative Democrats: Expand Liquor Sales, Cut Addiction Majority Democrats in the Washington legislature are pushing to dramatically increase liquor sales in order to help balance the budget. At the same time, they’re proposing cuts to drug and alcohol treatment programs. Jonathan Rosenblum is with the Service Employees International Union. He calls it an ironic contradiction. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | New Low-tech Water Storage Solution: Beavers We’ve all heard about the state of Washington’s severe budget crisis. That could interfere with the state’s ability to solve another long-term problem facing the Inland Northwest: not enough water for summer irrigation and recreation. There are big ideas are on the table, such as building a new dam. But it’s hard to imagine the state can afford that in the current economy. Now, one Spokane environmental group is thinking small. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports on a new push to ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA House Democrats Unveil Budget; Higher Cuts to Higher Ed Democrats in the Washington state House have unveiled their budget proposal for the next two years. Unlike the Senate plan – released yesterday – the House would save McNeil Island prison. But college students would be socked with a potential double-digit tuition hike. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has reaction. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington State’s Hanford Site Receives Bulk of Federal Stimulus Money for Environmental Cleanup Today U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a total of $6 billion dollars in federal stimulus money for environmental cleanup across the nation. Washington will receive the largest share of any state. The Hanford Nuclear Reservation will get nearly $2 billion dollars. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Howls of Protest as WA Senate Democrats Unveil Budget Cuts Washington House Democrats on Tuesday will unveil their proposal for how to close a 9-billion dollar budget shortfall. Senate Democrats on Monday released their spending plan for the next two years. The budget proposal calls for nearly four-billion-dollars in cuts– much of it in education. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Schools, Prisons, Healthcare: Nothing Spared in WA Senate Budget Teachers would be laid-off, a prison would close and tens-of-thousands of Washingtonians would lose healthcare coverage. Those are just some of the nearly four billion dollars in cuts proposed by Democrats in the Washington State Senate. On Monday they unveiled their spending plan for the next two years. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | President Signs Big Wilderness Package into Law On Monday President Obama signed into law one of the largest expansions of wilderness areas in a generation. The public lands package gives the government’s highest level of protection to half a million acres of remote canyon lands in southwest Idaho and creates five new wilderness areas in Oregon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Senate Budget Proposal: Nearly $4B in Cuts Democrats in the Washington state Senate have unveiled a budget for the next two years that makes deep cuts in education, healthcare and social services. Under the proposal, more than 7-thousand state and school employees would lose their jobs. Washington’s McNeil Island prison would be closed. And ten-thousand fewer students would be able to enroll in the state’s colleges and universities. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Spokane Sets Snow Record Spokane has now compiled its snowiest winter ever. The National Weather Service says four new inches that fell on Sunday either tied or pushed the city past a 59-year-old record. There’s still some disagreement about this winter’s total. Several other Northwest cities are also above average for snowfall. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Wheat Farmers Connect With Bakers Online Foodies can now connect with their Northwest farmers via the internet. A company that mills flour in Spokane has launched a new web site. It allows customers to track their bag of flour back to the exact Washington, Oregon or Idaho farms where the wheat came from. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | As Fed Cigarette Taxes Rise, Oregon Mulls its Own Hike The Federal tax on cigarettes will more than double this week, to over a dollar a pack. And if that’s not enough to make smokers’ eyes water, lawmakers in Oregon are considering their own increase in the tobacco tax. Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Schism Develops Between Unions and Democrats in Olympia A chill has settled over the normally cozy relationship between Washington Democrats and labor unions. The Governor and leaders in the legislature have gotten sideways with organized labor over labor’s top legislative priority. Now some union leaders are hinting at political retaliation. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Wants More Regulation of Tax Refund Loan Companies Are you expecting a refund from the IRS this year? A tax preparer may ask you how fast you want it. A measure under consideration in Oregon would more tightly regulate the companies that promise you quick cash when you file your taxes. Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Scientists Release Report on Northwest Fish Hatcheries A scientific review team concludes Northwest salmon hatcheries have to change the way they do business if the region is to see more wild fish return from the sea. This panel produced a thousand pages of praise and criticism and detailed suggestions. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Authorities Investigate Wolf Poaching Case in N. Central Washington State and federal wildlife authorities are investigating the likely poaching of an endangered wolf from the first pack to re-establish in Northern Washington. According to court documents, the case dates back to December – but is just now coming to light. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Alaska Volcano Eruption Strands Thousands at Sea-Tac Flights bound for Anchorage from the Northwest are moving again. Alaska’s Mount Redoubt volcano erupted three times between yesterday and Friday morning. Alaska and Continental airlines grounded more than 100 flights. Several thousand passengers were affected since yesterday because of the volcano. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU Global Animal Health Initiative Moves Forward Washington State University Regents have approved the construction drawings for the new building which would house the university’s School for Global Animal Health in Pullman. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Cool Spring Means Slow Plant Growth You’re not dreaming if you think your tulips are behind schedule. Our cold spring has gardens blooming late and more importantly, commercial crops like asparagus are behind because of the weather. Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Richland Bombers Come Under Attack for Atomic Cloud Logo Around Richland most don’t think twice about children sporting athletic sweatshirts and lettermen jackets bearing atomic clouds. But lately Richland High School’s logo has come under fire from community members and outsiders alike. They say it’s time to replace the cloud. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Abuse of Children Increases in Down Economy Says Advocates A group of sheriffs and police chiefs say child abuse is on the rise since the recession started last year. They fear abuse and neglect will only get worse if the Washington legislature carries out anticipated cuts to the social safety net. Correspondent Ryan Morden explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Environmentalists to Challenge Wolf Delisting Again Thirteen environmental groups are preparing to renew their legal battle with the federal government over removal of the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List. That could make Idaho’s recently-announced fall wolf hunting season moot. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | It All Counts for the NW Census The 2010 Census is still a year away, but starting next month Census workers will fan out in Northwest neighborhoods. They could come knocking on your door. Richland Correspondent Anna King explains why. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Having Second-Thoughts about Ethanol Some Oregon lawmakers are having second thoughts about their decision to require gas sold in Oregon to be blended with ethanol. The Legislature is considering a variety of measures that would roll back some of the standards put in place just two years ago. