Washington news

• Payday lender Moneytree hit with $500,000 in fines and refunds

  21-12-2016 23:59
  
  Seattle-based payday lender Moneytree has been hit with more than $500,000 in fines and refunds by federal regulators over deceptive ads and collection letters.
  
  Read more

• Hotel trade groups sue over Seattle initiative that gives new rights to workers

  21-12-2016 22:31
  
  Hospitality associations are suing Seattle over new rights for hotel workers that the city’s voters approved last month with Initiative 124. The groups object to a provision requiring hotels to keep lists of guests whom workers accuse of sexual assault or harassment.
  
  Read more

• ‘Egregious scam’: Ex-Seattle man charged with raping 3 women, accused of running fake talent agency

  21-12-2016 21:36
  
  A former Seattle freelance journalist, facing rape charges, has been sued by the state Attorney General’s Office, alleging he used his businesses to trick women into posing nude and having sex with him.
  
  Read more

• ‘Obamacare’ holding its own: 6.4M signed up so far

  21-12-2016 21:32
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — “Obamacare” seems to be holding its own. The administration said Wednesday that 6.4 million people have enrolled for subsidized private coverage through HealthCare.gov, ahead of last year’s pace. Despite rising premiums, dwindling insurers, and the Republican vow to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law, about 400,000 more people signed up through […]
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Tissue, organ research institute to benefit injured soldiers

  21-12-2016 21:10
  
  CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The Department of Defense is providing $80 million to establish a bio-research and manufacturing institute in Manchester, New Hampshire, to develop transplant tissues and organs for injured American soldiers and other patients. The five-year award was announced Wednesday by Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Democratic Gov. […]
  
  Read more

• Ballot drop boxes surge in popularity among voters

  21-12-2016 20:32
  
  More King County voters returned their ballots by drop box than mail in last month’s election. The county added 33 new drop-box sites this year.
  
  Read more

• Solo show ‘The Slipknot’ tells too-familiar story of low-wage work

  21-12-2016 19:34
  
  Ever worked a minimum-wage job? Then you probably don’t need to see “The Slipknot” solo show at 18th and Union — you already know the story.
  
  Read more

• Speeding driver charged in Bonney Lake crash that killed 18-year-old

  21-12-2016 19:08
  
  Investigators say the vehicle was traveling at more than three times the posted speed limit when the driver lost control, struck a sign and a tree, killing a passenger.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Boeing 727 cargo plane crashes in Colombia, kills 5

  21-12-2016 18:49
  
  Five flight-crew members were killed when a Boeing 727 cargo airplane operated by Aerosucre crashed minutes after takeoff.
  
  Read more

• Renton police find shell casings, blood at hookah lounge after reported gunfire — but no victims

  21-12-2016 18:15
  
  Renton police find blood and shell casings at Nomad’s Hookah Lounge, but no suspects or victims.
  
  Read more

• Cops find shell casings, blood at hookah lounge after reported gunfire — but no victims

  21-12-2016 18:15
  
  Renton police find blood and shell casings at Nomad’s Hookah Lounge, but no suspects or victims.
  
  Read more

• 520 bridge lanes to close overnight Wednesday, Thursday

  21-12-2016 16:33
  
  Traffic lanes will be closed parts of this week and next week as crews perform maintenance on the new floating bridge.
  
  Read more

• Homeless boy at Seattle Children’s spreads a little cheer

  21-12-2016 15:30
  
  In front of a crowd of dozens in the hospital’s inpatient playroom, the 6-year-old patient at the hospital passed out gifts, led holiday songs and danced, as part of a charity event Tuesday.
  
  Read more

• ‘He knows how to work a room’: Homeless boy at Seattle Children’s spreads cheer at charity event

  21-12-2016 15:30
  
  In front of dozens in Seattle Children’s inpatient playroom, the 6-year-old patient passed out gifts, led holiday songs and danced, as part of a charity event.
  
  Read more

• Volcano erupts in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, sending ash to 34,000 feet

  21-12-2016 15:16
  
  Satellite data showed a short-lived explosion that drifted to the south.
  
  Read more

• Students of color changing the face of Washington schools — and the state, too

  21-12-2016 15:01
  
  More than 60 school districts in Washington now educate mostly students of color, and many of those kids are refugees, speaking dozens of languages. Chris Reykdal, the state’s incoming education chief, says that means big changes are necessary.
  
  Read more

• Teaching parents how to teach their toddlers: Seattle-area program yields lasting benefits

  21-12-2016 15:00
  
  Hundreds of children from low-income families in the Seattle area have graduated from a program that aims to level the playing field well before students enter kindergarten.
  
  Read more

• Data breach exposes info for 400,000 Community Health Plan members

  21-12-2016 15:00
  
  Community Health Plan of Washington will start notifying almost 400,000 current and former members that their personal information, including Social Security numbers, were accessed in a recent data breach.
  
