State & Regional News | The Daily Chronicle

A street in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood, where homes are served by underground electrical cables, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Queen Anne has lots of failing electrical underground cables that the city needs to replace.

Seattle’s ‘wary’ home shoppers leave housing market in limbo

As more for-sale signs sprouted in front yards this summer, homes across the region sat on the market awaiting home-shoppers willing to make a leap despite high prices and stubborn mortgage rates. … more

Heidi Groover / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 8/6/26

Meta plans to offer more Bellevue office space for sublease

Meta is backing out of another office building in Bellevue's Spring District as its Seattle-area workforce shrinks and the company shifts focus toward artificial intelligence. The Menlo Park, … more

Alex Halverson / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 8/6/26

Boeing, SPEEA contract offers nearly 29% pay bump

Boeing is offering its professional aerospace union workers a 28.5% wage increase over the length of the next four-year contract, according to details of the tentative agreement shared Wednesday. … more

Lauren Rosenblatt / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 8/6/26

Western wildfire could be latest climate disaster to unsettle property insurance market

As Washington state reels from a devastating wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes in Spokane last weekend, experts say the disaster has cast newfound uncertainty over a property insurance market … more

Alex Brown / Stateline | 8/6/26

Trump urges US Senate to pass bill making daylight saving time permanent

President Donald Trump is urging Republican senators to “release their holds” and pass a measure making daylight saving time permanent nationwide. A bipartisan bill passed the … more

Shauneen Miranda / States Newsroom | 8/6/26

The Washington state Capitol in Olympia.

Leaderboard jostled in Washington state legislative races with latest vote tally

A second day of ballot counting didn’t go well for a former Washington state lawmaker pursuing a comeback, but it did for a Republican legislator seeking a second term. Across the state, … more

Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard | 8/6/26

Construction officially began in Florida on Wednesday on the first new Washington state ferry in more than a decade. When it’s completed, the hybrid-electric vessel is expected to serve the Mukilteo-Clinton route, seen here. (Photo by Tom Banse)

Ferry construction begins in Florida on Washington’s new hybrid-electric vessels

Top brass from Washington State Ferries gathered Wednesday at a shipyard in Panama City, Florida, for a maritime ceremony that has been all too rare lately for the agency. They celebrated the cutting … more

By Tom Banse / The Washington State Standard | 8/5/26

Brent Hennrich, left, and U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Democrat Brent Hennrich won’t support MGP in Third Congressional District race

Fresh off a losing bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, fellow Democrat Brent Hennrich says he won’t be supporting her in the general election. Hennrich earned over 16% of the … more

8/5/26

United Ways of the Pacific Northwest mobilizes to help families displaced by Spokane-area wildfires

The Old Trails Fire, part of a fast-moving cluster of blazes now known as the Spokane Complex, had burned more than 3,500 acres since erupting west of Spokane on the afternoon of Aug. 1, driving … more

By The Chronicle staff | 8/5/26

A bald eagle swoops down onto Fort Borst Lake in Centralia to snatch a fish.

Southwest Washington man charged with killing bald eagle

A 66-year-old resident of Brush Prairie in Southwest Washington was charged by criminal information with violating federal law by killing a bald eagle, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil … more

By The Chronicle staff | 8/5/26

Oregon GOP leaders want constitutional hunting, fishing protections in response to ballot measure

To counter a failed ballot initiative from animal rights activists that attempted to ban hunting, fishing and animal slaughter in Oregon, the state’s Republican leaders pledged to introduce their … more

Alex Baumhardt / Oregon Capital Chronicle | 8/5/26

Police shoot, injure Oregon City man after reports he opened fire on highway in Linn County

State police troopers shot and injured an Oregon City man in rural Linn County on Monday evening, officials said. Oregon State Police said in a statement that officers shot David Duncan, 69, … more

Tatum Todd / oregonlive.com (TNS) | 8/5/26

Smoke from wildfires across the state blankets the Portland metro area in haze, pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.

Portland now has worst air quality in the world as wildfire smoke envelops Oregon

Portland has the worst air quality in the world Wednesday morning, according to a global monitor, as wildfire smoke from dozens of fires across the Pacific Northwest blanketed the Willamette Valley. … more

Sophia Cossette / oregonlive.com (TNS) | 8/5/26

Firefighters respond to the Old Trails Fire in Spokane on August 1, 2026.

Spokane residents return to burned areas to take toll of losses

Ethan Hill, 11, ran through the charred grass outside his grandparents’ home that burned to the ground this week. He climbed atop the swing and kicked higher. When his grandparents, Nancy and … more

Isabella Breda / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 8/5/26

Southbound I-5 reopens after fatal motorcycle crash near Everett Mall

All lanes of southbound I-5 are open Tuesday night after a fatal motorcycle collision closed down most of the highway, according to authorities. The multivehicle collision, first reported around … more

Savannah Butcher / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 8/5/26

Woman killed in Renton, officer stabbed in face

A woman was killed and a Renton police officer was stabbed in the face in Renton on Monday night, police say. Multiple people called 911 reporting that they’d heard breaking glass and other … more

Kai Uyehara / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 8/5/26

Kristen Welker, host of NBC’s Meet the Press, interviews Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox during the summer meeting of the National Governors Association in Oklahoma City. Governors called for a rebalancing of state and federal power sharing.

Governors and lawmakers say they’re getting serious about states’ rights

State leaders of both parties say the federal government — including the president — wields too much power, and they want to see more authority returned to the states. Bipartisan groups of … more

Kevin Hardy / Stateline | 8/5/26

Republican Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney, left, and Democrat John Duresky, right, are poised to advance to the November general election in the race to replace retiring Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse in central Washington’s 4th Congressional District.

McKinney leads in race to replace Washington state Rep. Dan Newhouse

A Republican backed by President Donald Trump emerged Tuesday as the frontrunner in the central Washington race to succeed a retiring GOP congressman who voted to impeach the president. … more

Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard | 8/5/26

The Temple of Justice in Olympia, Washington where the state Supreme Court convenes.

Incumbents ahead in three Washington state Supreme Court races

Washington state Supreme Court incumbents, including two new appointees of Gov. Bob Ferguson, were leading after early primary voting results were reported Tuesday night. And a King County … more

Jake Goldstein-Street / Washington State Standard | 8/5/26

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, left, and state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia.

MGP, Braun neck-and-neck in closely watched race for Congress

The political favorites are leading the pack of nine candidates in the race to represent Washington’s Third Congressional District as preliminary primary election results were released on … more

By The Chronicle staff | 8/4/26