Washington news

• 2 seal pups dive back into the sea after California rescue

  13-07-2016 23:30
  
  SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, Calif. (AP) — Two 6-month-old elephant seal pups have been released back into the Pacific Ocean after being treated at a rehabilitation center near Los Angeles. The Coast Guard says the pups were taken to secluded Smugglers Cove near Santa Cruz Island and released into open water Tuesday. Michael Remski cared for […]
  
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• 500,000 patients could be affected as Providence won’t renew Premera contract

  13-07-2016 22:59
  
  Providence Health & Services officials said they won’t renew a commercial health-insurance contract with Premera for 2017, a move that could affect 500,000 people in Washington, including those who receive care through Swedish Medical Center.
  
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• Local brands try to catch those trying to catch ’em all on Pokemon Go

  13-07-2016 22:11
  
  No organization, it seems, can resist a good fad. Businesses and government agencies alike are hopping on the Pokemon Go trend to push their messages or products.
  
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• Firefighter injured in Auburn expected to make full recovery

  13-07-2016 20:47
  
  A firefighter was injured after helping put out a blaze in an unoccupied house near Auburn.
  
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• Study: Pipe-corroding well water prevalent in half of states

  13-07-2016 20:07
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Half of U.S. states have a high prevalence of well water that’s corrosive enough to leach lead from pipes, the U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday. The findings were based on the broadest sampling yet of untreated groundwater from private wells supplying 44 million Americans, the federal agency said. While federal and […]
  
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• Fruit pops on offer at the Rome zoo as summer temps soar

  13-07-2016 20:07
  
  ROME (AP) — The macaques snacked on cold melons, the lemurs nibbled frozen fruit pops and the tiger had his red meat on ice. As the temperatures climbed Wednesday to nearly 40 degrees Centigrade (104 Fahrenheit), the animals at Rome’s zoo are getting some cool relief from a heat wave. It’s a ritual that the […]
  
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• When you show a mouse a movie: Allen Institute opens window into brain

  13-07-2016 19:02
  
  Video data from the Seattle laboratory bankrolled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen captures neurons in action as mice view movies, pictures and light patterns.
  
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• What happens if you show a mouse a movie: Allen Institute opens new window into living brain

  13-07-2016 19:02
  
  Video data from the Seattle laboratory bankrolled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen captures neurons in action as mice view movies, pictures and light patterns.
  
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• Car crashes into Bremerton home, injures sleeping man

  13-07-2016 18:43
  
  A 31-year-old Bremerton man was injured when a car crashed into his home and struck him as he slept.
  
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• 4 shot in apparent robbery near Olympia

  13-07-2016 17:46
  
  Authorities say at least four men were shot in an apparent armed robbery in Tumwater.
  
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• First virus-hunter in space will test DNA-decoding device

  13-07-2016 17:37
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first virus-hunter in space is all set to conduct some cosmic, new DNA research. Newly arrived space station astronaut Kate Rubins will attempt to complete the first full-blown DNA decoding, or “sequencing,” in orbit with a pocket-size device that should be delivered next week. “We’re really interested in how […]
  
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• First virus-hunter in space will test device to decode DNA

  13-07-2016 17:37
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Newly arrived space station astronaut Kate Rubins wore top-level biosafety suits for her work on Earth, but that won’t be needed when she fires up a pocket-sized device to decode DNA in space. Rubins, who studied Ebola and other deadly viruses before becoming an astronaut, will be working with harmless […]
  
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• Morning Brief: the Big One and little ones, SPOG, D.B. Cooper

  13-07-2016 16:54
  
  (Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning! Here’s what’s happening:   NEED TO KNOW Would your child survive a megaquake? Nearly 400,000 Washington students attend schools built before statewide seismic-construction standards existed. Our state does little to address seismic safety in these vulnerable schools. In addition, buildings on the coast […]
  
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• West Seattle, here’s why you lost power overnight

  13-07-2016 16:29
  
  An equipment failure left more than 3,700 West Seattle customers in the dark Wednesday morning.
  
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• Video shows humpbacks feeding against San Francisco skyline

  13-07-2016 15:12
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A kayaker captured video of humpback whales feasting on fish in a bay with the San Francisco skyline as a backdrop. Lyrinda Snyderman of Berkeley, California, says she was out with three other kayakers to circle nearby Angel Island on Sunday when the group spotted the whales. The longtime kayaker said […]
  
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• ‘We should be screaming’ with outrage: State does little to protect schoolkids from earthquake, tsunami

  13-07-2016 15:00
  
  Seismic Neglect: Tens of thousands of Washington students attend schools in tsunami and earthquake zones. But the state, ignoring the advice of safety experts, doesn’t require seismic evaluations or upgrades.
  
