State & Regional News | Thurston Chronicle

Joelene and Tomas Keen kiss outside the Airway Heights Corrections Center in Spokane, Washington, on August 8, 2026. (Moe K. Clark/Investigatewest)

Washington governor faces criticism for clemency denials

Joelene Keen was overjoyed when she checked her phone on May 11 and saw an email from her husband’s lawyer asking them to call him. She knew her husband, Tomas Keen, wouldn’t see the message … more

By Moe K. Clark / InvestigateWest | 9/23/26

The Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. The state’s prison system recently won a ruling in a federal appeals court that deals with how the state houses transgender women in its custody. (Photo by Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Federal appeals court blocks restrictions on placement of trans women in Oregon prisons

Oregon does not need to presume transgender women should be housed in women’s prisons and may continue to make case-by-case placement decisions that have allowed most of them to remain in custody … more

By Shaanth Nanguneri / The Oregon Capital Chronicle | 9/23/26

Kenworth electric heavy-duty trucks are among those available for the Washington Zero-Emission Program. (Photo by Aspen Ford/Washington State Standard)

Small businesses slow to take up Washington’s new electric truck vouchers

A line of work trucks sat running in the parking lot of Kent’s Pacific Raceways Monday, but there was hardly any engine noise and no diesel exhaust. The vehicles, ranging from forklifts … more

By Aspen Ford / The Washington State Standard | 9/23/26

A demonstrator holds a sign in support of Senate Bill 6346, dubbed the “Millionaires Tax” bill, during a rally at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia on Tuesday, Feb.10.

Public-sector unions pour millions into campaign to keep Washington income tax

With six weeks until the Nov. 3 election, union backed campaign donations are pouring in for the “ No on I-645 ” campaign. The Washington Education Association tops campaign donations for … more

By Carleen Johnson / The Center Square | 9/22/26

Let’s Go Washington founder Brian Heywood discusses his beliefs on Washington’s financial state outside the Washington Secretary of State’s office building in Tumwater on Thursday, July 2.

Nonresidents could face paying Washington's new income tax

People who never even set foot in Washington State might be subject to the new millionaire's tax if the repeal movement is not successful, according to discussions at the Washington state income tax … more

By TJ Martinell / The Center Square | 9/22/26

Ballot envelopes sit in the Thurston County elections center. (Photo by Laurel Demkovich/Washington State Standard)

Trump administration’s Washington voter roll lawsuit dismissed

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday tossed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Washington seeking the state’s voter rolls, in line with many rulings across the country. … more

By Jake Goldstein-Street / The Washington State Standard | 9/22/26

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is urging President Donald Trump to embargo diesel fuel exports as rising costs impact farmers in his largely agricultural state. Grassley is shown at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on July 23, 2026.

Diesel prices shoot upward as top farm-state GOP senator begs Trump for export embargo

Diesel prices hit a record average of $6.51 a gallon Monday, and some in President Donald Trump’s own party are breaking their support for the ongoing war in Iran that has driven fuel prices to … more

Ashley Murray / States Newsroom | 9/22/26

Grizzly bears in the lower 48 states are federally protected as a threatened species. A new memo from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik says that endangered animals may be killed as long as the action was not “intentionally directed at a particular animal or animals.”

Trump administration says developers, loggers can kill endangered species

The Trump administration’s top wildlife official issued a directive last week that expands a recent rollback of endangered species protections much further than the feds had told the public. … more

Alex Brown / Stateline | 9/22/26

Washington, 11 other states reach settlement with Paramount, Warner Bros. over merger

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery may move forward with a merger under the conditions that they boost film production, support displaced workers and preserve competition among cable channels over … more

Mia Maldonado / Oregon Capital Chronicle | 9/22/26

Washington’s medication collection program faces hurdles despite success

Washington’s program to collect medication so it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands has brought in over 1 million pounds of drugs since 2020, according to a state audit. But it’s still … more

Jake Goldstein-Street / Washington State Standard | 9/22/26

‘I voted’ stickers in the entry room of the Thurston County Ballot Processing Center in Tumwater on Thursday, Oct. 30.

Conservative Heritage Foundation election integrity scorecard ranks Washington near bottom

Washington ranks near the bottom of a newly updated election integrity scorecard from the Heritage Foundation, continuing the debate over voter registration, election rolls and the state's … more

Austin Reed / The Center Square | 9/21/26

An ICE officer coordinates with officials during an enforcement operation in San Antonio on Feb. 5, 2025. Photo: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Flickr / PDM 1.0

ICE arrests surge as Washington candidates split over enforcement

Immigration arrests in Washington surged this summer, with federal immigration officers detaining about 705 people in June and another 700 in July statewide, according to records from the Deportation … more

Austin Reed / The Center Square | 9/21/26

State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti speaks during a Legislative Media Day at the Washington state Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 19, in Olympia.

Treasurer seeks public input for Washington state dollar coin celebrating innovation

Washington state Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti is requesting concepts from the public for Washington’s submission to the United States Mint American Innovation $1 Coin Program, a news release from … more

By The Chronicle staff | 9/21/26

Washington is fighting to limit its duty to protect vulnerable adults

Starting in February 2020, investigators with Washington Adult Protective Services responded to nine reports about Raymond Bell, a 71-year-old man with dementia and no nearby family. Neighbors, … more

By Kelsey Turner / InvestigateWest | 9/21/26

Proposed Head Start changes leave Washington job impact unclear

Proposed changes to the federal Head Start program could reshape early-learning programs nationwide, but the impact on Washington jobs remains unclear as local districts prepare for potential … more

By Austin Reed / The Center Square | 9/21/26

Members of the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition celebrated a major milestone in August when the group fundraised $260,000 to conserve 13 acres of forests in the Doc Holliday timber sale. By mid-September, they raised enough to bring the total to 29. (Photo courtesy of the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition)

Trees in coastal temperate rainforest spared from the chopping block

A grassroots organization has successfully raised enough money to spare 29 acres of trees on state forestland in the Northern Olympic Peninsula from being cut down, employing a new conservation … more

By Aspen Ford / The Washington State Standard | 9/21/26

The Oregon Department of Transportation works on safety improvements along the Portland and Gresham city limits.

Oregon has one of the nation’s largest funding gaps to meet road maintenance needs

Oregon has one of the largest gaps in the country between its highway and bridge maintenance needs and what it spends on addressing them, according to a national study. Oregon is falling … more

Mia Maldonado / Oregon Capital Chronicle | 9/20/26

Alabamans hold up signs that read “No Data Center” at a County Commission meeting on Aug. 24, 2026, in Hayneville, Alabama, in the Lowndes County Courthouse.

Data Center Backlash Unites Congress, but Next Steps Remain Unclear

The rare 2026 issue that draws huge support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress is the same one that’s mobilized many Americans: restrictions on giant data centers. The House has … more

David Lightman / Stateline | 9/20/26

Law firm backs student suing UW over race-based admissions

A law firm specializing in government policies is taking up the case against The University of Washington on behalf of an Asian man who was denied admission, despite graduating high school with a … more

By Carleen Johnson / The Center Square | 9/19/26

Father sues Washington state school over LGBTQ opt-out refusal

The Lake Washington School District is facing a federal lawsuit brought by a father who says the district repeatedly denied his requests to opt his son out of LGBTQ instruction. Konstantin … more

By Carleen Johnson / The Center Square | 9/18/26