Pacific NW

A smiley face, “Wash me,” lewd depictions of human anatomy: Those are the typical inscriptions one might see etched into a dirt-covered car.

From 1976: The Carat Shoppe, a jewelry store at Sprague Avenue and Wall Street, announced it was leaving downtown in protest of “higher parking meter rates and increased bus fares.”

Federal agents at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland are temporarily barred from deploying less-lethal munitions and chemicals at protesters unless the agents are in “imminent threat of physical harm,” a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

From 1976: It looked like a scene dreamed up by a movie stuntman, but the incident on Second Avenue downtown was a genuine – and terrifying – accident .

Spokane landlords must participate in eviction prevention programs before removing someone for nonpayment, the City Council voted Monday.

Most of Spokane’s public property may soon become off limits to federal immigration agents attempting enforcement actions without a judicial warrant after Councilman Paul Dillon introduced an ordinance expanding a more limited law passed in August.

Federal officials have denied Alaska's request to cover all initial expenses associated with a costly and complicated disaster response effort following a catastrophic Western Alaska storm last fall. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is appealing the decision, revising his request to ask that the Federal Emergency Management Agency instead pay 90% of the cost. In early October, the remnants of Typhoon Halong ...

Washington state and King County recorded more evictions in 2025 than ever before — a sign that the affordability crisis is deepening. The number of eviction cases filed in Washington courts rose to 23,965 in 2025, a 3% increase from 2024. The increase was significantly greater in the Seattle area.

Diane Moreno was walking home in late January when she said she was struck five times by rubber bullets fired by federal agents, leaving welts and bruises across her body.

Spokane’s city traffic planners proposed extending Stevens Street up over the South Hill bluff in 1959 for safer travel and to relieve congestion on Grand Boulevard. But a historic home was in the way.

Most of the northern half of Grand Boulevard, a major arterial connecting the southern half of Spokane to its downtown, will likely lose at least one lane for through traffic next year in a move city officials believe will reduce crashes by up to 24%.

From 1976: A disbarred Spokane attorney – who had been sought by the FBI for more than six years – pleaded guilty to grand larceny for misappropriating clients’ money.

As we humans warm ourselves with space heaters, coats and gloves, western painted turtles are at the bottom of our region’s ice-covered ponds, streams and creeks. Sometimes they can be seen through clear ice, as if they’re trapped. What’s going on, however, is life in cold blood.

There were some years when Larry Gorton signed up for Bloomsday as “Larry” and other years that he signed up with his formal name, “Lawrence.” As the number of Bloomsdays climbed, Gorton had to convince organizers that Larry Gorton and Lawrence Gorton were the same person so he could claim his Perennial status as someone who has completed every race.

From 1976: American League baseball owners resolved to give Seattle a major -league team – under two conditions.

Thousands of protesters marched through South Portland and enveloped the blocks around the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building Saturday, sparking now-familiar confrontations with federal agents.