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The Legislative Building is seen at dusk Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, following a session of the Legislature in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Northwest

Washington Senate, House release supplemental budget plans

Each plan looks toward reducing homelessness, adding social supports for students, and salmon recovery.

Portland police respond, on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, to a shooting in the area of Normandale Park in Northeast Portland, Ore. One person was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting at the Portland park where a march was planned to protest police violence. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)

Northwest

Police: 1 killed, 5 hurt in park shooting in Portland

At the same time as the shooting, a march was planned for Amir Locke, a Black man fatally…

Logo for news use featuring Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington. 220118

Local News

Langley’s offer of $50K to settle records lawsuits is rejected

Eric Hood sued the city over public records in 2016, 2019 and 2021. All three are unresolved.

FILE - Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks as he gives his annual State of the State address on Jan. 11, 2022, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. On Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, said that a bill sought by Inslee that would make it a crime for elected officials or candidates to knowingly lie about election outcomes if those claims result in violence would not be brought up for a vote on the Senate floor because the bill did not have enough support to clear the Democratic-led chamber. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Local News

Governor: Masks can come off March 21 in most public settings

They’ll still be required in some places, but Washington is following several other states now lifting mandates.

Former New York Times columnist Nick Kristof speaks at a news conference in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday Kristof is not eligible to run for governor because he does not meet the state's three-year residency requirement. (AP Photo/Sara Cline)

Northwest

Ex-NY Times columnist ineligible to run for Oregon governor

Nicholas Kristof does not meet the state’s three-year residency requirement, the court ruled.

FILE - In this March 3, 2021, file photo, with apartment buildings in the background, pedestrians walk past tents used by people lacking housing at Denny Park near the Space Needle in Seattle, after the park was cleared by city workers of several dozen tents. Backers of a measure that would change Seattle's approach to homelessness are appealing a judge's decision that blocked it from the November ballot. The proposal would direct the city to provide 2,000 units of housing within a year and to keep public land clear of encampments. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Northwest

Seattle-area companies give $10M to fight homelessness

Donors include Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ballmers.

The Temple of Justice is shown Thursday, April 23, 2020, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash., as Washington state Supreme Court justices hear oral arguments inside — but using remote video technology — in a case that addresses the safety of prison inmates during the coronavirus outbreak. Justices used remote video technology to conduct the court business and distance themselves from each other while broadcasting the arguments to viewers. During the hearing, lawmakers, law enforcement officials, and crime victims held a news conference to protest the release of some offenders. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Northwest

Washington justices: Animal abuse can be domestic violence

The ruling was issued in the case of a Tukwila man who savagely beat his girlfriend’s dog to…

Community Transit might soon start offering a low-income bus fare to qualified riders. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

Local News

State Supreme Court hears Everett case of bus fare checks

His lawyer contends fare checks amount to unconstitutional seizure. Justices will decide at a later date.

Steve Lerch, executive director of the Washington state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, walks in front of the Washington state flag, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, following a meeting of the council at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Lawmakers were told that the state's latest revenue forecast shows they have significantly more money to work with as they prepare to unveil their supplemental state budget proposals. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Local News

State tax collections surge again in latest revenue forecast

As Democrats fine-tune budget plans, Republicans seek tax relief amid rising tax collections and a growing surplus.

Sen. Andy Billig (D-Spokane), second from right, confers with Sen. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, right, in front of Sen. June Robinson's, D-Everett, desk on the Senate floor at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash., on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, during debate over a measure that authorizes legislative leaders to terminate any state of emergency called by the governor after 90 days if the Legislature is not in session. The measure passed the Democratic-led Senate chamber and now heads to the House, also held by Democrats, for consideration. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Local News

6 pending bills that support workers, promote pay transparency

These proposed state laws survived Tuesday’s deadline for approval by their chambers of origin.

Northwest

Senate advances funding piece of $17B transportation package

State Democrats crafted the proposal that proposes roughly $600M of state investments in Snohomish County over 16 years.

Northwest

Dead: Bill sought by governor targeting election lies

It would have made it a crime for elected officials or candidates to knowingly lie about election outcomes…

Northwest

Washington Senate OKs bill on governor’s emergency powers

The measure passed the Democrat-led chamber on a 29-20 vote and now heads to the House for consideration.

Rex Buck of the Wanapum tribe., left, rings a bell during a blessing ceremony to prepare Sacajawea State Park near Pasco, Wash., for its future art installations on Friday, Oct. 27, 2006. The park will be one of seven sites which will be getting art installations as part of the Confluence Project. The project will commemorate locations along the Columbia River Basin where waterways merge or American Indians traditionally gathered. (AP Photo/Jackie Johnston)

Northwest

Longtime leader of Native American Wanapum band dead at 66

Rex Buck Jr. helped ensure proper care for Kennewick Man for 19 years until the bones were reburied.

Joshua Michael Lanter (Washington State Department of Corrections)

Northwest

Escaped inmate with Snohomish County convictions recaptured

Joshua Lanter’s crimes included robbery, burglary, malicious mischief and motor vehicle theft.

In this photo taken Jan. 6, 2021 at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash., two men stand armed with guns at a protest supporting President Donald Trump and against the counting of electoral votes in Washington, DC, affirming President-elect Joe Biden's victory. The open carry of guns and other weapons would be banned on the Washington state Capitol campus and at or near any public demonstration across Washington under a measure that received a remote public hearing Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 by the Senate Law and Justice Committee. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Local News

Ban of guns at government meetings, ballot counting advances

The prohibition would cover open- and concealed-carry of firearms. State House Democrats overrode Republican objections.

A state Supreme Court case is threatening to do away with transit fare enforcement. (Lizz Giordano / Herald file)

Local News

Fare is fair? Everett bus rider’s case en route to state Supreme Court

Justices will hear oral arguments this week in a civil rights case that could have a massive effect…

The Monroe Correctional Complex on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022 in Monroe, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Local News

Families: Loved ones behind bars are not ‘in good spirits’

In a letter, they dispute the characterization by the state Corrections secretary after her visit in Monroe.

Northwest

2 Whatcom deputies stable after being shot, suspect arrested

The officers were trying to break up a neighborhood dispute in which two people were shooting at each…

FILE - This Nov. 7, 2017, file photo, provided by the National Park Service shows a gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. A judge on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, has ordered federal protections for gray wolves across much of the U.S. after they were removed in the waning days of the Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said in his ruling that the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without protection under the Endangered Species Act(Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service via AP, File)

Northwest

Judge restores protections for gray wolves across much of US

Recovery has brought bitter blowback from hunters and farmers angered over wolf attacks on big game and livestock.