  Read more

• Michele Morgan, first Cannes best actress winner, dies at 96

  21-12-2016 14:30
  
  PARIS (AP) — Michele Morgan, a French actress who starred with Humphrey Bogart and Frank Sinatra and was the first winner of Cannes’ best actress award, has died at 96. President Francois Hollande said in a statement announcing the death that Morgan, whose sea blue eyes captivated French audiences, was “a legend who marked numerous […]
  
  Read more

• Utah man donates money to cover kids’ school lunches

  21-12-2016 12:02
  
  LAYTON, Utah (AP) — A Utah man who grew up eating free- and reduced-lunch at school has donated enough money to pay for more than 5,000 meals for kids with outstanding lunch balances due at schools in the district where he received his education. Damon Burton now owns website development and marketing companies and was […]
  
  Read more

• Aid groups warn of crisis as Mongolia hit by harsh winter

  21-12-2016 10:33
  
  BEIJING (AP) — Another unusually harsh winter in Mongolia that’s decimating livestock and sending temperatures to minus 56 degrees Celsius (minus 70 Fahrenheit) may create a humanitarian crisis, with worse conditions still to come, aid groups warn. Save the Children and the International Federation of the Red Cross said Wednesday that this winter will likely […]
  
  Read more

• Aid group warns of crisis as Mongolia hit by harsh winter

  21-12-2016 10:33
  
  BEIJING (AP) — An international aid agency is warning of a potential humanitarian crisis as Mongolia grapples with another unusually harsh winter that’s decimating livestock and sending temperatures to minus 56 degrees Celsius (minus 70 Fahrenheit), with worse still to come. Save the Children said Tuesday that this winter will likely see the extreme Mongolian […]
  
  Read more

• Inside the DEA: A chemist’s quest to identify mystery drugs

  21-12-2016 09:33
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — No one knew what was in the baggie. It was just a few tablespoons of crystalline powder seized back in April, clumped like snow that had partially melted and frozen again. Emily Dye, a 27-year-old forensic chemist at the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Special Testing and Research Laboratory, did not know if anyone […]
  
  Read more

• US water projects aimed at easing drought to get $225M

  21-12-2016 09:14
  
  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The federal government will spend nearly a quarter-billion dollars to finance several dozen projects aimed at easing the effects of drought in the western U.S. and restoring watersheds that provide drinking water to communities around the nation, officials announced Wednesday. The $225 million in funding will be shared among 88 projects, […]
  
  Read more

• Feds to pour $225M into water projects around the U.S.

  21-12-2016 09:14
  
  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The federal government will be pouring nearly a quarter-billion dollars into several dozen projects aimed at tackling the effects of drought in the West and restoring watersheds that provide drinking water to communities around the nation. The $225 million in funding will be shared among 88 projects, from California’s Central Valley […]
  
  Read more

• Pasado’s Safe Haven gives holiday gifts to pets in need

  21-12-2016 04:58
  
  Nonprofit animal shelter Pasado's Safe Haven hosts its 14th Annual 'Home for the Howlidays' event.
  
  Read more

• Nuclear reactor near Richland shuts down after malfunction

  21-12-2016 04:57
  
  It’s unclear just when the Columbia Generating Station will be back in operation.
  
  Read more

• Nuclear plant near Richland shuts after malfunction at BPA substation

  21-12-2016 04:57
  
  It’s unclear just when the Columbia Generating Station will be back in operation.
  
  Read more

• N-reactor near Richland shuts down after malfunction at BPA substation

  21-12-2016 04:57
  
  It’s unclear just when the Columbia Generating Station will be back in operation.
  
  Read more

• 3 charged in Mount Vernon officer shooting

  21-12-2016 04:50
  
  A 44-year-old man and two teens were charged Tuesday in the shooting of a 61-year-old police officer, who remains in critical, but stable, condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
  
  Read more

• Mom’s great catch at Redmond skating rink

  21-12-2016 04:39
  
  Kids and parents have fun at Redmond town center.
  
  Read more

• Protesters at Seattle mayor’s house oppose new youth jail

  21-12-2016 02:52
  
  Several dozen protesters gathered outside Seattle Mayor Ed Murray’s Capitol Hill home Tuesday evening to demonstrate against a proposed new youth courthouse and jail.
  
  Read more

• Report: Facebook’s unmanned aircraft crashed in test flight

  21-12-2016 02:33
  
  YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — An unmanned aircraft that is part of Facebook’s plan to send internet signals to remote parts of the world crash-landed in the Arizona desert over the summer because of strong winds, investigators said. The social media company’s solar-powered aircraft, Aquila, crashed during its first test flight June 28 near Yuma, Arizona. […]
  
  Read more

• Woman killed in Kent homicide-suicide had sought protection order from ex-boyfriend

  21-12-2016 01:16
  
  The woman allegedly killed by her estranged boyfriend Sunday night was identified as Karen Perez Placencia, 24, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office said Tuesday.
  
  Read more

• Barefoot Bandit’s dreams ‘crushed’ when feds shut down his flight-school fundraiser

  21-12-2016 01:05
  
  Colton Harris-Moore asked the public for $125K to pay for his flight training. The folk-celebrity fugitive, on the lam for more than two years, stole and crashed three planes before being arrested in the Bahamas.
  
  Read more

• Barefoot Bandit’s dream ‘crushed’: Feds shut down his flight-school fundraiser

  21-12-2016 01:05
  
  Colton Harris-Moore asked the public for $125,000 to pay for his flight training. The folk-celebrity fugitive, on the lam for more than two years, stole and crashed three planes before being arrested in the Bahamas.
  
  Read more

Follow @newsWashington_ on Twitter!