A small stretch of Oregon highway is home to a pilot program for solar energy. As Andrew Theen reports, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and energy leaders say it's the first large-scale solar powered highway in the country.
Every couple of months The Umatilla Chemical Depot in north-east Oregon announces another milestone. Its mission is to destroy dangerous chemicals produced during World War II and the Cold War. This week depot workers have finished dismantling small cannon shells filled with nerve agent. Richland Correspondent Anna King talked with the depot’s operation manager about what it’s like to be in charge of one of America’s most dangerous factories.
It’s the dog days of summer. But that’s not slowing the leading candidates for Washington State Governor. The campaigns are heating up – with TV ads, almost daily partisan attacks and continued fundraising. Austin Jenkins reports.
Washington, Oregon and Idaho are among 25 states that don’t require DNA evidence to be saved indefinitely. That’s according to The Innocence Project – a group that works to exonerate the wrongly convicted. The group wants Northwest states to adopt model legislation. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.
Beijing, China is not only the host city for the Olympic Games. It’s also the scene of a massive science experiment to see if a smog-choked metropolis can clear its skies. An Oregon State University researcher is on the ground in Beijing helping to assess the air pollution controls. Correspondent Tom Banse called her and has this report.
The Boeing Company is looking over a document today that will give its workers in Everett a second chance. The Pentagon is starting over with its bidding process for air tankers—planes that refuel other planes in the air.
The feds say it's going to cost nearly 40 percent more to bore a huge
tunnel into Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Why should you care? That's where
Washington State plans to ship its most dangerous radioactive waste. Richland Correspondent Anna King reports.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what then is the value of a hand-drawn portrait? It’s powerful comfort for the families of fallen U-S troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. That at least is what they tell the incredibly productive artist who draws the portraits for free. Correspondent Tom Banse has this profile of a gifted Vietnam Vet with new mission.
The most endangered salmon run in the Northwest is showing rare and unexpected strength this summer. Sockeye salmon by the hundreds are completing an epic journey from the ocean high into the Idaho mountains. Correspondent Tom Banse reports.
The Weyerhaeuser Company is shrinking its corporate staff by 15-hundred positions. Most of the job cuts will fall at the timber giant’s Federal Way, headquarters.
Northwest gas prices are falling from their record highs in July. Oregon and Washington drivers are getting a better deal than their brethren in Idaho. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports from Coeur d’Alene.
Washington State voters have started to receive their ballots for this month’s primary election. One noticeable change on the ballot this year is the odd wording of party affiliations. Correspondent Tom Banse explains what’s going on.
In the heat of summer, a ski resort near Sandpoint, Idaho has winter in mind. Schweitzer Mountain is installing new snow-making equipment. Some of the Northwest’s best-known resorts already have it, but this is a first in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Coeur d’Alene Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.
A greenhouse that will help scientists learn more about the Columbia Basin’s native plants opens Monday in Richland. It’s part of Washington State University’s Tri-City campus, and was funded by fines leveled at a federal contractor for mistakes at Hanford. Anna King reports.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines plans to experiment with onboard broadband internet service starting this month. If it works, the carrier will begin installing wireless service on its fleet by the end of the year. Ed Schoenfeld reports from Sitka.
Blueberry growers commonly use booming cannons to scare birds away from the ripening crop. Up near the Canadian border, some berry farmers are experimenting with alternatives to keep the peace with neighbors but still protect crops from hungry starlings. Tom Banse reports on a case of cooperation trumping litigation.
It’s been the hottest job market in the Northwest, but for the first time in more than three years, Idaho’s unemployment rate has climbed above four percent. Coeur d’Alene Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.
If you’re one of those people thinking of sticking closer to home for your next vacation, this next story is for you. North Central Oregon’s fossil beds are getting a new tourist base and field center. There’s a ground breaking this Sunday in the aptly named and tiny town of Fossil, Oregon. Correspondent Tom Banse has more.
White roadside crosses mark the place where people die in car or motorcycle accidents. Now there's a new roadside memorial popping up in Northwest cities: a bicycle painted white. So-called “ghost bikes” are symbols of cyclists killed in accidents. Rachael McDonald brings us the story of a ghost bike memorial for one young man in Eugene, and its connection to an international bike safety movement.
The news that the Environmental Protection Agency will allow agricultural field burning in Idaho this fall is bittersweet for one northern Idaho grass grower. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.
Elections officials in Washington are mailing more than three million ballots this week for the state’s August 19th primary. It’s Washington’s first “Top Two” primary. The top two finishers in each race will advance to the November general election, regardless of their party. Doug Nadvornick reports.
