Washington news

• Tough-guy journeyman actor George Kennedy dies at 91

  29-02-2016 23:52
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — George Kennedy, the hulking, tough-guy character actor who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a savage chain-gang convict in the 1960s classic “Cool Hand Luke,” has died. His grandson Cory Schenkel says Kennedy died on Sunday morning of old age in Boise, Idaho. He was 91. He had undergone […]
  
  Read more

• VA watchdog releases reports on wait-time manipulations

  29-02-2016 23:35
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Reports documenting scheduling problems and wait-time manipulation at the Department of Veterans Affairs are being made public, as the agency’s internal watchdog bows to pressure from members of Congress and others to improve transparency. The VA’s Office of Inspector General released 11 reports Monday outlining problems at VA hospitals and clinics in […]
  
  Read more

• Neighbor fired air rifle, unaware it hit Salma Hayek’s dog

  29-02-2016 22:57
  
  SEATTLE (AP) — Salma Hayek’s neighbor fired an air rifle toward a dog that had come into his garage and fought with his dogs, apparently unaware that he had struck and killed the actress’ dog, authorities in Washington state said Monday. The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office ruled the shooting justified but will send the case […]
  
  Read more

• Neighbor fired air rifle, unaware he hit Salma Hayek’s dog

  29-02-2016 22:57
  
  Salma Hayek's neighbor fired a pellet gun to scare away her dog after it came on to his property in Yelm. Family says he didn't intend to hit the dog.The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office ruled the shooting justified but will send the case to prosecutors for review.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Woman in Spokane infected with Zika during pregnancy, but delivered healthy baby

  29-02-2016 22:25
  
  A case of Zika virus infection has been confirmed in a woman in her 20s in Spokane County who was pregnant when she developed symptoms after traveling, but has since delivered a healthy baby, health officials reported Monday.
  
  Read more

• Spokane woman infected with Zika during pregnancy, but delivered healthy baby

  29-02-2016 22:25
  
  A pregnant Spokane woman in her 20s contracted Zika virus during travel, but she has since delivered an apparently health baby, health officials reported Monday.
  
  Read more

• Granger police chief pleads not guilty to perjury, stalking charges

  29-02-2016 22:22
  
  A Yakima County police chief, who pleaded not guilty to perjury and stalking charges Monday morning, was again ordered to surrender his firearms.
  
  Read more

• Seattle council’s bike-share dilemma: Save Pronto, or let it die?

  29-02-2016 22:13
  
  City Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Mike O’Brien will present competing plans in a Tuesday committee meeting on Pronto’s fate.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Appeals court upholds designation of polar bear habitat

  29-02-2016 20:23
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service followed the law when it designated more than 187,000 square miles — an area larger than California — as critical habitat for threatened polar bears in Alaska marine waters and its northern coast, an appeals court ruled Monday. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal reversed […]
  
  Read more

• AARP: Price hikes doubled average drug price over 7 years

  29-02-2016 19:28
  
  TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The average cost for a year’s supply of a prescription drug doubled in just seven years to more than $11,000 — about three-quarters of the average annual Social Security benefit. That’s according to the latest study of price trends for widely-used drugs conducted by AARP, the senior citizens advocacy group. It […]
  
  Read more

• Ski report: Wild weather week ahead on slopes

  29-02-2016 19:14
  
  Skiers and snowboarders will encounter unpredictable weather changes in the days ahead that could have them cruising through powder one day and then a slushy, rainy mess the next. All ski areas received 4 to 12 inches of new snow this past weekend. A freezing level around 2,500 feet will produce additional snowfall Monday. Then […]
  
  Read more

• Court upholds prison sentence for man convicted in nunchuck attack

  29-02-2016 18:40
  
  The Superior Court judge who sentenced the man said he had a lengthy history of assault and other dangerous behavior while intoxicated.
  
  Read more

• Buffett: ‘Not true’ that mobile-home firm charges minorities more

  29-02-2016 18:35
  
  Appearing on CNBC, the Berkshire Hathaway chief addressed complaints about lending practices at the company’s mobile-home division, Clayton Homes.
  
  Read more

• California school lets students display anti-gay stickers

  29-02-2016 18:34
  
  INDIO, Calif. (AP) — Students who placed anti-gay stickers on their identification badges at a Southern California high school have the right to wear the symbols, just as others can sport insignia supporting gay rights, administrators said. Both symbols are allowed as a matter of free speech, as long as they do not cause a […]
  
  Read more

• Fire damages small Ravenna home; 3 squatters flee

  29-02-2016 17:34
  
  Three people, believed to be squatters, left the home unharmed, the fire department said.
  
  Read more

• Fourth victim of Belfair shooting identified as neighbor

  29-02-2016 17:32
  
  The Mason County coroner’s office identified the last victim in a Friday shooting near Belfair as Donna S. Reed, a neighbor of the shooter.
  
  Read more

• Series of crashes tangles traffic through Everett

  29-02-2016 15:19
  
  Collisions in both directions on Interstate 5, and one nearby on U.S. Highway 2, caused major backups early Monday morning. The crash on northbound I-5 killed one person.
  
