SPR News Feed

Your next Idaho phone number might not start with 208. That’s right, Idaho is on the verge of an area code shortage.  Idaho is one of a dozen states with just one area code, but that will likely change six years from now.

Traffic is rolling across the repaired Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River this morning (Weds. morning). That completes a hasty, round-the-clock salvage and reconstruction job. It started less than four weeks ago when an oversize load brought down the vital bridge. Northwest Washington drivers and businesses are relishing a return to normal.

The new secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy visits Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington today . Ernest Moniz has a lot to tackle here in the Northwest with the leaking underground tanks of radioactive waste and the troubled waste treatment plant.

There’s suddenly a flurry of talk in Olympia about a quick resolution to the weeks-long budget stalemate. The change in rhetoric follows Tuesday’s positive revenue and caseload forecasts.

The man who identified the quietest place in the Lower 48 - dubbed the "One Square Inch of Silence" - is himself going deaf. This Olympic Peninsula fellow campaigned against noise pollution, particularly at his symbolic spot in the Hoh Rain Forest (in Olympic National Park). The self-described "Sound Tracker" is now in a race to edit his life's work before he loses more of his hearing.

At the Hanford Nuclear Reservation it may take six years to start emptying a leaking double-hulled tank of waste there, the federal government says in a new report.

Timber industry giant Weyerhauser is about to get even bigger. The Federal Way, Washington-based company announced Monday that it's buying Longview Timber in a sale valued at more than $2.6 billion.

Monday the Seattle City Council is expected to endorse a Climate Action Plan to make Seattle “carbon neutral” by the year 2050. It’s looking to reduce energy use to meet that goal. But the council is also considering zoning for a new power-hungry business: indoor marijuana growing.

Washington prisons would stay open, but much of the state would not if there’s a government shutdown. Governor Jay Inslee met with his cabinet Wednesday to begin contingency planning if there’s no budget by the end of the month. That’s the start of the new fiscal year.

The Seattle-area scientist who led the team that first automated the sequencing of DNA says he’s pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court decision Thursday.  That decision says, in effect, that human genes cannot be patented.

Washington State University has scrapped plans to expand its academic offerings at a satellite college center in Everett. It blames budget uncertainty in the Washington State legislature. The university made the announcement Thursday because it can’t pull together the additional degree offerings planned to begin in August if funding isn’t secure.

Senator Patty Murray laid out her priorities for immigration reform today on the floor of the US Senate.  Her comments come as the Senate begins debate on a landmark immigration bill.

Washington lawmakers have until the end of the month to pass a budget - if they hope to avoid a government shutdown. But there’s another costly deadline looming this week. On Friday, the state will begin to mail out refund checks to comply with a Supreme Court ruling regarding the estate tax. That is unless the legislature acts in the next two days.

With drought conditions worsening in Southern Oregon, the Klamath Tribes for the first time are exercising their claim as the most senior water rights holder in the Klamath Basin.

Washington’s Liquor Control Board has been inundated with feedback on its proposed marijuana regulations. The deadline to submit comments was Monday. The Board is writing the rules for legalized cannabis. Among the many concerns: the state’s new pot logo.

Unmanned Ariel Vehicle testing could soon be taking place in the skies high above the Warm Springs reservation of Oregon.  Economic advisors for the Confederated tribes of Warmsprings say the three-year effort to bring UAV testing to the reservation is well worth the wait.

Washington’s overtime legislative session ends at midnight on Tuesday, but there’s still no agreement on a state budget for the next two years.

Northwest farmers and seed purveyors say they go to great lengths to keep each variety of grain distinct, tracked and pure. Yet they concede, mistakes can still happen.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee and the state attorney general say they’re "extremely disappointed" that the U.S. Department of Energy may miss several key deadlines for cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to completely remove federal protections of gray wolves. Agency leaders announced the proposal Friday.

Washington State University scientists are developing a sperm bank to capture the biodiversity of honey bees.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources has filed a lawsuit against two companies it says caused a massive wildfire in Washington last summer.

Workers are back on the job at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation’s waste treatment plant. Work stopped this week when radioactive soil was found under the nests of some swallows.

Parents of captured Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl recently had some good news.

If you end up in an immigration detention center here in Washington state, you could face a long stay.  And ironically, if you’re a legal resident the lockup will likely be even longer.

A couple years ago, Democratic politicians at the state and national levels set heady goals for battery powered cars. Oregon piggybacked on that with a state goal of 30,000 plug-in cars by 2015. From today's vantage point, these goals look overly optimistic.

More and more county jails are switching to privately operated video conferencing systems. Sort of like Skype, for inmates. But these systems have technical difficulties and come with costs for the inmates’ families.

Sarah Palin returns to the Northwest this weekend – though for a much more modest venue than the former vice presidential candidate has had in the past.

An official with the group that represents Washington state wheat growers does not seem to be too worried about the discovery of GMO wheat in a field in Oregon.

Federal authorities believe the Spokane man accused of sending a ricin-laced letter to a federal judge may have also sent similar poisoned letters to the president.

Japan has temporarily suspended white winter wheat purchases from the Pacific Northwest.

An ankle-high plant with a funny name is stirring up controversy in southeast Washington.

Lobbyists in Washington state routinely fail to properly report dinners out with lawmakers. And dinners over $50 in value do not always show up – as required - on lawmakers’ personal financial statements.

Washington state Senator Mike Carrell of Lakewood has died from complications related to treatment for a pre-leukemia blood disorder.

The Oregon teenager accused of plotting an attack on his high school has obsessive-compulsive disorder brought on in a rare way: a strep infection. That's according to his mother.

West Albany, Oregon High School students are praising one of their classmates as a hero.

Washington state lawmakers are barred from accepting gifts intended to influence their vote. However, a public radio investigation – done in cooperation with the Associated Press - reveals that dozens of state legislators frequently accept meals from lobbyists.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that an Oregon field is contaminated with a genetically modified strain of wheat.

Idaho's conflicting views on gay rights is playing out in the northern part of the state.

The Spokane Regional Health District is appealing for help in getting continued funding for the region's only bioterrorism laboratory.

Washington state’s top priority is fixing the section of the I-5 bridge that collapsed into the Skagit River last week.

Northwest cold snaps this spring mean not as many cherries this summer. Flower buds and bees don’t like low temperatures.

The trucking company involved in the Skagit River bridge collapse had no serious safety violations. A vice president for the company says he’s “baffled” how one of his trucks could have brought down a bridge.

The 38-year-old man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to a federal judge and the Spokane post office has an active social media presence.

A sexual harassment lawsuit against Evans Fruit near Yakima, Washington came under scrutiny this week during a congressional hearing.

Disappointing news in Spokane today (Wednesday), as the regions Air Force base lost out on in a bid to be the first to house the Air Forces newest refueling tanker aircraft.