News | The Daily Chronicle

Preliminary FBI data shows a sharp drop in violent crime

U.S. violent crime fell sharply in 2025, according to preliminary federal data , with murders dropping an estimated 18.1% — a decline that could push the national homicide rate to its lowest level … more

By Amanda Watford / Stateline.org | 5/21/26

Journalists at The Olympian will join four other Pacific Northwest newspapers in strike against McClatchy Media

Unionized journalists at five McClatchy Media newspapers in the Pacific Northwest — including The Olympian — voted overwhelmingly this week to approve a strike. A start date for the … more

By Thurston Chronicle staff | 5/21/26

Boeing spaced out MD-11 inspections, even after reports of fractured parts

Boeing increased the length of time between inspections for a critical part of the MD-11 hardware that holds the plane’s engine to its wing — despite multiple reports of previous part failures … more

Lauren Rosenblatt / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 5/21/26

Missing 4-year-old found after Amber Alert, police say

Shelton Police on Wednesday arrested a man who had allegedly abducted his young son from relatives, which led to an Amber Alert. Police responded to an alleged assault around 12:30 p.m. in the … more

Lauren Girgis / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 5/21/26

The outside of Henry M. Jackson High School on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Washington reforms that could tackle teacher sexual abuse

In 2004, Washington became the first state in the country to enact a “Don’t Pass the Trash” law, seeking to prohibit public school districts from allowing K-12 teachers accused of sexual … more

By Moe K. Clark / InvestigateWest | 5/21/26

How Washington state is tackling chronic hospital overcrowding

Allen Horne thought the infection on his right pinkie toe would improve. Instead, gangrene spread to the rest of his foot last December, eventually causing the 78-year-old to collapse on a downtown … more

Elise Takahama / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 5/21/26

Seattle-area renters need to pay more than double housing costs to own a home

Many Seattle area residents feel like the bar to owning a home just keeps getting higher, and they're not imagining things. The cost of a monthly mortgage payment is now well beyond double the … more

Heidi Groover / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 5/21/26

Microsoft backs Washington’s expanding news fellowship

Data centers and Big Tech are getting some tough press coverage lately. But that isn't stopping Microsoft from supporting newsrooms in rural Washington counties where it operates hyperscale … more

Brier Dudley / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 5/21/26

Former Seattle police union president wins lawsuit to continue campaign

Former Seattle Police Officer’s Guild President Mike Solan is celebrating a court victory this week that allows him to move forward with seeking a seat on the Pierce County Council. Solan … more

By Carleen Johnson | The Center Square | 5/21/26

Ethics Board to determine whether to continue Rep. Simmons' ethics investigation

Washington's Legislative Ethics Board will determine whether an investigation into a complaint against Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, will proceed after her attorney filed a motion to have it … more

By TJ Martinell | The Center Square | 5/21/26

A Seattle monorail train passes on an elevated track near the Space Needle on a clear day.

Plan to renovate Seattle Center could require $1.5 billion bond

Seattle property owners will be asked to approve a plan that will result in higher taxes to fund the renovation of the aging Seattle Center campus, home of the 1962 World’s Fair and numerous iconic … more

By Randy Diamond | The Center Square | 5/21/26

Stainless steel containers for waste in the low-activity waste facility at the Hanford site.

GOP budget plan in US House calls for cuts at Hanford nuclear cleanup site

Cuts that Republicans in the U.S. House are seeking to the nuclear cleanup at Washington’s Hanford site would go deeper than steep reductions the Trump administration proposed. Hanford’s … more

By John Stang / Washington State Standard | 5/21/26

Centralia port commissioner source of new information in ongoing Murphy fallout

The source of the “additional information” cited in a potential impeachment disclosure (PID) on former police Sgt. Tracy Murphy is a Port of Centralia commissioner. Ally Pickard, the … more

By Jacob Farmer / jfarmer@chronline.com | 5/20/26

The Capitol building in Olympia, home to the Senate and House chambers, is lit up on the evening of Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.

State actuary: $4 billion pension transfer raises odds of future taxpayer bailouts

State pension officials warned Tuesday that a new law allowing the Legislature to pull nearly $4 billion from a retirement plan for first responders will significantly increase the likelihood of … more

Tim Clouser / The Center Square | 5/20/26

Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez answers a question at a town hall in the TransAlta Commons at Centralia College on Tuesday, April 22.

MGP votes in favor of ‘gender ideology’ bill that would require parental consent for ‘sex-based accommodations’

The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday that would require parental consent before a public elementary or middle school can update a student’s pronouns, gender markers or preferred name on records … more

By Shauneen Miranda / States Newsroom | 5/20/26

A swift water rescue team rescues Mel Romero and Barbara Bennett from an inundated fifth wheel near the Cowlitz River in Randle on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

Only a fraction of Washington’s state flood aid has made it to victims

During the height of December’s severe flooding, Washington made $3.5 million available to those in need. Five months later, most of that funding has gone unused. Gov. Bob Ferguson says … more

By Jake Goldstein-Street / The Washington State Standard | 5/20/26

Andrea Heisel, library services director for the Timberland Regional Library, listens to a Q&A between members of the public and two of the regional library’s trustees at Centralia Timberland Library on Saturday, April 11. Heisel is not under the Board of Trustees’ supervision, but is among the library administrators that many public commenters have blamed for contributing to the current budget crisis.

Timberland Regional Library announces Andrea Heisel as interim director

Following the resignation of former Executive Director Cheryl Heywood amid an ongoing budget crisis in March, Timberland Regional Library has hired a new leader. “The Timberland Regional … more

By The Chronicle staff | 5/20/26

Centralia Port Commissioners, from left, Kyle Markstrom, Peter Lahmann and Ally Pickard listen closely to public commenters during a Centralia Port Commission meeting on Wednesday, May 6.

Port of Centralia Commissioner Kyle Markstrom to resign next month to pursue “new professional opportunity”

Port of Centralia Commissioner Kyle Markstrom will resign from his position on the port commission effective Tuesday, June 12. In the final moments of the Wednesday afternoon Port of … more

By Jacob Moore / jacob@chronline.com | 5/20/26

Interim Executive Director Amy Graber speaks during a business meeting at the Port of Centralia on Wednesday, Jan. 7.

Amy Graber to become Port of Centralia executive director

Port of Centralia Interim Executive Director Amy Graber is poised to keep the job long term, pending contract negotiations. The Port of Centralia Commission during its Wednesday business meeting … more

By Jacob Moore / jacob@chronline.com | 5/20/26

The prosecution, center, and the defense, right, sit in Thurston County Superior Court on day one of Curtis and Tabitha Gibsons' trial for the alleged 2024 murder of Gaylord "Travis" Sayers. Judge Carol Murphy presides.

Couple found not guilty of murdering man at Tenino area bar in 2024

A Thurston County jury returned a verdict Wednesday, May 20, finding Curtis and Tabitha Gibson not guilty of first-degree murder while armed with a firearm. The couple had been accused of … more

By Emily Fitzgerald / emily@thurstonchronicle.com | 5/20/26