Mitchell Roland

All Stories

State board allows beer and wine sales at WSU’s Martin Stadium

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 10, 2025

Washington State University will sell beer and wine during Cougar football games at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium this season, following approval by the state Cannabis and Liquor Board on Wednesday.

State lawmakers call for legislature to restore funding for Abortion Access Project

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 9, 2025

Nearly 60 Democratic legislators have signed an open letter calling on Washington lawmakers to restore funding to a state program that helps clinics and patients pay for abortion services after lawmakers cut its funding by 55% during the 2025 legislative session.

Organizers to begin gathering signatures for two new initiatives

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 9, 2025

The group that successfully gathered enough signatures to present six initiatives to the Legislature during the 2024 session will soon collect signatures for two new initiatives.

News >  Federal Government

‘Strained past our breaking point’: Washington’s small-town hospitals fear closure as Medicaid cuts loom

Sun., Sept. 7, 2025

DAYTON – If the hospital in this historic southeast Washington town has to close, Acadia Murphey thinks the town will “probably die along with it.”

News >  Crime/Public Safety

‘South Hill rapist’ Kevin Coe poised to be released after decades in custody

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 5, 2025

The infamous “South Hill rapist” who stoked fear throughout Spokane starting in the late 1970s is set to be released from his civil commitment at McNeil Island.

Washington Supreme Court to hear appeal of natural gas initiative

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 3, 2025

The Washington Supreme Court likely will decide the fate of a voter-approved initiative that bars state and local laws that restrict or discourage the usage of natural gas.

News >  Health

Federal government to restore removed public health information following lawsuit

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 2, 2025

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to restore webpages containing resources for health issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community and information on opioid use by women to settle a lawsuit brought by a collection of medical organizations and public health nonprofits.

News >  Higher education

‘We step in to fill those gaps in knowledge:’ $2.1 million donation funds program to help first-generation EWU students

Sat., Aug. 30, 2025

A first-generation college student from the small agricultural town of Benton City, Kasey Sigaran entered an unfamiliar world when she enrolled at Eastern Washington University.

Sen. Patty Murray moves to block Trump’s pick to be Eastern Washington’s U.S. attorney

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 28, 2025

The nomination of Pete Serrano to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington is in jeopardy after Sen. Patty Murray vowed to use “every legislative tool” available to her to block his confirmation.

Washington AG reaches agreement to restore frozen federal education funding

UPDATED: Wed., Aug. 27, 2025

A collection of state attorneys general has reached an agreement to restore $7 billion in funding for education programs that were frozen by the Trump Administration.

Republican legislators call for state to repeal ‘sanctuary’ law

UPDATED: Fri., Aug. 22, 2025

A collection of Republican Washington state Senators has called for the repeal of a state law that limits local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration officials – while the governor vows to defend the legislation against a potential federal challenge.

WA Ecology official testifies against repeal of ‘endangerment finding’ that allows for climate regulation

UPDATED: Wed., Aug. 20, 2025

A federal effort to roll back vehicle pollution standards drew a sharp rebuke from a climate specialist in Washington who warned that it would undermine 16 years of regulations designed to protect human health from the effects of climate change.

Ferguson says he won’t be ‘bullied or intimidated’ by federal government over sanctuary laws

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 19, 2025

Gov. Bob Ferguson said he will defend a Washington law that restricts state and local policing agencies from cooperating and participating in the enforcement of federal immigration law.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office needs more deputies. Here’s why it won’t sign an agreement to help hire more

Sun., Aug. 17, 2025

The workload at the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has reached a point where property crimes detectives are investigating sex crimes – and it’s no surprise, considering the office has the lowest number of officers per capita out of any county in the state.

State Senate Minority Leader John Braun announces bid for Congress

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 12, 2025

The top Republican in the Washington state Senate has announced a bid to represent southwest Washington in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Questions remain across Inland Northwest after Trump federalizes D.C. police department

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 12, 2025

President Donald Trump’s announcement Monday that he will take control of Washington, D.C.’s police department and deploy the National Guard in the nation’s capital – and his suggestion that he could take similar actions in other Democratically controlled jurisdictions – has stirred questions about what the move means for cities across the country.

Eastern Washington University looks to address state, federal funding cuts

UPDATED: Fri., Aug. 8, 2025

Faced with cuts to state and federal funding, universities across Washington have opted to raise tuition and reduce staffing to balance their budgets.

Washington’s new Youth crisis hotline used 161 times in first year

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 19, 2025

A free hotline that connects Washington residents under 25 with trained crisis counselors received 161 reports in its first year, including for suicidal thoughts, child abuse and active threats, according to a report issued by the Washington Attorney General’s office.

DOJ again lists Washington as ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’ in new list

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 5, 2025

A new list published by the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday designates Washington as a “sanctuary jurisdiction” that impedes the enforcement of immigration law, though the Washington state attorney general’s office continues to say the state does not “conflict with federal law.”

Washington to award more than $200 million for affordable rental housing units

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 5, 2025

The state of Washington is accepting applications to award more than $200 million in funding for affordable multifamily rental housing units, Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Tuesday.

15-year-old Chehalis resident launches campaign for Washington governor

Wed., July 30, 2025

Ethan Brunton, a 15-year-old from Chehalis, has announced a bid to run for governor in 2028. If elected, the teenager would be the youngest governor in state history, and among the youngest to ever hold public office in Washington.

Washington files lawsuits to block federal government from accessing food stamp data

UPDATED: Wed., July 30, 2025

The federal government has said it could withhold more than $100 million in funding for nutritional programs the state receives if Washington does not provide the requested information, Attorney General Nick Brown said.

Spokane native appointed to position in Trump Administration

UPDATED: Fri., July 25, 2025

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced that a Spokane native and graduate of Eastern Washington University has been appointed to a position in the second Trump administration.

Adviser to governor warns residents could lose health care ‘immediately’ due to federal changes

UPDATED: Fri., July 25, 2025

As state officials continue to assess how provisions in the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” will impact the health care of Washingtonians, a senior adviser to Gov. Bob Ferguson warned this week that as many as 80,000 residents could lose their coverage in the coming months.

Wildfire along Columbia River now 14% contained as officials warn residents to be cautious

UPDATED: Thu., July 24, 2025

A wildfire burning along Washington’s border with Oregon was 13% contained as of Thursday morning, as more than 900 fire personnel worked to contain a blaze that has so far burned more than 11,000 acres.