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | ATV Enthusiasts Worry About Losing Trails in National Forests Motorsports enthusiasts are apprehensive about plans to limit off-highway vehicle recreation to specific areas on National Forest land in the Northwest. The Forest Service is developing a series of maps that clarify where ATV’s, motorcycles and dune buggies are allowed to roam. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Higher Education Faces Nearly 6% Cuts Legislative budget writers in Idaho have presented a budget that would cut spending in higher education in the state by almost six percent. Glenn Mosley has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fire Fighting Jumbo Jet for Hire The world’s largest aircraft tanker has received federal certification to fight wildfires. That’s a key milestone for Evergreen International Aviation and its converted Boeing 747. The McMinnville, Oregon company now has to convince firefighting agencies to lease the plane, as Kristian Foden-Vencil reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Green Energy May Come with Rate Shocks Major Northwest utilities are ahead of schedule in meeting state requirements to provide green energy. Still, some electric companies are chafing under the two year old standards and warn of future “rate shocks.” Correspondent Tom Banse has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Education Advocates Pack Hearing in Olympia The issue of education reform in Washington state is firing up teachers, parents and students. Today [Wednesday] nearly a hundred people showed up in Olympia to testify on pending legislation. It would re-define basic education in Washington, with the aim of improving the quality of schools. The bill would also create a new formula for distributing state dollars to districts. Mary Jean Ryan sits on the Washington Board of Education. She urged lawmakers to not delay any longer. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Billions for Road Projects in WA Senate Transportation Budget The Washington State Senate has rolled out a 4.4-billion dollar transportation budget that will fund more than 400 projects over the next six years. This includes the state’s share of several mega-projects. Among them: Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement, a new 520 bridge over Lake Washington, and the North-South freeway in Spokane. But Senate Transportation Chair Mary Margaret Haugen (HOW-gen) has a warning to local officials: don’t let bickering over details hold-up projects. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Elementary School Students Lobby for Washington State Mammal Washington state already has an official state bird and state marine mammal. After a committee hearing Wednesday, the state is one step closer to having an official endemic mammal. Students from Seattle’s Wedgewood Elementary School have been lobbying the legislature to honor the Olympic Marmot. Ryan Morden reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | What Reforms Will Grow Out of WA’s Budget Crisis? Historically, budget crises in Washington have spawned reforms designed to avoid future financial calamities. In the 1980s it was a new council to better predict downturns in the economy. More recently it was a constitutionally protected rainy day fund. Now – in the midst of this latest crisis - a new idea is gaining traction. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Tries to Stay Ahead of Invasive Mussels The state of Idaho is going to war against an especially invasive aquatic pest. An Idaho Senate committee has voted to tax boaters to fund that war. State water officials say, as far as they know, the Zebra and Quagga mussels haven’t made an appearance yet in Idaho and they’d like to keep it that way. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Low-Down Economy Squeezes Northwest Cattle Producers Cattle prices are depressed and ranchers are suffering under the low-down economy. Across the Northwest, cattle ranchers are cutting back their herds and hunkering down trying to survive. Record-high hay and grain costs combined with plummeting cattle prices are putting many ranchers out of business. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Budget Writers Planning for even Bigger Deficit The next budget forecast in Oregon is still six weeks away, but Legislative budget writers are already preparing for a bigger than anticipated deficit. One sign of that: They’ve asked state agencies to trim a whopping 30 percent out of spending plans for the next two-year fiscal cycle. Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Senator Offers Sneak Peak at Budget Cuts OLYMPIA, WA - In the coming days, Democrats in the Washington state House and Senate will unveil their long-awaited proposals for the next two-year budget. In the meantime, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown is providing some early details on cuts Senate Democrats are planning to close the state’s 9-billion dollar budget gap. She spoke with our Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho May Eliminate Funding for Women’s Commission After more than forty years of operation, The Idaho Women’s Commission will likely be going out of business later this year. Don Wimberly reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Scientists Study Small Earthquakes Beneath Hanford Scientists at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation are studying new data coming in about a swarm of earthquakes in southeast Washington. They installed new equipment because there have been about 700 small quakes near the Columbia River since the first of the year. And their frequency appears to be increasing. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Would You Like Your Fish Fresh, Frozen... or Alive?! Fishermen on the Oregon and northern California coasts – and fish farmers in Idaho -- have discovered a stable niche catering to the live market. No longer are your seafood choices limited to fresh or frozen. In cities with a Chinatown, you can pick your dinner out of a live fish tank. Tom Banse begins our story at sea off Newport, Oregon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Legislature Moves Toward Health Care for All Kids A bill in the Washington legislature would expand access to the state’s health insurance program. The measure would allow families earning up to 3-times the federal poverty level to enroll their kids in what’s known as “Apple Health.” For a family of 4, that’s 66-thousand dollars a year. Teresa Mosqueda [mos-KAY-dah] with the group Children’s Alliance says the bill makes it possible to provide health insurance for every child in Washington. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Environmentalists Enlist Carole King for Wilderness Push The fate of new wilderness areas in Oregon and Idaho will be back before Congress this week. The U-S House is scheduled to vote again on a bill that would protect more than two million acres of federal land in nine states. This comes as environmentalists are lobbying for another, much larger wilderness bill. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports its sponsors are enlisting the help of a well-known singer/songwriter. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Is WA Gov Softening Her Stance on New Taxes? Washington Governor Chris Gregoire appears to be softening her “no-new-taxes” stance. She’s not embracing the idea of a tax hike, but her rhetoric is becoming more nuanced as the state’s fiscal crisis worsens. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Mt. Redoubt Erupts Near Anchorage, Some Flights Canceled A volcanic eruption near Anchorage, Alaska is dropping ash on surrounding villages and prompting Alaska Airlines to cancel some flights. Mount Redoubt is sending ash columns as high as 60-thousand feet into the air. Winds are pushing the ash away from the most populated areas. But a thin layer of heavy residue has fallen on the isolated village of Skwentna [SKWENT-nah]. Steve Childs helps run a lodge there. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Proposes Early Release of Some Women Inmates Washington Governor Chris Gregoire is proposing the early release of some inmates to help balance the state budget. Specifically, the Governor today floated the idea of releasing lower-risk woman inmates whose children are in foster care. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Cost of Dying Could Increase in Oregon Dying in Oregon could soon get more expensive. Tomorrow a Legislative Committee will take up a measure that would nearly triple the cost of a death certificate. Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Labor Groups Resign from WA Tax Hike Coalition For several weeks now a coalition of labor, healthcare, education and environmental groups have been working on a tax hike proposal for Washington state. But now three major members of that coalition have walked away from the table. Austin Jenkins reports on what caused the splinter. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington Social Service Caseloads Go Up State governments in the Northwest are in a tough place. Funding pressures are forcing states to cut back on social programs at the very time when more people need help. Caseloads are way up across the region, but the problem is especially acute in Spokane. As part of our long-term focus on poverty, Doug Nadvornick puts a face on the numbers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | British MPs Meet With WA Lawmakers For Climate Change Lawmakers in Olympia, trying to curb greenhouse gases, got advice from some of their counterparts in London today [Friday]. Members of the British Parliament are tackling some of the same policy questions to address climate change. Ryan Morden has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA DNR Chief Wants Early Retirements, Not Lay-Offs Timber prices are plunging and that means a wave of lay-offs are imminent at Washington’s Department of Natural Resources. Now Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark is asking the Governor and legislature for help. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington Social Service Caseloads Go Up State governments in the Northwest are in a tough place. Funding pressures are forcing states to cut back on social programs at the very time when more people need help. Caseloads are way up across the region, but the problem is especially acute in Spokane. As part of our long-term focus on poverty, Doug Nadvornick puts a face on the numbers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gonzaga Students Cheer on the Zags The Gonzaga University men’s basketball team is moving on to the second round of the N-C-double-A Tournament. The Zags beat the Akron Zips last night (Thursday) in Portland. Doug Nadvornick watched the game at the Gonzaga student center in Spokane. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Ancient Rituals in Backyards: Native American Sweat Lodges In the Northwest, many religions thrive without attracting much attention. In fact, in many modern-day backyards people still practice the ancient Native American ritual of stepping inside sweat lodges. If longhouses are cathedrals, then sweat lodges are chapels. Correspondent Anna King steps inside one at the Umatilla Reservation. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington’s Deficit Now Nearly Nine Billion Dollars Washington state’s projected budget deficit has now ballooned to nearly 9 billion dollars. The latest revenue forecast, released today [Thursday], predicts state coffers will take another half billion dollar hit through 2011. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Top WA Senator Expects Tax Package as Deficit Soars to Nearly $9B Today [Thursday] lawmakers got the news that state revenues are down, and that means Washington’s deficit for the next two years is now approaching nine billion dollars. Senator Rodney Tom, a key Democrat on the budget committee, says a budget-balancing tax hike appears increasingly likely to come before Washington voters in June or November. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hundreds Rally Against Expanding Domestic Partnership Benefits in WA Social conservative activists rallied on the capitol steps in Olympia Thursday against expanding the benefits included in Washington’s domestic partnership law. The bill that’s become known as “everything but marriage” would allow full legal benefits for domestic partners, without marriage itself. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Census Pinpoints Fastest and Slowest Growing NW Counties South-central Washington’s Tri-Cities saw the fastest population growth among metropolitan areas in the Northwest between 2007 and 2008. Idaho Falls and Bend, Oregon are close behind, according to fresh population estimates out today (Thurs.) from the U-S Census Bureau. The poor economy has slowed migration overall. Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | State Hospital Superintendent Pleads for More Staffing Oregon is moving ahead with plans to replace the crumbling Oregon State Hospital in Salem. But officials at the mental health facility say a new building isn’t enough. They told a Legislative committee today (Thursday) they need a massive influx of new staff members for the facility. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Cascade, Idaho Adjusts to Tamarack Resort Closure The housing boom a few years ago helped create a string of mega-resorts across the West. One of those was Tamarack in the scenic high country of central Idaho. But the upscale European-style ski resort closed in February, about a quarter of a billion dollars in debt. No one knows what will happen to it next, including the people of the nearby town of Cascade. Doug Nadvornick paid a visit and found residents adjusting to their new economic reality. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hanford Announces Possible Stimulus Projects Department of Energy officials say a new influx of federal stimulus money will go toward shrinking the footprint of the Hanford site in southeast Washington and help protect the Columbia River from radioactive contamination. Today the federal agency released a list of possible projects it plans to move forward with. Richland Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Study on Logging Steep Slopes Suggests Landslides Likely Scientists are wrapping-up a year-long study into logging on steep slopes in Southwest Washington state. Preliminary results reveal that even moderate slopes slid during a major rainstorm in December 2007. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Locke Receives Gentle Grilling by U.S. Senate Former Washington Governor Gary Locke got a gentle grilling from U-S Senators today. During a confirmation hearing, the Senate Commerce Committee gave every indication that Locke will receive easy approval as the next Secretary of Commerce. Locke told the Senators that he wants to reduce the U-S trade deficit by increasing exports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Bike Advocates Want Oregon to Follow Idaho’s Lead Oregon cyclists may soon have legal permission to do something that many of them do anyway: Roll through stop signs without coming to a complete stop. A bill to allow that was the subject of a legislative hearing today. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Locke on Fast Track to Cabinet Confirmation The only Obama Cabinet nominee from the Northwest appears on the fast track to confirmation. Former Washington Governor Gary Locke endured two-and-a-half hours of lecturing and gentle grilling from U-S Senators today. In the end, Republicans and Democrats voiced support for the Commerce Secretary nominee. Tom Banse reports on the confirmation hearing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gambling: A Recession-Resistant Industry? The gambling industry was once considered recession proof, but we’re in the midst of the deepest recession most of us have ever experienced. Even Northwest casino operators and state lottery managers have seen their luck change. Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Basketball Fans Scramble for Tickets Eight Northwest college men’s basketball teams will play in post-season tournaments this week. Their fans are scrambling to get tickets. The hardest to score are for the N-C-double-A regional games in Portland and Boise. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Faces An All Cuts Budget: Some Say “Right On” Others Say “No" State lawmakers in Olympia are getting ready to show what programs will be slashed and by how much. Unionized state workers rallied outside the capitol today to protest an “all-cuts” approach to balancing the budget. Laura Reisdorph [REES-dorf] says the welfare of the most vulnerable is at stake. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Floats Idea of Tuition Surcharge Washington Governor Chris Gregoire is floating the idea of a tuition surcharge to offset cuts to the state’s 4-year universities. The Democratic Governor wouldn’t say how much the surcharge would be. But her staff said it’s looking at scenarios that range from three to seven percent. Gregoire says she wants to avoid a reduction in subsidized enrollment slots because of budget cuts. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSP Says Union Email Not a Crime No charges will be filed over the email that prompted Washington lawmakers to kill a controversial union bill last week. The Washington State Patrol announced today that the email – which threatened to withhold political contributions from Democrats – was not criminal in nature. Captain Jeff DeVere (deh-VEER) with the State Patrol says a detective and prosecutors scoured the Revised Code of Washington to see if any laws were broken. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gregoire Lobbies Legislature to Resurrect Cap and Trade Washington Governor Chris Gregoire is trying to resurrect her proposal for a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gases. The Democratic Governor today made a rare appearance before a House committee. She told lawmakers she’s “not satisfied” with the stripped down bill that’s moving through the legislature. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington Unemployment Jumps Again Washington State’s unemployment rate has jumped again. The 8-point-4 percent jobless rate for February is more than half a point higher than January. A year ago, just 4-point-7 percent of the workforce was looking for work. Governor Gregoire calls today’s numbers “a tragedy for Washington families.” The last time the unemployment rate was this high in the Evergreen State was in 1985. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Community and Technical College Degrees Could Count For High School Diplomas A proposal in Olympia would make it so a degree from a community or technical college would also count as a high school diploma. Democratic Representative Dave Quall says his measure would help high-school students kill two birds with one stone. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Salem Debates Menu Labeling Restaurant customers in Seattle and Portland are still getting used to the idea of seeing calorie information when they place an order. Menu labeling rules have taken effect in both King and Multnomah Counties recently. Now, some Oregon lawmakers want to make it a statewide requirement. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | When it Comes to the Census, Where do Prisoners Live? There’s a move underway in Salem to change the way prisoners are counted when it comes to redrawing legislative districts. Some lawmakers are suggesting that people behind bars should be counted as residents of the place they lived at the time they were convicted. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Teacher’s Union Smacks Down Merit Pay Proposal in Legislature It’s one of the most hotly contested ideas in education today: changing the way teachers are paid. Instead of rewarding years in the classroom, teachers would be compensated based on performance in the classroom. Last week President Obama reiterated his support for the idea of “merit pay” – asit’s often called. But in Washington State, the powerful teachers’ union has smacked it down. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest Farmers Say Early Spring Cold has Damaged their Crops Spring officially arrives on Friday, but around the region it’s been feeling more like winter lately. That has growers trying to save their wheat, cherries and apples from the cold. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Budget Earmarks Include Weather Radar on NW Coast Remember the news last week about the president signing a2009 budget bill larded with more than eight thousand Congressional earmarks? Well, one of those spending provisos could result in better weather forecasts and warnings for Northwest residents and businesses. Tom Banse explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Seattle P-I Prints Last Edition Seattle will be a two-newspaper town for just one more day. TheSeattle Post-Intelligencer will print its final edition tomorrow. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Worker Privacy Bill:“We Will Try It Next Year” A few days after killing a labor-backed billfor this year, Washington House Speaker Frank Chopp says lawmakers will try to pass the same bill next year. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Flaggers Needed for Stimulus Construction Projects Part of the President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package will pay people to stand around. A steep increase in road projects means there’s high demand for flaggers. Washington state will be spending 341-million dollars on various paving projects this summer. Correspondent Ryan Morden sat in on a flagger trainingcourse and found standing around is a lot harder than it looks. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Chief Justice Roberts Visits U of I; Speaks of Lincoln U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts markedthe centennial of the University of Idaho College Of Law on Friday by urging law students to follow the example of Abraham Lincoln. Northwest Public Radio’s Glenn Mosley reports from Moscow. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lawmakers Say Health Care Reform Still on Track in Salem Despite a massive budget deficit, legislative leaders in Salem said today they’re still on track to bring universal health care to Oregon for the first time. Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Stimulus Trickles Down to Northwest Forests Federal stimulus money will soon pay for workers to thin Northwest forests considered at risk for major wildfires. The U-S Forest Service has awarded more than 12-million dollars to 10 rural counties in Oregon and Idaho. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tax Loopholes Eyed as Revenue Source for WA and OR The states of Oregon and Washington give away more money in the form of tax breaks than they bring in. That's made tax loopholes a tempting target for lawmakers. But each special tax breaks has vocal defenders - business interests and everyday people. In Oregon, homeowners deduct the interest on their mortgages from their state incomes taxes. Washington exempts food from the state's sales tax. Correspondents in Olympia and Salem looked into state tax loopholes. First, Chris Lehman... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Wood: The Hot New Renewable Energy Source Renewable energy sources are catching on in the Northwest. Windmills have become a familiar sight But wind is SO last year. The hot new form of renewable energy is actually the region’s oldest source of heat: wood... also known as biomass. Entrepreneurs are eyeing it as a potential fuel for new power plants in the Northwest. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Family of Coburn Murder Victim Hope for His Death Friends and family of murder victim Holly Washa are still hoping cal Coburn brown will die. Yesterday, they were despondent after the Washington State Supreme Court spared his life. The ruling came down just hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection. Patricia Murphy reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Saga Continues for Family of Coburn Brown Victim The man scheduled to be executed in Walla Walla, early this morning is still alive. The Washington Supreme Court granted Cal Coburn Brown a last-minute stay. He was sentenced to death back in 1991 for raping and murdering a woman in SeaTac. The family of that woman showed up outside the prison with red roses in hand, expressing grief their saga is still not over. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon&Calif. Salmon Fishers Say They Still Need Aid Expected strong returns of salmon to the Columbia River and ahealthier Klamath River salmon run are yielding brighter prospects for ocean salmon fishing this year. But commercial salmon fishers from Oregon and California say the limited improvements leave them still in need of disaster relief. Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Supreme Court Issues Stay of Execution in Cal Brown Case In a split decision, the Washington State Supreme Court hasissued a stay of execution for Cal Coburn Brown. The condemned man was scheduled to die by lethal injection just after midnight tonight. Austin Jenkins has the latest. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Just Hours Before Execution, Condemned Killer and Victim’s Family Speak Washington death row inmate Cal Coburn Brown is scheduled tobe executed just after midnight tonight at Walla Walla. A state clemency board hearing this afternoon became a last-minute forum for both the condemned and the victim’s family to plead their case. Brown spoke to the Board by phone and apologized for killing Holly Washa in 1991. