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Outlook murky as yet another effort to redraw Florida’s congressional map begins

Thu., Dec. 4, 2025

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida House Republicans appear ready to throw Florida into a mid-decade redistricting battle. But they don’t agree on when to start.

Case that lets billionaires spend big on elections never reached Supreme Court

Mon., Dec. 1, 2025

Six days after the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, President Barack Obama broke from the norms of polite deference and rebuked the justices sitting before him in the front row during his 2010 State of the Union speech.

Republicans and Democrats agree U.S. health care costs too much. Will they do anything about it?

Sun., Nov. 23, 2025

WASHINGTON – When the Senate Finance Committee met Wednesday for a hearing on the rising cost of health care in the United States, Republicans and Democrats agreed the problem has become a national crisis, but it didn’t take long for the parties to demonstrate why they’ve had such a hard time working together to solve it.

Former Spokane City Council president under consideration for State Supreme Court

Thu., Nov. 20, 2025

A former president of the Spokane City Council and current Spokane County Superior Court judge is among the candidates under consideration for appointment to Washington’s top court.

Spin Control: Will Seattle, match Spokane for a one-term mayor streak?

Sun., Nov. 16, 2025

When it comes to changing mayors after one term (or less) Seattle has nothing on Spokane. 

Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Christy’ has one of the all-time worst box office debuts

Mon., Nov. 10, 2025

Audiences aren’t rushing to the octagon to see Sydney Sweeney’s sports biopic turn.

Hungary has financial shield agreement with Washington, Orban says

Sun., Nov. 9, 2025

BUDAPEST – Hungary has secured an agreement with Washington on a “financial shield” to protect its economy and public finances, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Moderates eye coalition to shift debates, votes in WA Statehouse

Wed., Oct. 22, 2025

OLYMPIA — Republican candidates running for state Senate this year say they have a plan to push back on progressive policies coming out of Olympia: forming a bipartisan coalition of moderates that could work together to block certain legislation and tax increases.

‘Our hands are tied’: Can anyone stop Trump’s tear-down of the East Wing?

Wed., Oct. 22, 2025

President Donald Trump’s plan to build a White House ballroom has underscored an oft-overlooked aspect of presidential power: no one could stop the president from tearing down much of the East Wing this week.

The woman who wouldn’t leave: How Machado became Venezuela’s voice of resistance

Fri., Oct. 10, 2025

In a country where dissent often leads to exile or prison, María Corina Machado represents something rare: Endurance.

Murray puts spotlight on Idaho as shutdown fight over health care drags on

Thu., Oct. 9, 2025

WASHINGTON – With the government shutdown in its ninth day and no sign of serious negotiations between the parties to end it, Democrats are counting on sticker shock putting pressure on Republicans when Americans start seeing rising health insurance costs during this fall’s open enrollment period.

Northwest Democrats and Republicans dig in for messaging battle as government shutdown begins

Tue., Sept. 30, 2025

WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats and Republicans from the Northwest blamed each other Tuesday for an imminent government shutdown, as the Senate failed to pass a short-term spending bill amid a fight over health care costs.

2 longtime volunteer firefighters vie for West Plains fire commissioner seat

Fri., Sept. 26, 2025

There’s a confusing twist in a race for a West Plains fire commissioner.

Candidates for fire commissioner in West Plains district vary in fire experience

Tue., Sept. 23, 2025

Two candidates will be listed on ballots for position one in Fire District 10, spanning north from Fairchild Airforce Base until just after Coulee Creek and from North Wood Road to the Spokane River. Only one, however, is really vying for the spot.

Best and worst moments of the 2025 Emmys, from Stephen Colbert to that money clock

Mon., Sept. 15, 2025

Sunday’s Emmy Awards had the usual mix of light-hearted moments and powerful speeches, along with some surprise wins in the acting categories. So if there’s one thing we should always remember about television’s biggest night, it’s this: What might seem predictable sometimes isn’t and that’s what makes this awards show worth watching. 

Support for capitalism drops to new low in US, Gallup says

Mon., Sept. 8, 2025

Americans’ positive image of capitalism has eroded over the past decade, as a new Gallup poll finds widening polarization over the US economic system.

‘Total shock’: Families lose decades of legacy at Priest Lake as state auctions off their leased land

Sun., Aug. 31, 2025

Doug Cossette's parents first took him to Priest Lake three months after he was born in 1951. It's been in his blood ever since.  Frequent visits to the deep, clear-water lake known for sandy shores that are ringed by majestic Selkirk Mountain peaks, became something more meaningful in 1967.

Millions of dollars in special-election redistricting TV ads scheduled to start airing Tuesday

Fri., Aug. 29, 2025

Millions of dollars worth of political TV ads are expected to start airing Tuesday in an effort to sway Californians on a November ballot measure seeking to send more Democrats to Congress and counter President Donald Trump and the GOP agenda, according to television airtime purchases. The special-election ballot measure — Prop. 50 — will likely shape control of the U.S. House of ...

