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News >  WA Government

Facing growing scrutiny from Congress, tech companies have sought to influence regulation. Here’s how much money they’ve given Northwest lawmakers

UPDATED: Sun., Oct. 25, 2020

WASHINGTON – When the Justice Department slapped Google with an antitrust lawsuit this week, it signaled the dawn of a new era of stricter government scrutiny of the companies collectively known as Big Tech, including Facebook, Apple, and Washington-based Amazon.

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‘Let’s put politics aside and get it done’: Northwest lawmakers weigh in on stalled COVID-19 relief talks

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 22, 2020

WASHINGTON – After negotiators missed another deadline for negotiating a COVID-19 relief bill this week, all but confirming no deal will get done before Election Day, Democratic and Republican lawmakers from the Northwest on Thursday expressed mutual frustration and a growing sense of urgency as the pandemic drags on.

News >  Business

‘If the government is right, how is my world going to change?’: Justice Department sues Google, accusing tech giant of illegal monopoly

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 21, 2020

WASHINGTON – In a landmark antitrust lawsuit filed Tuesday, the Justice Department and 11 states accused Google’s online search and advertising business of violating federal laws against monopolies and harming consumers, advertisers and competitors.

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As nation sees flood of voting-related lawsuits, here’s how Washington has handled the issues being litigated

Sun., Oct. 18, 2020

More than election-related lawsuits have been filed across the nation as disputes regarding mail-in ballots grow. 

News >  WA Government

Despite divisive national politics, Washington’s closest congressional races may turn on who’s more bipartisan

UPDATED: Sat., Oct. 17, 2020

WASHINGTON – Amid an intensely contentious presidential race, polls show American politics are marked by a near-unprecedented division along partisan lines, but the candidates in Washington’s two most closely contested House races are bucking that trend. In the state’s 3rd and 8th congressional districts, Democrats and Republicans alike are highlighting their willingness to work across party lines.

News >  Further Review

Where President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden stand on the issues

Wed., Oct. 14, 2020

The 2020 presidential election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden is as divisive a presidential race as the United States has seen in modern history. Polls indicate few voters remain undecided, with the winner likely to be decided by the outcomes in a handful of swing states.

News >  WA Government

‘All about politics’: Local law professors react to SCOTUS nomination hearings

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 13, 2020

The first two days of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's hearing were marked with dodging questions and politics on all sides, something that didn't surprise many Washington and Idaho law and politics professors.

News >  Higher education

Gonzaga debate team members largely unswayed by Harris and Pence’s debate performances

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 8, 2020

After Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris faced off in the vice presidential debate Wednesday night in Salt Lake City, students in a virtual debate-watch event co-hosted by Gonzaga University called the debate more civil than the clash between the presidential candidates a week earlier but said the meeting did little to change their viewsof either candidate.

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Washington, Idaho refugee advocates decry Trump administration’s historically low resettlement limit

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 8, 2020

WASHINGTON – Advocates for refugees in Eastern Washington and Idaho are crying foul after the Trump administration on Sept. 30 proposed a historically low cap on the number of people to be given refuge in the United States.

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Northwest lawmakers react after Trump calls off COVID-19 relief negotiations

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 7, 2020

WASHINGTON – Northwest Democratic and GOP lawmakers engaged in mutual finger-pointing after President Donald Trump announced Tuesday afternoon he would stop negotiations with congressional Democrats over another round of coronavirus relief spending until after the election, guaranteeing no further economic stimulus for at least another month.

News >  Idaho

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch faces three challengers in November election

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 8, 2020

Though Jim Risch has only been in the Senate for 10 years, he's spent several decades in public office. His opponent, Democrat Paulette Jordan, said the wealthy rancher has lost touch with his constituents and should be open to more public debates prior to the election. 

News >  Nation

Idaho Sen. Crapo, among first to meet with Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, praises her ‘stellar credentials’

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 30, 2020

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Crapo praised Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett after he met with the federal appeals court judge Tuesday, making the Idaho Republican one of the first lawmakers to meet with President Donald Trump’s pick for the high court.

News >  Nation/World

Trump, Biden clash in raucous first presidential debate

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 29, 2020

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden clashed Tuesday night in Cleveland in a raucous debate marred by interruptions, name calling and near-constant cross-talk.

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Trump paid $750 in federal income tax in 2017; Spokane County’s poorest residents paid more on average

Tue., Sept. 29, 2020

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump paid $750 in federal income tax in 2017, a New York Times investigation published Sunday found. That same year, Spokane County taxpayers who earned less than $25,000 paid more than the commander-in-chief – an average of $858, according to Internal Revenue Service data.

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‘Ready to deliver election mail’: USPS memo reverses controversial changes

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 25, 2020

The U.S. Postal Service has ordered its employees to reverse a policy blamed for mail delivery delays.

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Northwest lawmakers respond after Trump won’t commit to accepting election results

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 24, 2020

WASHINGTON – Northwest lawmakers reacted Thursday after President Donald Trump declined to say he would accept the results of November’s election if he loses, sparking fears of a constitutional crisis.

News >  Washington

Newhouse faces familiar foe in McKinley for 4th Congressional District seat

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 7, 2020

Rep. Dan Newhouse is facing a challenge from a familiar foe in the race to represent Washington’s 4th Congressional District, but the GOP incumbent is already making plans for a fourth term representing a wide swath of Central Washington.

News >  WA Government

Washington lawmakers hail passage of bills addressing missing and murdered Native women

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 22, 2020

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives on Monday passed two bills backed by Northwest lawmakers that aim to combat the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, a move advocates called an important step toward solving a complex problem.

News >  WA Government

How to prevent another 2020 fire season? Northwest lawmakers call for more resources

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 18, 2020

WASHINGTON – In the midst of a devastating fire season, Northwest lawmakers are calling for more help from the federal government while pushing legislation aimed at limiting the destruction of future wildfires.

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Biden campaign, gearing up for November, hires state director and senior advisor for Washington

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 16, 2020

WASHINGTON – With fewer than 50 days until the Nov. 3 election, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign on Wednesday announced the hiring of a state director and a senior advisor for Washington.

News >  Spokane

Q&A: Spokane postmaster and union president respond to concerns about USPS

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 15, 2020

Spokane Postmaster Earl Eisenrich and Wanda Emmert, president of the American Postal Workers Union’s Inland Empire Area Local, have more than 50 years of combined experience at the U.S. Postal Service .

News >  WA Government

Washington election officials scrambling after USPS sends confusing postcards to voters

UPDATED: Sat., Sept. 12, 2020

Washington election officials are scrambling to avoid panic ahead of November's election after state voters started getting postcards Friday from the U.S. Postal Service with potentially misleading information on mail-in voting. 

News >  Idaho

Fulcher faces challenge from Democratic and Libertarian newcomers with military backgrounds

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 8, 2020

Rep. Russ Fulcher has a law-and-order message in his first bid for re-election to his seat in Congress representing western Idaho.

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Ferguson asks judge to reverse Postal Service changes ahead of election

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 10, 2020

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson asked a federal judge in Yakima late Wednesday to reverse what the state’s top lawyer called “drastic changes” at the U.S. Postal Service, claiming the recent moves jeopardize mail delivery across the country ahead of November’s election.

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What’s really behind Postal Service delays? A flood of packages, a stricter truck schedule and COVID-19

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 10, 2020

Mail delays at the U.S. Postal Service have caused alarm in the run-up to a high-stakes general election that will see an unprecedented level of mail-in voting due to COVID-19, but USPS leaders and union officials say the agency is prepared to handle election mail and the real causes of the delays have been widely misunderstood.