Along with four other states, Oregon plans to sue the Environmental Protection Agency - again. Thursday's notice warns the EPA of two lawsuits. One asks the agency to restrict pollution from tractors and other vehicles. The other concerns emissions from ships and aircraft. Ethan Lindsey reports.
Each summer thousands of Mormon children head into the outdoors to reenact life back in the 18-hundreds. It’s called a trek. It teaches them what life was like for Mormons who left the Mid-West for the Salt Lake Valley because of religious persecution. Anna King caught up with one such group trekking through Washington.
Hold a penny in your hand. That’s about how much a hummingbird weighs. Every summer, hundreds of the tiny birds gather in a backyard just outside of Walla Walla, Washington. It’s like a truck stop on their migration to Mexico. It’s a great spot for Ned Batchelder. He’s been trapping and banding the hummers for about eight years. The bands help scientists track hummingbirds’ migratory patterns. So far Batchelder has banded about 20-thousand of the tiny creatures with his wife Gigi. We caught up with him recently. Here’s Ned’s story in his own words.
The Environmental Protection Agency is going after Northwest sun worshipers. That’s because Washington State has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the nation. The agency is launching a new program to educate kids and adults about the dangers of too much sun. Richland Correspondent Anna King reports.
Oregonians are going to be bombarded with arguments and information about the 12 measures on this year’s ballot. The campaigns are mostly under the radar right now, but there’s a fierce battle underway this week in Salem over words that will appear in your voters’ pamphlet. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman has more:
The embattled head of the Oregon Youth Authority announced his resignation today. Bob Jester’s decision comes in the wake of an investigation into wrongdoing at a state-run youth detention center. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman reports:
Don’t expect a rush of Northwest cities to follow Seattle’s lead in imposing a tax on plastic grocery bags. Portland may adopt its own tax later this year. But only one other city appears to be considering it. Doug Nadvornick reports.
Portland may follow Seattle and become the second Northwest city to impose a tax on disposable grocery bags, perhaps by the end of the year. Few, if any, other Northwest cities are rushing to join them.
The Pacific Ocean is under threat from climate change and pollution. That was the message today from three west coast governors, who announced a plan to address coastal issues. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman reports:
Bankruptcy is a common way for people and companies to deal with dire financial straits. But what happens when a government can’t pay its bills? It’s a question many counties in rural Oregon are asking. To find some answers, we sent Correspondent Chris Lehman to Curry County on the southern Oregon coast:
The penalty hearing in the Joseph Edward Duncan case has been on hold for the past three months. But not any more. A federal judge in Boise has ruled Duncan WILL be able to act his own attorney. Boise State Radio’s Don Wimberly reports.
Every summer, about this time, Will Thomas gets the same question from his friends: what was it like to find Kennewick Man? That’s the 9-thousand-year-old skeleton that was found on the banks of the Columbia River 12 years ago Monday. Correspondent Anna King recently caught up with Thomas.
The next Army Stryker brigade to deploy from Fort Lewis, will have more ordinary soldiers who can speak and read Arabic. Until now, brigades sent to the war zone from the Northwest have largely relied on Iraqi-born translators. Their dependability has varied. Correspondent Tom Banse observed infantrymen try out their new language training in a simulated Iraqi village at Fort Lewis.
In late August, a Twin Falls, Idaho judge will be asked to kick off a big water accounting project in the northern part of his state. It won’t be as big as the sorting of water rights in Idaho’s Snake River Basin, a project that took about 20 years. But for the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area, it may be every bit as important. State officials believe it will help the region avoid headaches years down the road if the demand for water overtakes the supply. Doug Nadvornick reports from Coeur d’Alene.
You know how clothing styles go in and out of fashion? The same thing happens with wine. The grape that’s “in” is Riesling, according to winemakers from around the world. They’re gathering in Seattle this weekend. Chateau Ste. Michelle education director Joel Butler says sales of Riesling have grown faster than any other white wine in the country over the past three years.
A giant underground pool at the Hanford Nuclear reservation used to hold radioactive fuel rods, sludge and garbage. But it leaked millions of gallons of that radioactive stew. Now workers have emptied the pool of its dangerous contents, and this week they began dismantle surrounding structures. Anna King reports on the demolition project.
DNA tests confirm that a wolf pack recently seen in the North Cascades are indeed wild gray wolves. Meanwhile, some Idaho residents are unhappy that the wolf is back on the Endangered Species List. Doug Nadvornick reports on these developments.
Call it biofuel backpedaling. Some Oregon lawmakers say it's time to repeal a one-year old law that requires gasoline sold to contain a 10 percent ethanol blend. Chris Lehman reports.