20 years after Katrina, New Orleans is ‘at a Tipping Point’

Fri., Aug. 29, 2025

 ​E​rander Guss-Lee, a security guard, stood outside an auditorium in New Orleans​ one night this week, hearing fragments of ​​​a documentary about Hurricane Katrina that was being screened: Clips of news anchors in the days after the storm, straining to describe the destruction and human suffering. ​Tearful recollections.​ Saxophones sounding mournful but defiant notes.

Planned Parenthood bets on redistricting to push back against GOP funding cuts

Fri., Aug. 22, 2025

Abortion rights groups are backing California Democrats in the escalating battle to redraw congressional maps, warning that Republicans are rigging seats on the heels of deeply unpopular cuts to safety net health programs and restrictions on reproductive care. And they worry there’s more to come, including a national abortion ban. “You take away our freedoms, we’ll take away your seats,” said ...

California Democrats reveal map that could gain them five House seats

Fri., Aug. 15, 2025

LOS ANGELES – Democrats unveiled a congressional map Friday for California that would allow them to capture five more House seats, likely wiping out the gains Republicans hope to make in Texas and intensifying a brutal national redistricting fight.

Newsom calls for special November election to block Trump from ‘rigging’ 2026 midterms

Thu., Aug. 14, 2025

Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic lawmakers and their allies on Thursday launched a special-election campaign to ask California voters to approve new congressional districts to decrease the size of the state's Republican delegation — a move that could determine control of Congress next year and stymie President Trump's agenda.

Spin Control: Why Washington won’t be in the gerrymandering sweepstakes

Sun., Aug. 10, 2025

Unlike Texas, drawing new district lines in Washington by next year is almost impossible.

Public schools are closing as Arizona’s school voucher program soars

Tue., Aug. 5, 2025

PHOENIX – The party at John R. Davis Elementary School was in full swing, but at the snow cone station, the school’s librarian was in tears.

U.S. leaders are older than ever. Could a WA lawmaker’s proposal restore trust in a Congress that rewards seniority?

Sun., Aug. 3, 2025

WASHINGTON – Sen. Patty Murray waited three decades to become the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, one of the most sought-after roles in Congress and one that gives undeniable benefits to the Washington state voters who first sent her to D.C. in 1992.

Making AL MVP case for Mariners’ Cal Raleigh with Aaron Judge out

Fri., Aug. 1, 2025

SEATTLE – The door is slightly ajar. Will Cal Raleigh shove it open?

Trump voters wanted relief from medical bills. For millions, the bills are about to get bigger

Thu., July 31, 2025

President Donald Trump rode to reelection last fall on voter concerns about prices. But as his administration pares back federal rules and programs designed to protect patients from the high cost of health care, Trump risks pushing more Americans into debt, further straining family budgets already stressed by medical bills.

Ex-Viking, Idaho State star Jared Allen’s Hall of Fame nod punctuates a career defined by maturation

Tue., July 29, 2025

One Halloween, Jared Allen dressed the way a younger iteration of Jared Allen would dress.

The U.S. military is investing in this Pacific island. So is China.

Tue., July 29, 2025

 The U.S. military will next year upgrade Palau’s main harbor, usually frequented by dive boats full of tourists heading to emerald lagoons, so that American warships can enter the Pacific island nation’s narrow channels and dock here.

Shuttle Discovery’s Texas transfer launches cost concerns

Mon., July 28, 2025

The Smithsonian Institution is resisting an effort from Texas lawmakers to transport the space shuttle Discovery from a Virginia museum to Houston, home of Mission Control, in a battle framed by the cost.

Two Democratic governors say if Texas redraws congressional maps, they may too

Sat., July 26, 2025

AUSTIN, Texas – The Democratic governors of two of the largest states in the country issued their most explicit threats yet to Republicans in Texas: If they draw new congressional maps to favor their party before the 2026 election, Democrats will look to do the same.

Ichiro soaking up induction weekend in his return to Cooperstown

Sat., July 26, 2025

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – To calm his anxious energy the day before his big day, Ichiro did what he always does.

How Texas could help ensure a GOP House majority in 2026

Wed., July 16, 2025

They were two of the closest congressional races in the country this past November.

Idaho prosecutor in Kohberger case has history of plea deals over death penalty

Thu., July 10, 2025

At noon on a Sunday in November 2022, police dispatched to a Moscow home near the University of Idaho campus after a report of an unresponsive person, but the officer soon suspected it was a homicide — and not just one, but three more.

‘Send them home’: To promote tougher policies, report claims Spokane’s homeless aren’t from here

Sat., July 5, 2025

Half of the homeless people in Spokane aren’t from here and should be given bus tickets home, more strictly enforced by police and cut off from long-term services, according to a recent report released by the Spokane Business Association, a prominent political advocacy group funded by businessman Larry Stone.