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Execution Set in Idyllic Walla Walla The State of Washington is scheduled to execute its first prisoner in eight years just after midnight tonight. Cal Coburn Brown was convicted in 1991 of a brutal murder and rape of a woman in SeaTac. The execution will happen in Walla Walla. An idyllic town that’s nestled amid wheat fields and vineyards at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Move Towards Popular Vote of President The state of Oregon is one step closer to joining the national movement to elect the President of the United States by popular vote. Supporters of the plan say it’s a way to even the playing field and give smaller states more say in who becomes President. The Oregon House approved the plan today. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | U.S. House Rejected NW Public Lands Bill U.S. House Democrats fell two votes short yesterday of protecting more than 2 million acres of public lands. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Seattle Police Chief Nominated as Drug Czar Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has been nominated as the nation's drug czar. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Climate Regulations Voluntary in WA The Washington State Senate has dealt a blow to a plan to cap global warming pollution on a regional basis. On Wednesday, the Democratically-controlled Senate passed a so-called“cap-and-trade” system lacking the strict enforcement that advocates had proposed. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho’s Governor Releases Stimulus Spending Plan Of the three Northwest states, Idaho receivedthe smallest amount from the federal stimulus package. And it has created a unique process for distributing it. Tomorrow, Idaho Governor Butch Otter will present the plan he released today for spending one-and-a-quarter billion dollars. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Murray asks Energy Secretary Chu to visit Hanford Nuclear Site While campaigning for president, candidate Barak Obama admittedthat he didn’t know much about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. But Northwest legislators are hoping to change that. The Eastern Washington site is home to the mess left over from plutonium production during WWII and the Cold War. At a Senate committee hearing today Washington Democrat Patty Murray questioned Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu. She got an awkward response when she pressed him to visit Hanfor ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Email from WA Labor Triggers WSP Investigation; Dems Kill Bill Majority Democrats in the Washington State legislature havekilled organized labor’s top priority bill for this session. The decision comes after someone in the labor community sent an email this week that apparently suggested if Democrats didn’t move the bill it would cost them campaign contributions. Now the Washington State Patrol is investigating. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington Voters Mixed on School Taxes Even in hard economic times, Washington voters are choosing to tax themselves to pay for education. In a special election yesterday, 25 out of 28 school levies passed around the state. But taxpayers appear more reluctant to spend for school capital projects. Only half of the 14 bond issues won approval. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Labor Bill Dead; WSP Asked to Investigate Questionable Email The Washington State Labor Council says it“regrets” an incident that has now triggered a State Patrol investigation and led lawmakers to kill a controversial labor-backed bill. At issue is an email that apparently suggested majority Democrats would pay a price in lost campaign contributions if they didn’t move the so-called “WorkerPrivacy Act.” Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Federal Court Backs WA in Nuclear Waste Storage Suit Against DOE The Federal Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled today that Washington State doesn’t have to store other states’ dangerous radioactive waste forever. It also ruled that the state has the right to enforce cleanup deadlines for certain kinds of waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near the Tri-Cities. Correspondent Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fort Lewis Soldier Faces Manslaughter Charges in Connection to Teen’s Death A military trial is the next step for a Fort Lewis soldier who has been charged in connection with death of a teenage girl found on the base in February. Correspondent Ryan Morden explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Concealed Weapons Permit Holders Demand Privacy People packing heat in Oregon may soon be able to doso a little more privately. Support is growing in the Legislature for a bill that would prevent information about concealed weapons permits from becoming public. The measure got its first public hearing today Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lawmakers Say Debt Management Offers Often Too Good to be True Consumer advocates say more people have fallen prey toget-out-of-debt scams as the economy heads south. A bill under consideration in the Oregon Legislature would require debt relief companies to register with the state. The measure would also cap fees and prohibit misleading advertising. Cory Streisinger (STRY-sin-jer) of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services says there are legitimate organizations that do help people under the burden of heavy debt. But sh ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Bill Gates’ Father and Others Want WA Income Tax for High Earners As Washington state faces an 8-billion dollar budgetcrisis, there’s a renewed call for a state income tax. Bill Gates’ father and others, writing in the Seattle P-I today, are proposing a tax on high income earners for education. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Fort Lewis Soldier Charged for the February Death of Girl Manslaughter and Drug dealing charges have been filedagainst a Fort Lewis soldier in connection with the death of a 16-year-old girl. The teen was one of two girls found unconscious in barracks on the post in mid February. At a press conference today a Colonel John Robinson said army investigators determined Leah King died from snorting crushed up prescription drugs. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Bullying Still a Problem Despite 2001 Oregon Law In 2001, Oregon lawmakers passed a bill aimed at cracking down on schoolyard bullying. But those who pushed for the bill say it hasn’t worked. A new bill that would require school districts to more aggressively deal with it. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Polls Show Washingtonians Open to Taxes Washington voters are certainly not thrilled about taxes. But they are open to paying higher taxes to save the state’s social safety net. That’s the conclusion of polling and focus groups conducted by unions and others who are looking for alternatives to deep budget cuts. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Execution of Cal Coburn Brown Remains on Schedule The Washington state Supreme Court denied two requests to stay the execution of Cal Coburn Brown. The State Department of Corrections is preparing to execute Brown on Friday. Patricia Murphy reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Anti-Bullying Policies Examined in Salem Schoolyard bullies are under the microscope in Salem.Lawmakers are considering a measure that backers say will strengthen school districts’ anti-bullying policies. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA State Senate Vote Gives Graduating Students a Break on WASL Math In Olympia, the Washington state Senate voted today to remove one obstacle to graduation for some students.The bill will give a break to high-school students who failed the math portion of the WASL [WAH-sul]. Under current law, high-school students must pass the state-wide math assessment in order to graduate. But many students who fail don’t know they must retake the math portion again untilthey pass it. Democrat Senator Fred Jarrett says the bill will affect how many kids gra ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Gov Interested in Bond Measure for Schools Washington Governor Chris Gregoire doesn't think voters have muchappetite for tax hikes. But she is floating the idea of asking the public to approve a statewide bond measure. She said today it would pay for physical improvements at Washington schools. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | NW Bank Jumpstarts Sales with 4% Fixed Rate Mortgage For a while now, homebuilders and sellers have been asking themselves how low do prices and mortgage rates have to fall to lure buyers off the sidelines. We’re learning one answer. Correspondent Tom Banse reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Chief Justice John Roberts to Visit U of I U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will visit Idaho this week to help the University Of Idaho College Of Law mark its centennial. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Secret Nature of Writing a State Budget Backroom political deals in smoke-filled rooms may be a thing of the past. But politicians do still meet in secret. In particular, state lawmakers gather behind closed doors to write budgets. It’s happening right now in Olympia as the legislature faces down a potential 8-billion dollar shortfall. Correspondent Austin Jenkins tried to take us inside one of those private meetings. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gray Wolf Formally Delisted in Idaho and Montana Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has upheld a Bush administration decision to move the gray wolf in Idaho and Montana off of the Endangered Species List. Conservation groups say they’re disappointed and plan to appeal the ruling…as Inland Northwest Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Budget Gap Grows as Demand for State Services Rises Washington state’s yawning budget gap just took another 175-million dollar hit. This time it’s not because of lost tax revenue. Instead demand for state services is on the rise as the economy declines. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Proposed Child Protection Law Moves Forward in Olympia A committee of state lawmakers in Olympia approved a bill today aimed at keeping convicted child abusers from supervising children. The proposal would bar anyone convicted of first degree child assault from babysitting while on parole or probation. The bill known as “Eryk’s Law” is named for Rachel Pierce’s son Eryk. She doesn’t want the man who severely beat her infant allowed anywhere near children upon his release. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Reaches Record Unemployment Idaho’s unemployment rate hits a new record, reaching its highest level in 21 years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Legislature Bridges Budget Gap A plan to balance Oregon’s 855 million dollar budget gap is now awaiting Governor Ted Kulongoski’s signature. The House Thursday signed off on the package, which brings current spending back into balance. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Supreme Court; 2/3rds Vote Requirement to Raise Taxes Stands The rule that it takes a two-thirds vote of the Washington legislature to raise taxes – stands. The State Supreme Court today dismissed a lawsuit filed by Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, a Spokane Democrat. Brown wanted the court to toss-out the super-majority rule. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has the story. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington Studies Using Idaho Water The state of Washington is looking for a way to put more water into the Spokane River during the dry summer months. Now the state’s Ecology Department is looking to its neighbor to the east. Researchers will study whether Washington could pipe water from a north Idaho lake and inject it into the aquifer that runs under Spokane. But Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports it’s not clear whether Idaho will go for the idea. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | What to do With Hanford’s Waste as Yucca Mountain Plan Changes For two decades the plan at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was to send the worst radioactive waste to a storage facility deep inside Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now the Obama administration appears to be changing that plan. The president’s recently released budget would cut money for most everything at Yucca. That news has Hanford officials scrambling to come up with a plan B. Correspondent Anna King has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Public Finance Campaign Option for WA Judges Heard in Olympia A proposal in Olympia would change the way Washington elects state Supreme Court justices. It would establish a system of public financing. But as correspondent Ryan Morden reports, there’s no money to go forward with the idea this year. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Legislature Approves Cuts Oregon lawmakers can finally focus their attention to tackling an expected three billion dollar deficit in the next two years. That’s because they signed off on a plan today to balance the current budget that ends in June. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pink Slips and Fewer Degree Offerings at LCSC Budget cutbacks at Lewis Clark State College in Lewiston include the elimination of six degree programs and twelve staff positions. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Assisted Suicide: The Dilemma for Doctors Now that physician assisted suicide in Washington state is legal, how do doctors feel about the new reality? Correspondent Austin Jenkins re-introduces us to one physician who last fall was struggling with how to vote on Washington’s Initiative 1000. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | What Happens to Hanford's Waste if Yucca Mountain Plan Ends? For two decades the plan at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was to send the worst radioactive waste to a storage facility deep inside Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now the Obama administration appears to be changing that plan. The president’s recently released budget would cut funds for most everything at Yucca. Now Hanford officials are scrambling to come up with a plan B. Richland Correspondent Anna King has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | NW Scientists Testify to Congress about Global Warming Conservation leaders from the Northwest are finding themselves in high demand from Congress as majority Democrats plot their climate change strategy. Several Northwest experts were called to testify to Congress. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Death With Dignity Law Takes Effect Thursday Tomorrow Washington joins Oregon to become the second state in the nation to allow physician assisted suicide. On the eve of the law taking effect, opponents rallied outside the State Department of Health. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Extension Sought on Right to Sue in Oregon A bill in Salem would extend Oregon’s statute of limitations for people to sue over harm caused by defective products. A Senate committee today heard arguments on a bill that’s expected to be a battleground between trial lawyers and business groups. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Assisted Suicide Law Starts Thursday First Oregon, now Washington. Starting tomorrow terminally ill patients in Washington state - with less than six monthsto live - can request a lethal prescription from their doctor. There is a 15-day waiting period. The so-called “Death with Dignity Act” is modeled after Oregon’s decade-old law. Terry Barnett with Compassion and Choices says the names of patients who choose to die under the law won’t be made public, but there will be a reporting requirement. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho Stimulus Lists Due Today The federal stimulus money is starting to workits way to the some of the most pressing transportation projects in the region. One of those is a crumbling bridge in north Idaho. State agencies have now handed in their requests to a vetting committee appointed by Idaho Governor Butch Otter. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Nursing in Public in WA a Civil Right The Washington House unanimously passed a bill that would protect a mother’s right to breast feed in public. The bill declares nursing a baby a civil right under Washington state’s laws against discrimination. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Early Deployment to Iraq for Fort Lewis Fourth Stryker Brigade Soldiers from the Fourth Stryker Brigade at Fort Lewis are preparing to deploy to Iraq this fall, now that they’ve been called earlier than expected. The troops are replacing solders being redeployed to Afghanistan. Correspondent Ryan Morden has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Jesuit Bankruptcy Brings Anxiety to Catholic Institutions Attorneys have begun the long process of adding up the assets and debts of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus. The Jesuit order based in Portland recently declared bankruptcy. The Jesuits have already settled about 200 claims of clergy sex abuse. How much is the Oregon Province of the Jesuit order worth? Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick looks at the issue from one Jesuit institution, Gonzaga University in Spokane. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lawmakers Want Voters to Alter Kicker Oregon has a quirky law called the kicker. That meanswhen times are good and state coffers are flush, taxpayers can expect a kicker refund check in the mail. Times are certainly not flush now, but economists are warning that despite a looming three billion dollar budget deficit, the state could still be in the position of dishing out kickercash two years from now. A group of Oregon lawmakers introduced a measure today that would keep that from happening. Chris Lehman explai ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Record Set for Total Charitable Contributions to U.S. Higher Education U.S. colleges and universities set a record in charitable donations in 2008, according to a new report from theCouncil on Aid to Education. But 2009 looks like a question mark. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Obama reverses Bush Endangered Species Policy A late change to endangered species rules by the Bush Administration lasted less than seven weeks. President Obama today ordered federal agencies to do full scientific reviews of potentially harmful projects, as was required before. Tom Banse explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lawmakers Propose Making Kicker Less Likely Oregon’s iconic kicker refunds would become less likely under a measure introduced today in Salem. The proposal would go before voters. It’s meant to shore up the state’s fledgling rainy day fund. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Gas Tax Proposal Could be Higher than First Proposed Oregon lawmakers were already considering a two centper gallon increase in the Oregon gas tax. Now, that could go even higher. The idea is part of a massive transportation bill that got its first hearing at the capitol today. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho’s Tamarack Resort to Close This Week The ritzy Tamarack Resort in central Idaho willclose its doors on Wednesday. Four years ago, the ski area and golf course about two hours north of Boise became a popular investment for people who wanted second homes. Now the resort is deep in debt and turning off its chair lifts before the end of the ski season. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Budget Cuts Mean Fewer Polygraphs for Sex Offenders in WA Washington state’s budget crisis means lower-risk sex offenders in Tacoma’s Pierce County will only be polygraphed once a year - not the four times a year higher risk offenders are truth-tested. That’s according to an internal memo obtained by public radio. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sea Lions’ Days Numbered at Bonneville Dam Starting this week the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho have federal permission to kill sea lions that prey on endangered salmon in the Columbia River. State wildlife biologists have set floating traps on the river just below Bonneville Dam. Correspondent Tom Banse has details and reaction from the scene. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Considers Ban on Destination Resorts Oregon's House Land Use committee will discuss a possible ban on any more destination resorts - including those near the pristine Metolius River. Ethan Lindsey reports from Bend. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | U of I Poverty Fighting Program Expands to Southern Idaho The University of Idaho’s Horizons program, which helps local communities fight poverty, has expanded into southern Idaho. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sea Lion Removals Set to Resume Next Week California sea lions feasting on salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River don't have much time left. State wildlife managers from Oregon and Washington said today they're prepared to begin removing the sea lions next week. Those wildlife managers showed off traps at Bonneville Dam that will be used to capture some of the animals. Washington state wildlife biologist Steve Jefferies says the first eight sea lions that are caught will be exiled to aquariums around the country. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Courts Likely to Close Each Friday Through June Oregon will most likely have a four-day-a-week court system for the next four months. Oregon Chief Justice Paul De Muniz (MEW-nez) said today that legislative budget cuts mean Oregon courts will close each Friday between mid-March and the end of June. The cuts are part of an 862 million dollar state budget balancing plan. The package is up for a vote in the Legislature next week. De Muniz says he’s concerned lawmakers may carry the cuts over into the next budget cycle. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Concerns Over Increased Navy Activity Along Oregon Coast Some residents of Tillamook, Oregon say they are worried that an expansion of Navy training operations could affect fishing and marine wildlife off the Oregon Coast. Many people turned out last night for a public meeting with the Navy about its plans to expand in the Pacific Northwest. Navy military operations specialist Brian Wauer (WOW-er) told the OPB program Think Out Loud these proposed operations won't likely be noticed along the Oregon coast. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Raid Funds to Balance Budget The budget writing committee in the Oregon Legislature voted today on a plan to fill the gap in the current fiscal year’s budget. That plan would raid certain accounts that are designated for other purposes, and funded with user fees. Chris Lehman explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Senate Planning Cuts 60% Beyond Governor’s Budget; Taxes On Table The Washington state senate is writing a budget that calls for cuts sixty percent beyond what Governor Chris Gregoire proposed back in December. That’s the word today from Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown of Spokane. But Brown clearly believes an all cuts budget will be too draconian. So she’s talking more openly about a tax increase to help balance the budget. The problem she says: Washington’s current tax structure is regressive and that makes it hard to know what tax to raise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon's Unemployment Rate Nears 10 Per Cent Unemployment in Oregon is rising at its fastest rate since the early 1980's. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, it hit 9-point-9 percent in January and looks like it will continue increasing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tensions Flare Between WA Gov and Labor Unions Tensions are flaring between Governor Chris Gregoire and the unions that have supported her. The head of Washington state’s largest labor organization is calling for a tax hike to balance the budget. The Governor opposes that idea. Meanwhile, the head of the state’s largest public employee union says she feels betrayed by the Governor. Austin Jenkins has details. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Charitable Giving in Recession Not All Down Some Northwest charities are finding that some people are more generous during a recession than when times are good. Correspondent Tom Banse reports the downturn is affecting charities unevenly. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Northwest States Get More Tobacco Money Tobacco companies paid 19-million dollars to the three Northwest states today. The cash is one part of a 540-million dollar sum that the companies withheld from the 46 states that were part of that huge 1998 tobacco settlement. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Joins Washington in Hanford Lawsuit Oregon is joining the state of Washington in a lawsuit over clean-up at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The two states allege the federal government is falling decades behind in its goal to clean up radioactive waste. It was left behind from plutonium production during World War Two and the Cold War. Oregon Attorney General John Kroger says even though the plant is in Washington state, waste leaking out of the site could end up in Oregon Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Small Towns in Eastern Washington Battling Increasing Gang Activity Police say gang activity is on the rise in the Northwest – even in small towns. Now in the agricultural burg of Sunnyside, near Yakima, Washington, police and community groups are trying to fight back. This Friday, the community will begin work developing a new anti-gang action plan. As Correspondent Anna King reports, the move was prompted by a murder thought to be gang related. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Mixed Bag in Ocean Salmon Fishing Forecast A new outlook from federal regulators presents a mixed bag for salmon fishing in the ocean this year. Things are looking up for commercial and sports fishing off the northern Oregon and Washington Coasts. But the forecast remains grim farther south. Tom Banse has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WA Law Would Ban Sale of Baby Bottles Containing the Chemical BPA A bill in the Washington legislature would ban the sale of baby bottles, sippy cups and other food containers made with the chemical bisphenol-A (BIS-finn-all AEY). It’s been dubbed “The Baby Bottle Act of 2009”. The bill’s sponsor -- Democratic Representative Mary Lou Dickerson -- says the chemical known as B-P-A can induce diabetes, cancer, and developmental disorders. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Joins Lawsuit Over Hanford Cleanup Oregon is joining a lawsuit against the federal government over Hanford. Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski says cleanup has been delayed at the nuclear site for too long. Rachael McDonald has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Locke as Commerce Secretary Good for NW Business The nomination of former Washington Governor Gary Locke to be Commerce Secretary bodes well for Northwest companies like Boeing and Microsoft. It means they’ll have a personal relationship with a cabinet-level official in the Obama administration. Austin Jenkins explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant Contractor Announces Layoffs A new plant is going up at Hanford. The plant is supposed to eventually treat highly radioactive waste and cook the caustic mixture into more stable glass logs. But today the company building that plant announced it will be laying off about 80 people. That’s despite a new influx of cash expected from the federal stimulus package. Anna King reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Unemployment Surges Higher in Washington State Unemployment has jumped again across Washington State. In January, Washington’s unemployment rate rose to 7-point-8 percent. That’s up from 7-point-one percent in December. Correspondent Tom Banse reports on how high the unemployment rate could go. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Idaho Case An Idaho teachers’ union says it’s disappointed, but not crushed, by today’s U-S Supreme Court ruling upholding an Idaho law. It limits certain payroll deductions for public employees. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Family Fight Over Obama Transportation Stimulus Money in WA Deciding how to spend road money in the federal stimulus package is starting to look like a family fight over an inheritance. Seattle officials are unhappy with how the Washington legislature has divvied-up 340-million in transportation stimulus dollars. Austin Jenkins explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Former WA Gov Locke Said to be Commerce Pick President Obama is expected to tap former Washington Governor Gary Locke to be his Commerce Secretary. That’s the news coming out of Washington, D.C. today. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Hearing on Beer Tax Increase Proposal Drew Crowds The first hearing on a proposal to increase Oregon’s beer tax drew overflow crowds in Salem today. Craft brewers, wholesalers and hops farmers packed a hearing room to protest a bill that would increase the tax on a pint of beer by around 15 cents. Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi (Nin-KAH-see) Brewing in Eugene says the tax would hurt small-scale brewers like himself. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Bill to Break Up WA’s Largest Agency Passes Out of Committee In a surprise move, a Washington state legislative committee has voted unanimously to abolish the state’s largest agency. The Department of Social and Health Services would be split into four smaller agencies under the bipartisan proposal. Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Senate Approves Public Liability Increase SALEM, OR - Government agencies could end up paying more money when they lose a lawsuit under a bill that won approval from the Oregon Senate today. The measure applies to lawsuits over government negligence. The current liability limit is 200-thousand dollars. But the Oregon Supreme Court has said that’s too low. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Idaho May Increase Beer and Wine Tax A proposal to increase Idaho’s tax on beer and wine drew a large crowd at a legislative hearing in Boise today. (Monday) Opponents have mounted an intense media campaign but supporters say its time to adequately fund substance abuse programs. Don Wimberly reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Healthcare Groups to Olympia: Hands Off Medicaid Money Healthcare advocates in Washington state are issuing a blunt message to lawmakers: don’t play a shell game with the federal stimulus money. They say the roughly two billion dollars the state is expected to get in federal Medicaid funds, should be spent on healthcare - and healthcare alone. Austin Jenkins explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hampton Jazz Festival Opens in Moscow, Idaho This Week This week Moscow, Idaho will again open its arms to the music world. For four days, the 43rd annual Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival will take over the University of Idaho campus. But festivals like these face uncertain times because of economic troubles. Doug Nadvornick reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Down Economy May Help Farmers Secure More Workers The down economy and housing bust might have an unexpected benefit for Northwest farmers. Unemployed construction workers could turn to agricultural jobs this spring and summer. That would be welcome news in Northwest farm country where growers have seen a worker shortage for the last few years. Anna King has the story. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Who Caught My Tuna? Consumers Get Tracking Tool A test that just got underway at two grocery stores will allow seafood consumers to trace back the fillet in their hand to the fisherman who caught it and the port that processed it. The hope is to strengthen the impulse to “buy local.” The new tracking tools may also cut fraud when farmed fish are sold as wild-caught. Tom Banse reports from a grocery in Portland. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Budget Woes Deepen The financial outlook in Oregon just got a whole lot worse. State economists delivered their latest forecast of state tax revenue today to a joint meeting of the Oregon House and Senate. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman was there. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | WSU AND U of I Hope to Gain from Federal Stimulus Palouse area universities hope to gain from the federal stimuluspackage. Glenn Mosley reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington’s Budget Shortfall Balloons to $8 Billion Eight billion dollars. That’s Washington state’s newly revised projected budget shortfall. It means majority Democrats in the legislature will either have to cut nearly a quarter of the state budget or ask voters to approve a tax hike. That last scenario now seems all but certain. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oregon Lawmakers Oppose National Guard Deployment Oregon lawmakers are considering several measures aimed at stopping an upcoming deployment of the Oregon National Guard to Iraq. More than three thousand citizen soldiers are scheduled to leave Oregon this summer. It comes at a time when opponents of the war are hoping to speed up the withdrawal of the U-S from Iraq. But in Salem, the action most likely to gain approval appears to be little more than a polite letter to Congress. Chris Lehman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Medical Pot Bill in WA Could Lead to More Access A bill in the Washington legislature would expand the number of health care professionals who can recommend medical marijuana to their patients. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Washington State Budget Gap Widens Further Washington State’s budget gap widened further today, becoming the largest shortfall in state history by far. A revenue update from chief economist Arun (ah-ROON) Raha puts the state operating budget around eight billion dollars in the hole. The shortfall was previously pegged at about six billion dollars for the next 2½ years. Raha says two key reasons for the plummeting tax collections are weaker consumer spending and the moribund housing market. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Transmission Line is Among First Regional Stimulus Projects Green-Lighted