SEATTLE – British Columbia’s government announced Wednesday amid an international dispute that it will no longer allow timber sales in the Skagit River’s headwaters. The decision could intensify pressure over Canadian mining company Imperial Metals’ pending permit to start exploratory mining in the area, the Seattle Times reported, which conservationists see as a larger threat to the river’s ecology.

The Pullman Regional Hospital Board of Commissioners will schedule a retreat soon to decide what to do next following the failure of a $29 million bond for hospital upgrades.

SEATTLE – The CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is stepping down after more than five years in the role. Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellman on Thursday cited family and health as reasons for leaving the world’s richest philanthropy, calling it “the toughest decision” of her career. Desmond-Hellman, 62, was the third CEO in the organization’s 20-year history, the Seattle Times reported. With a background as a research scientist and physician, she was the first to come from outside Microsoft.