  Read more

• Math challenge starts Monday, teaching algebra through a game

  29-02-2016 15:05
  
  An online math game aims to teach students the concepts of algebra in just two hours.
  
  Read more

• High fashion: Designer Luly Yang talks about her uniform makeover for Alaska Airlines

  29-02-2016 15:00
  
  Seattle fashion designer Luly Yang, known for her one-of-a-kind creations, has been hired to do something entirely different: Design new uniforms for the entire Alaska Airlines workforce — 12,000 people.
  
  Read more

• Despite protests, the Dan Savage-influenced ‘Real O’Neals’ to debut on ABC

  29-02-2016 15:00
  
  The show is loosely based on the coming of age of Seattle-based syndicated columnist Dan Savage. Conservative groups wanted the show killed, but it will debut March 2 before settling into its regular time slot on March 8.
  
  Read more

• Alabama to be hub of scientific study of Southern tornadoes

  29-02-2016 14:13
  
  ATLANTA (AP) — Weather researchers say they expect about 40 scientists from around the nation to participate in “VORTEX Southeast,” an upcoming study of the unique characteristics of tornadoes that develop in the South. Like earlier studies in the Midwest, the research based in Huntsville, Alabama, will run through March and April and will include […]
  
  Read more

• New twist in addiction crisis: Deadly painkiller impostors

  29-02-2016 13:56
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Authorities are sounding the alarm about a new and deadly twist in the country’s drug-addiction crisis in the form of a potent painkiller disguised as other medications. Tennessee officials say they’ve seen two dozen cases in recent months of pills marked as the less potent opiates oxycodone or Percocet that turned […]
  
  Read more

• Obama encouraging young people to learn math, science

  29-02-2016 12:57
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is launching a version of “take your child to work day” that’s focused on America’s science laboratories instead of its corporate workspaces. It’s part of Obama’s effort to encourage young people, especially girls and minorities, to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. More than […]
  
  Read more

• Battling outbreak, Hawaii faces small staff, pesticide fears

  29-02-2016 08:17
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — On a farm in the heart of Hawaii’s ongoing dengue outbreak, coffee grows wild among the ferns, and vanilla vines climb guava trees. It’s hard to know where nature ends and the farm begins, and that’s the way organic farmers there like it. But state efforts to combat the outbreak — and […]
  
  Read more

• Battling dengue and Zika outbreak, Hawaii faces small staff, pesticide fears

  29-02-2016 08:17
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — On a farm in the heart of Hawaii’s ongoing dengue outbreak, coffee grows wild among the ferns, and vanilla vines climb guava trees. It’s hard to know where nature ends and the farm begins, and that’s the way organic farmers there like it. But state efforts to combat the outbreak — and […]
  
  Read more

• Inmate found dead of apparent suicide in Kitsap

  29-02-2016 07:03
  
  A Kitsap County Jail inmate found unconscious in his cell late Saturday died of an apparent suicide.
  
  Read more

• Emails suggest UW regents decided on new president days before public vote

  29-02-2016 05:48
  
  The chairman of the University of Washington’s Board of Regents and other key officials communicated as if they knew Ana Mari Cauce would be named the university’s president days before the board publicly voted to appoint her last October, emails and other records show.
  
  Read more

• Hundreds cycle hard in Seattle to beat rare cancers

  29-02-2016 04:46
  
  Cycle for Survival, a nationwide fundraising event, which included about 400 Seattle participants, raised money for cancer research and trials.
  
  Read more

• Mill Creek centenarian celebrates a rare leap-day birthday

  29-02-2016 04:21
  
  Mill Creek centenarian celebrates rare leap-day birthday.
  
  Read more

• Hundreds kick off cycling season with Chilly Hilly

  29-02-2016 04:11
  
  The Chilly Hilly kicks off the Northwest’s cycling season with a 33-mile route around Bainbridge Island.
  
  Read more

• Half of Seattle’s female homicide victims last year were homeless

  29-02-2016 04:02
  
  Seattle police investigated 24 homicides last year. Seventy-five percent of victims were male and two thirds of all homicide victims died from gunshot wounds.
  
  Read more

• China plans to launch 2nd space station, crewed mission

  29-02-2016 03:45
  
  BEIJING (AP) — Rising space power China is preparing to place a second experimental space station into orbit this year followed by a pair of astronauts who will dock with it and live on board for several days. The government’s China Manned Space Agency said Sunday the Tiangong 2 space lab will lift off sometime […]
  
  Read more

• Today’s luxury apartments may be tomorrow’s affordable housing

  29-02-2016 01:05
  
  Seattle’s boom in high-end apartments may actually be helping the city’s affordability because of a “filter-down” effect as buildings age, some say. The key to easing rents? Keep building, they advise.
  
  Read more

• Scratching the surface not enough when fighting homelessness

  29-02-2016 01:00
  
  Consultant Barbara Poppe cautions Seattle against spending time on the problems caused by homelessness, instead of the roots of homelessness.
  
  Read more

• Injured hiker on Mt. Si to be carried down by volunteers

  29-02-2016 00:57
  
  High winds prevented an aerial rescue, however a mountaineering rescue team was in the area and moved to walk the injured man off the mountain
  
  Read more

Follow @newsWashington_ on Twitter!