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News > Federal Government

Trump ramps up war on regulations with 702 cuts in pipeline

UPDATED: Sat., July 4, 2026

The Trump administration is stepping up its efforts to cut red tape across the federal government, releasing a regulatory plan that would eliminate 702 existing administrative rules. The reductions published on Friday set a record for the number of deregulatory actions under consideration in a White House semiannual agenda plan. It’s also about twice as many as were in motion at any given time ...

News > Federal Government

Glenn Beck and an elk standing next to an Amazon box: The sights and sounds of the Great American State Fair

UPDATED: Sat., July 4, 2026

WASHINGTON – Wednesday’s theme at the Great American State Fair was “faith, values and inspiration.”

News > Federal Government

DOJ defends decision to withhold millions of Epstein documents

UPDATED: Sun., July 5, 2026

Justice Department officials in a new court filing released Thursday defended their limited release of investigative materials tied to the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

News > WA Government

WA income tax foes file signatures to get repeal measure on ballot

UPDATED: Thu., July 2, 2026

TUMWATER, Wash. – Opponents of Washington’s new income tax on high earners turned in more than 500,000 signatures Thursday for an initiative to repeal the levy, nearly double the amount needed to secure a spot on the November ballot.

News > Federal Government

Michael Baumgartner seeks another two years in Congress

Thu., July 2, 2026

When Congressman Michael Baumgartner jumped into the race in 2024 for a rare chance at a seat opened by former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ retirement, he believed “that the American dream is dying” – but it didn’t need to.

News > Government

Decades of gravel at Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve to be excavated to restore wetland

UPDATED: Mon., July 6, 2026

In the 1960s, the Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve looked a little different than it does today.

News > Local Government

Fireworks banned on Spokane and Colville reservations due to fire risk

UPDATED: Wed., July 1, 2026

As patriots and explosives-enthusiasts embark on their annual hunt for fireworks, the Spokane and Colville tribes have outlawed their sale and use on tribal lands for the year.

News > WA Government

U.S. Supreme Court clears way for Washingtonians to decide issue of transgender athletes

UPDATED: Tue., June 30, 2026

Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling allowing states to bar transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports will not have an immediate impact on Washington policy, its effects will echo throughout the state.

News > Federal Government

Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship in rebuke to Trump administration

UPDATED: Tue., June 30, 2026

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that virtually all people born in the United States are American citizens, striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to end birthright citizenship.

News > Federal Government

Supreme Court lets states ban transgender athletes from female sports teams

UPDATED: Tue., June 30, 2026

WASHINGTON – States can ban transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in addressing a major cultural and political flashpoint before adjourning for the summer.

News > Federal Government

Supreme Court strikes down curbs on coordinated campaign spending

UPDATED: Tue., June 30, 2026

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has again struck down campaign spending limits, this time rejecting on Tuesday federal restrictions on coordinated spending between political parties and their candidates on free speech grounds.

News > Federal Government

Trump taps Keith Sonderling, a longtime ally of business, for Labor Secretary

UPDATED: Tue., June 30, 2026

President Donald Trump on Monday announced that he would nominate acting labor secretary Keith Sonderling, a business community ally, to lead the agency after months of turmoil under its previous leader. Sonderling served as a deputy to Trump’s previous labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Trump had picked Chavez-DeRemer, in an unusual nod to the labor movement, following extensive lobbying from the Teamsters union.

News > Local Government

Judge declares Al Merkel’s Nextdoor posts to be public records subject to release

UPDATED: Mon., June 29, 2026

Spokane Valley Councilman Al Merkel violated the city’s social media policy and the Washington Public Records Act by discussing council business on his private social media accounts and refusing to submit the posts for public records requests, a Spokane County judge ruled last week.

News > Local Government

Burn ban takes effect in Spokane County, some exceptions could mean semiquincentennial smores

UPDATED: Mon., June 29, 2026

Nothing says Fourth of July in Eastern Washington like Suncrest’s fireworks stand, sunburns and a countywide burn ban.

News > WA Government

Washington Democrats back reparations in party platform

UPDATED: Mon., June 29, 2026

The Washington state Democratic Party platform adopted earlier this month states the party supports “both the study and implementation of reparative action” for chattel slavery in the U.S., in what is believed to be a first for a statewide party.

News > WA Government

U.S. Supreme Court allows ballots received after Election Day to be counted

UPDATED: Mon., June 29, 2026

Ballots in Washington and a dozen other states received after Election Day can continue to be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

News > Federal Government

Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to fire Federal Reserve governor

UPDATED: Mon., June 29, 2026

The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to let Donald Trump fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook as it stood firm to preserve the central bank's cherished independence against an unprecedented challenge by the Republican president.

News > Federal Government

Supreme Court expands presidential power by allowing firing of trade commissioner

UPDATED: Tue., June 30, 2026

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday backed Donald Trump's firing of a Democratic Federal Trade Commission member, expanding his powers over the government and overturning its 1935 precedent that had recognized the authority of Congress to protect leaders of certain regulatory agencies from presidential removal at will.

News > Federal Government

Inland NW Republicans lukewarm on U.S.-Iran deal, but Baumgartner confident Trump won’t be ‘bamboozled’

UPDATED: Sun., June 28, 2026

In interviews at the Capitol on Thursday, three Republicans who represent the Inland Northwest in the House voiced mixed feelings about the deal, which Trump signed at the Palace of Versailles in France on June 17. The agreement paves the way for negotiations over Iran's nuclear program while suspending U.S. sanctions on Iran and ending a U.S. blockade on Iranian oil tankers.

News > Local Government

Spokane County voters will weigh paying more in property taxes for rural libraries

UPDATED: Sun., July 12, 2026

The Spokane County Library District Board of Trustees voted in April to put a measure on the August primary ballot that would raise the district’s rate from $0.33 per $1,000 of assessed value to $0.45, if approved.

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