A firefighter moves hazard fuel while working on the Bear Gulch fire this summer. Many in the wildland fire community believe the leadership team managing the fire sent crews into an ambush by federal immigration agents. (Facebook/Bear Gulch Fire 2025)

Local News

Firefighters question leaders’ role in Washington immigration raid

Wildfire veterans believe top officials on the fire sent their crews into an ambush.

Sun shines through the canopy in the Tongass National Forest. (Photo by Brian Logan/U.S. Forest Service)

Local News

Trump moves to rescind limits on logging in national forests

The ‘Roadless Rule’ has prohibited new road construction on vast swaths of federal land since 2001.

Everett mayor Cassie Franklin delivers her State of the City address on Friday, March 28 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)

Local News

Everett officials, among others in WA, using ChatGPT for government work

Records show that public servants have used generative AI to write emails to constituents, mayoral letters, policy documents…

The Washington state Capitol. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard)

Local News

Debate flares over WA child welfare law after rise in deaths and injuries

A Democrat who heads a House committee with jurisdiction over the policy says the Keeping Families Together Act…

Gov. Bob Ferguson in a media availability after signing the budget on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Photo by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard)

Local News

Ferguson’s top policy adviser on extended leave

It’s the latest turbulence for the Washington governor’s senior staff.

Ferguson said the state would, “not be bullied or intimidated by threats and legally baseless accusations.” (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard)

Local News

WA ‘will not be bullied or intimidated,’ Ferguson tells Bondi

The governor on Tuesday responded to a letter from the U.S. attorney general warning the state over its…

Local News

WA fire officials press for safety reforms amid accessory dwelling unit surge

Some units are getting squeezed onto lots without enough space to get emergency equipment to front doors. They…

Northwest

Police: 3 officers injured, 18 arrests in Seattle riot

A protest against the Seattle Police Officers Guild erupted into violence on Sunday night.

Paramedics and first responders attend to one of two injured workers at a worksite in 2024. Interpreters for the state Department of Labor and Industries serve those injured while working for an employer that is self-insured and does not participate in Washington’s workers’ compensation system. (Duck Paterson photo)

Local News

Washington interpreters demand state address more than $280K in missed payments

The state Department of Labor and Industries doesn’t pay these interpreters directly, but they say the agency could…

A ‘no trespassing’ sign on a fence outside the Northwest ICE Processing Center. (Photo by Grace Deng/Washington State Standard)

Local News

Tacoma detention center must pay for violating minimum wage law, appeals court affirms

The facility’s for-profit operator has argued it shouldn’t have to pay Washington minimum wage to immigrant detainees. An…

In all of 2024, the total number of Washingtonians with concealed carry licenses increased by fewer than 6,000, compared to about 14,000 already this year, state data show. (Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor)

Local News

Concealed carry licenses in Washington jump after approval of gun permit law

The number of Washingtonians licensed to carry concealed pistols is climbing rapidly in the face of a new…

Washington state Capitol on July 25, 2025. (Photo by Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard)

Local News

The message Democratic voters delivered in Washington’s primary

Results in high-profile legislative races signal distaste for President Trump and no souring on their party’s policies in…

Judge John Coughenour. (Photo provided by U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington)

Local News

‘It’s just so disgusting’: Judges in WA detail threats after Trump-related rulings

After Judge John Coughenour ruled against the Trump administration, local authorities received a false report that he’d killed…

Crews put in stripes on a stretch of express lanes on Interstate 405 in 2015. (Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation.)

Local News

New work zone speed cameras cite 7K drivers in 90 days

Thousands of Washington motorists have been caught speeding through highway work zones by new cameras the state deployed…

Amanda Cowan/The Columbian
Congressional candidate Joe Kent debates the issues with U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez at KATU studios in Portland on Monday night, Oct. 7, 2024.

Local News

US Senate confirms Joe Kent to lead a national intelligence agency

Kent lost two consecutive runs to represent southwest Washington in the U.S. House. Sen. Patty Murray slammed him…

Local News

Washington’s food banks are on the brink

Some have already pulled back on what they’re offering, as federal cuts and heightened demand drive deep worries…

A sheriff’s deputy lets a vehicle pass police tape as law enforcement works in 2022 in Everett. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

Local News

Violent crime drops in Washington as drug offenses skyrocket, latest statistics show

A new Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs report also shows the state still trails the rest…

Incumbent House members and their opponents have been raising money ahead of the 2026 midterms. (stock photo)

Local News

As 2026 midterms loom, Washington’s congressional lawmakers rake in cash

Washington’s most vulnerable Democrat in the U.S. House had a strong fundraising quarter in anticipation of a tough…

A section of the Oak Creek drainage area that was not treated with tree thinning or prescribed burns before the Rimrock Retreat Fire in 2024. Due to the forest density and a high amount of ground cover, the fire burned intensely in this area, killing all trees and destroying the soil. (Photo by Emily Fitzgerald)

Local News

Drop in state funding for WA’s work to prevent severe wildfires is stoking concerns

The state’s top public lands official is urging lawmakers to restore the spending to previous levels after they…

Joshua Kornfeld/Kitsap News Group
SNAP benefits are accepted at the Bainbridge Island Safeway.

Local News

WA sues contractor to prevent sharing of food stamp data with feds

States fear the Trump administration could use the information to target immigrants. The company said after the lawsuit…