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• ‘We should be screaming’: Washington lags behind in protecting schoolkids from earthquakes, tsunami

  13-07-2016 15:00
  
  Seismic Neglect: Tens of thousands of Washington students attend schools in tsunami and earthquake zones. But the state, ignoring the advice of safety experts, doesn’t require seismic evaluations or upgrades.
  
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• Is your child safe? Washington does little to protect older schools from earthquake danger

  13-07-2016 15:00
  
  Seismic Neglect: Tens of thousands of Washington students attend schools in tsunami and earthquake zones. But the state, ignoring the advice of safety experts, doesn’t require seismic evaluations or upgrades.
  
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• How to find out if a school in Washington state is safe from earthquakes, tsunamis

  13-07-2016 15:00
  
  Washington doesn’t have statewide data on the seismic safety of schools. Here are a few tips to find the available information.
  
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• Here’s what you’d pay to build bigger Sound Transit network

  13-07-2016 15:00
  
  What would your family pay in taxes to build an expanded Sound Transit network? We’ve created a tax calculator to help you find out.
  
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• Here’s what you’d pay to build a bigger Sound Transit network

  13-07-2016 15:00
  
  What would your family pay in taxes to build an expanded Sound Transit network? We’ve created a tax calculator to help you find out.
  
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• Sheriff’s officials: 2 people have died in Wisconsin floods

  13-07-2016 13:53
  
  LITCHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say at least two people have died in flooding caused by powerful storms that damaged homes, washed out roads and stranded motorists in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, Bayfield County sheriff’s officials say an 84-year-old Illinois man died Tuesday when his vehicle became submerged in a flooded ditch. A […]
  
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• Two men stabbed in downtown Seattle

  13-07-2016 09:02
  
  The two men were taken to Harborview Medical Center, reportedly with injuries that are not life-threatening.
  
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• Solar-powered plane arrives in Egypt on globe-circling trip

  13-07-2016 08:52
  
  CAIRO (AP) — An experimental solar-powered airplane has arrived in Egypt as part of its globe-circling voyage. The aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, flew out of the Seville airport in Spain on Monday and landed in Cairo on Wednesday. This leg of the trip had been expected to last about 50 hours and 30 minutes. The […]
  
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• Solar plane flies over Egypt pyramids on globe-circling trip

  13-07-2016 08:52
  
  CAIRO (AP) — Flying through the haze over the pyramids of Giza, an experimental solar-powered airplane arrived on Wednesday in Egypt as part of its globe-circling voyage. The Solar Impulse 2 departed from the Seville airport in Spain on Monday and landed at the Cairo International Airport on Wednesday morning. This leg of the trip […]
  
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• Tacoma City Council votes to ban plastic bags

  13-07-2016 08:14
  
  The ordinance banning use of thin plastic bags by grocery stores and other businesses will go into effect in one year.
  
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• Court sides with Utah’s Planned Parenthood in defunding case

  13-07-2016 08:12
  
  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah governor’s order to block funding to Planned Parenthood was probably a political move designed to punish the group, a federal appeals court wrote in an ruling that ordered the state to keep the money flowing. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver decided Tuesday there’s a […]
  
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• Surveys off Alaska lead to new types of soft-bodied fish

  13-07-2016 08:08
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal biologist Jay Orr never knows what’s going to come up in nets lowered to the ocean floor off Alaska’s remote Aleutian Islands, which separate the Bering Sea from the rest of the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes it’s stuff he has to name. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologist is part […]
  
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• Scientists surveying ocean floor turn up new fish off Alaska

  13-07-2016 08:08
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal biologist Jay Orr never knows what’s going to come up in nets lowered to the ocean floor off Alaska’s remote Aleutian Islands, which separate the Bering Sea from the rest of the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes it’s stuff he has to name. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologist is part […]
  
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• Seattle police union president resigning amid controversy over Facebook post

  13-07-2016 07:08
  
  Ron Smith, who was elected to the post in 2014, is stepping down.
  