The big problem with Trump’s bill: Many voters don’t know what’s in it

Thu., July 3, 2025

Republicans say their massive domestic policy agenda is too big to fail. On the other hand, they quietly acknowledge, it might be too big for voters to understand.

Trump ends temporary protected status for Haitians; more than a half-million people now face deportation

Fri., June 27, 2025

The Trump administration is putting an end to Haiti’s temporary protected status designation, dealing yet another devastating blow to roughly a half-million Haitian nationals, some of whom have lived in the United States for more than a decade.

Bernie Sanders, seven other senators urge Democrats to break with billionaire donors

Tue., June 17, 2025

At a moment when many Americans are troubled by the role that top Republican donor Elon Musk played in shaping Trump administration policies, Sen. Bernie Sanders and seven fellow senators are calling on the Democratic Party’s leaders to make a sharp break with their own billionaire donors by banning super PAC and “dark money” from Democratic primaries.

Rural Republicans used to back NPR. Then MAGA changed everything.

Tue., June 10, 2025

Fourteen years before he joined President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, Sean P. Duffy rode a tea party wave into Congress. But within months, the conservative Republican from northern Wisconsin bucked his party and voted to preserve funding for NPR.

Daniel Beekman: Wave of disenrollments by WA’s Squaxin Island Tribe roils community

Wed., May 28, 2025

May 28—KAMILCHE POINT, Mason County — The Squaxin Island Tribe's health clinic is named after Sally Brownfield's late mother, who spent decades working to obtain quality care for members of her Native American community. But Brownfield will no longer receive subsidized care at the clinic, because the tribe disenrolled her and dozens of other longtime members this spring, becoming the latest in ...

Wave of disenrollments by WA’s Squaxin Island Tribe roils community

Wed., May 28, 2025

KAMILCHE POINT, Mason County – The Squaxin Island Tribe’s health clinic is named after Sally Brownfield’s late mother, who spent decades working to obtain quality care for members of her Native American community.

Baumgartner, Newhouse help House pass Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ after GOP state lawmakers warn of Medicaid cuts

Thu., May 22, 2025

WASHINGTON – Two Republicans from central and Eastern Washington voted on Thursday to pass President Donald Trump’s signature bill to cut taxes and boost spending on immigration enforcement, after their fellow GOP lawmakers who represent the same areas in Olympia warned against the legislation’s cuts to Medicaid.

Carney stacks cabinet with ex-Goldman banker, Quebec loyalist

Tue., May 13, 2025

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled his new economic team, keeping longtime politician François-Philippe Champagne as finance minister and placing former Goldman Sachs banker Timothy Hodgson in charge of energy and mining.

Is fluoride in your Idaho water? What to know as Utah and RFK Jr. fight it

Mon., May 12, 2025

In 2010, a small city nestled between the Rocky Mountains and Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho voted to stop adding fluoride to its municipal water system. The decision came after over a dozen residents bemoaned the practice at a public meeting, blaming fluoride for bone deficiencies, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Carrie Logan didn’t believe that the arguments the Sandpoint City Council ...

John Roskelley: Government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem

Sun., April 6, 2025

State legislators are scrambling for money to fund the state for the next biennium and cover a self-inflicted $16 billion deficit. After years of overspending and gifting almost 800 tax exemptions to businesses, their past largess has come home to roost – to the taxpayer’s detriment.

Amid attacks, Judge Boasberg weighs holding Trump officials in contempt

Sat., April 5, 2025

During President Donald Trump’s first weeks back in office, Judge James E. Boasberg watched the president and his allies attack other federal judges for halting some of the administration’s most far-reaching initiatives.

Russell Brand charged with multiple counts of rape and assault in the UK

Fri., April 4, 2025

British comedian Russell Brand has been charged with rape and assault by police in the U.K. The 49-year-old actor, known for his work in R-rated comedies including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek,” was charged with single counts of rape, indecent assault, oral rape and two counts of sexual assault, the Metropolitan Police Service announced in a statement. 

‘Captain Canada’ takes on Trump

Thu., March 20, 2025

The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, has lately been leading the charge against a different kind of storm that has rolled into Canada: President Donald Trump's threats to the country's economy and his desire to make it the 51st state.

Alan Simpson, three-term senator known for barbed wit, dies at 93

Fri., March 14, 2025

Alan K. Simpson, a Wyoming Republican who served three controversy-rich terms in the U.S. Senate - a tenure animated by a feistiness that was as earthy as it could be intemperate - and who later returned to the national stage as a leading deficit hawk, died March 14 in Cody, Wyoming. He was 93.

Who’s who in the Coeur d’Alene GOP town hall fracas that sparked free speech debate

Sun., March 2, 2025

Coeur d’Alene found itself in the national spotlight again on Feb. 22, this time after plainclothes security dragged three-time Democratic candidate Teresa Borrenpohl out of a legislative town hall in Coeur d’Alene High School organized by the Kootenai County GOP.