State & Regional News | The Daily Chronicle

The Washington state Capitol on April 18, 2025. (Photo by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard)

Why police accountability efforts failed again in the Washington state Legislature

For a second year in a row, Washington police accountability advocates have seen their priorities fall flat in Olympia. They entered this year’s session wanting to grant the attorney … more

By Jake Goldstein-Street / The Washington State Standard | 5/6/25

Sen. Maria Cantwell speaks with health care board members and employees at Cascade Community Healthcare in Centralia on Thursday, Aug. 8.

Washington state’s congressional lawmakers press for reversal of millions in canceled DOJ grants

Washington’s U.S. senators are demanding the Trump administration reverse the cancellation of more than $50 million in grants for local public safety efforts. Last month, the U.S. … more

By Jake Goldstein-Street / The Washington State Standard | 5/6/25

U.S. Justice Dept. to investigate new Washington state law requiring clergy to report child abuse

Just three days after Gov. Bob Ferguson signed into law a bill requiring religious leaders in Washington state to report child abuse or neglect – even when it’s disclosed in confession … more

Brett Davis | The Center Square | 5/6/25

New Washington state grant program incentivizes compliance with police use of force reporting

In 2021, the Washington State Legislature enacted Senate Bill 5259 funding a statewide police use of force database which would receive data from local law enforcement agencies on a regular basis. … more

TJ Martinell | The Center Square | 5/6/25

High water on U.S. 101 in Tillamook in December, 2023. The Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, coupled with rising sea levels, will cause up to 6 feet of coastal erosion and put many communities on top of new floodplains, a new study finds.

‘Big One’ coupled with rising ocean could leave many in Northwest living in flood zones, study finds

If the once-every-500-year Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake doesn’t do enough damage to the coastal Northwest on its own, frequent and widespread flooding from rising seas that follows will … more

Alex Baumhardt / Washington State Standard | 5/6/25

Candidate filing begins for nine Washington state legislative seats

The curtain is officially rising on Washington’s 2025 election season. Candidates can begin filing at 8 a.m. Monday for more than 3,200 seats on city councils, county commissions, … more

Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard | 5/6/25

Washington state police uncover large rooster fighting operation during drug search

On Thursday, the Moses Lake Street Crimes Unit, with assistance from the Moses Lake Tactical Response Team, executed a search warrant at 10032 Road N.4 NE in Moses Lake. The operation, initially … more

Nance Beston / Columbia Basin Herald (TNS) | 5/6/25

Nuclear reactors line the riverbank at the Hanford site along the Columbia River in January 1960. The site was chosen for its isolated location and proximity to the cold waters of the Columbia, which were used to cool nuclear reactors. (U.S. Department of Energy/TNS)

Here’s what the Trump administration proposes spending on Washington state’s toxic Hanford nuclear site

The Trump administration showed support for environmental cleanup at Hanford in its initial proposal for fiscal 2026 funding, calling for a much higher annual budget than it did during Trump’s … more

Annette Cary / The News Tribune (TNS) | 5/6/25

DOJ opens inquiry into new Washington state law requiring clergy to report abuse

The U.S. Department of Justice said it has opened an investigation into the "development and passage" of a new Washington law that requires clergy to report instances of child abuse or neglect, which … more

Paige Cornwell / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 5/6/25

Cantwell, Murray ask Trump to secure release of Washington state man detained in Venezuela

A Washington man has been wrongfully detained in Venezuela for over three months, according to U.S. officials, and Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray have asked the White House to help secure his … more

Lauren Girgis / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 5/6/25

Washington state sues over cuts to Health and Human Services

A coalition of 19 states, including Washington, has challenged reductions in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In April, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy … more

Mitchell Roland / The Spokesman-Review (TNS) | 5/6/25

One of the largest wind power projects in Washington State stands at Windy Point - the bluffs overlooking the Columbia Gorge near the town of Goldendale. (Steve Ringman/Seattle Times/MCT)

Washington state challenges federal blocking of wind energy development

Washington has joined 18 other states in an effort to stop the Trump administration from curtailing wind energy development. According to the lawsuit, filed Monday, President Donald Trump's Jan. … more

Mitchell Roland / The Spokesman-Review (TNS) | 5/6/25

Staff and faculty at The Evergreen State College were out welcoming students to campus with coffee and conversation in this photo tweeted by the college in 2017.

Spring enrollment grew by a double-digit margin at The Evergreen State College

This spring’s enrollment at The Evergreen State College in Olympia rose 13% over spring 2024, continuing a trend that the school has experienced over several springs, a college official said. … more

Rolf Boone / The Olympian (TNS) | 5/6/25

Washington state residents struggling to get REAL ID appointments as DOL sees record surge

The REAL ID deadline is looming and Washingtonians are scrambling to comply with the new rules. Starting May 7, anyone traveling at an airport in the U.S. will need a form of identification that … more

Daniel Schrager / The Olympian (TNS) | 5/6/25

Seattle archbishop decries new Washington state mandatory reporting law: ‘Alarmed by this overreach’

The Archbishop of Seattle on Sunday condemned a new Washington law requiring religious leaders to report child neglect and abuse, including when that information is revealed during confession. … more

Simone Carter / The Olympian (TNS) | 5/6/25

Washington state counties sue feds over DEI ban tied to homeless, transit grants

Recently-added conditions to grant funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Transit Administration — an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation … more

By Spencer Pauley / The Center Square | 5/5/25

Gov. Bob Ferguson, at podium, goes to shake hands with state Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, at the signing of a bill to make clergy mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect, on May 2, 2025 in Olympia. At center is Mary Dispenza, a founding member of the Catholic Accountability Project. (Photo by Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard)

Washington state law mandating clergy report child abuse to be investigated by Trump’s Justice Department

President Trump’s Department of Justice is investigating a new Washington state law that makes clergy mandatory reporters of child abuse, arguing it violates the First Amendment. The state … more

By Wilson Criscione / InvestigateWest | 5/5/25

Jennifer Hennessey, with the Department of Ecology, speaks about canceled BRIC grants at a Chehalis Basin Board meeting in Grand Mound on Thursday, May 1.

Chehalis Basin Board weathers storm after canceled federal funding

The Chehalis Basin Board on Thursday, May 1, heard from a representative of the Washington state Department of Ecology on how the recent cancellation of the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure … more

By Jacob Moore / jacob@chronline.com | 5/5/25

Mikhail Pavenko stands in front of a destroyed apartment complex following a Russian airstrike. Located in the Zaporizhie region, the site is one of many civilian targets that have come under intensified attacks. Pavenko says such strikes have only escalated under the Trump administration.

Southwest Washington chaplain returns from Ukraine concerned over Trump-era shift

When Mikhail Pavenko isn’t restoring power lines for Clark Public Utilities, he’s volunteering near the front lines in Ukraine, praying with soldiers, evacuating civilians and delivering … more

By Norman Helgason / For The Chronicle | 5/5/25

Chinook Indian Nation Tribal Chairman Tony Johnson, left, and U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. D-Skamania.

Chinook Indian Nation steps away from MGP for federal recognition bill

The Chinook Indian Nation announced in April that the tribe will seek a new legislative champion for federal recognition after working with U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, for two … more

By Cade Barker / For The Chronicle | 5/5/25