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• Despite derailments, little progress in railcar upgrades

  13-07-2016 06:26
  
  Slow progress has been made in upgrading and replacing tens of thousands of rupture-prone rail cars used to transport oil and ethanol, despite numerous fiery derailments, U.S. safety officials said Tuesday.
  
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• Audubon backs I-732 to fight climate change — it’s better than nothing

  13-07-2016 05:49
  
  What could possibly be controversial about a major environmental group endorsing a climate-change measure? This being Seattle, read on.
  
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• Mosier fire chief: Derailment altered his view on oil trains

  13-07-2016 04:59
  
  The fire chief of Mosier, the Columbia Gorge town where an oil train derailed in June, testified Tuesday in a marathon proceeding that will lead to a recommendation on whether to build a major new oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver, Wash.
  
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• Police arrest man suspected of shooting woman at Sodo homeless encampment

  13-07-2016 04:52
  
  The 36-year-old woman told police she knew the man and provided a description of him, which helped investigators make the arrest Monday, police said.
  
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• Seeing Bellevue through colored lenses

  13-07-2016 03:59
  
  A large-scale art exhibit goes up in Bellevue.
  
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• Could an art project in a 117-year-old house be a solution to homelessness?

  13-07-2016 03:51
  
  Artists behind the Seattle Demo Project turn doomed buildings into “a Viking funeral” with dramatic art installations — and hope to work with squatters to turn those buildings into transitional housing.
  
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• Nationwide Comcast outage affects local small business owners

  13-07-2016 03:03
  
  It's unclear how many customers in the Puget Sound region are affected by the outage and when crews will completely fix the issue.
  
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• Nationwide Comcast outage affecting local small business owners

  13-07-2016 03:03
  
  It's unclear how many customers in the Puget Sound region are affected by the outage and when crews will completely fix the issue.
  
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• Mother’s boyfriend charged over gun that toddler used to shoot himself

  13-07-2016 02:53
  
  A 57-year-old man was charged Tuesday with unlawful possession of a firearm after his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son found the gun and shot himself in the face at a Seattle motel.
  
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• Video show humpbacks feeding against San Francisco skyline

  13-07-2016 02:32
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A kayaker captured video of humpback whales feasting on fish in a bay with the San Francisco skyline as a backdrop. Lyrinda Snyderman of Berkeley, California, says she was out with three other kayakers to circle nearby Angel Island on Sunday when the group spotted the whales. The longtime kayaker said […]
  
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• High rate of Washington community-college grads go on to earn 4-year degree

  13-07-2016 02:12
  
  Washington state ranks in the top five for the percentage of its students who receive an associate degree and then go on to complete a bachelor’s, a new study shows.
  
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• Man pleads guilty in transgender teen’s death

  13-07-2016 02:10
  
  LUCEDALE, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man accused of killing a transgender teen has pleaded guilty to murder in county court Tuesday. Josh Vallum entered the plea in the 2015 beating death of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, of Theodore, Alabama, who once considered him a boyfriend. Williamson, born Michael Christopher Wilkins, was killed and buried on […]
  
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• Naming Amazon’s biodome: ‘I call it the Death Star.’

  13-07-2016 01:53
  
  Sketched July 12, 2016 Back in February, I wondered how people would call the Amazon biodome after it is completed. But there’s no need to wait till then to have some fun. This afternoon, as I sat to document the construction progress, I overheard a passerby say: “I call it the Death Star.” I think that’s a fitting name, especially after […]
  
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• NASA’s Juno spacecraft beams first pictures from Jupiter

  13-07-2016 01:09
  
  PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft has sent back the first pictures since arriving at Jupiter. An image released Tuesday shows Jupiter surrounded by three of its four largest moons. The picture was taken on Saturday when the Juno spacecraft was circling 3 million miles away. Even at that distance, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot […]
  
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• FDA lets Juno restart cancer-treatment trial

  13-07-2016 01:07
  
  Juno Therapeutics has FDA approval to restart a cancer-treatment trial after it was halted last week over two patients’ deaths.
  
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• Duane Wollmuth, highly respected leader of Walla Walla Valley wine, dies at 60

  13-07-2016 01:05
  
  Duane Wollmuth was executive director of the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance for the past five years.
  
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• Guest essay: There’s no debate — institutional racism is real

  13-07-2016 00:09
  
  Rachael DeCruz, an executive board member of the Seattle King County NAACP, says honest and genuine dialogue about race is critical, and it doesn’t happen enough.
  
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