Washington news

• North America’s shortest international flight cleared for takeoff in Washington state

  02-06-2017 23:53
  
  The Friday Harbor Airport on San Juan Island, Wash., received official clearance this week for flight. Pending FAA approval, a Canadian airline hopes to start booking passengers within the next month. One-way flights will start at $49.
  
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• Does Trump believe in climate change or not? Aides won’t say

  02-06-2017 23:32
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Does he or doesn’t he? Believe in climate change, that is. You’d think that would be an easy enough question the day after President Donald Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. out of the landmark global accord aimed at combatting global warming. But don’t bother asking at the White House. “I […]
  
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• Pittsburgh to Trump: You don’t speak for us on climate

  02-06-2017 22:44
  
  PITTSBURGH (AP) — In announcing plans to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, President Donald Trump declared that he was “elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.” But the Steel City is hardly in Trump’s corner on this one. At City Hall and on the streets, Pittsburgh residents expressed support […]
  
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• Here’s your weekend roundup of the region’s biggest traffic headaches

  02-06-2017 21:50
  
  Northbound I-5 approaching SeaTac will bring the region’s worst traffic delays this weekend, as lanes are closed for resurfacing.
  
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• Here’s your weekend roundup of region’s biggest traffic headaches

  02-06-2017 21:50
  
  Northbound I-5 approaching SeaTac will bring the region’s worst traffic delays this weekend, as lanes are closed for resurfacing.
  
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• Evergreen State College caller threatened to ‘murder as many people as I can’

  02-06-2017 21:46
  
  The caller on Thursday threatened to “execute as many people on the campus as I can get ahold of,” and referred to Olympia as a “communist scumbag town.” The caller’s identity remains unknown. The college announced it will reopen Saturday.
  
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• Caller to Evergreen State College threatens to ‘murder as many people as I can’

  02-06-2017 21:46
  
  The caller on Thursday threatened to “execute as many people on the campus as I can get ahold of,” and referred to Olympia as a “communist scumbag town.” The caller’s identity remains unknown.
  
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• Caller threatens to ‘murder as many people as I can’ at Evergreen State College

  02-06-2017 21:46
  
  The caller on Thursday threatened to “execute as many people on the campus as I can get ahold of,” and referred to Olympia as a “communist scumbag town.” The caller’s identity remains unknown.
  
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• At 75, Chihuly discusses his long struggles with mental health

  02-06-2017 20:21
  
  Dale Chihuly, 75, has struggled with his mental health, by turns fragile and luminous like the art he makes. He and his wife discuss his bipolar disorder in detail for the first time publicly, saying they don’t want to omit from his legacy a large part of who he is.
  
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• Sig Hansen’s son-in-law charged with assault in Uber driver incident

  02-06-2017 20:19
  
  Clark A. Pederson, 30, of Vancouver, Wash., and Sig Hansen are accused of spitting on a Uber driver during a dispute over payment May 18 in Ballard.
  
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• Suspect in Everett woman’s killing released after police confirm alibi

  02-06-2017 20:02
  
  The victim’s body was discovered beneath a mattress in her home south of Everett early Tuesday. She suffered multiple stab wounds.
  
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• Illinois professor who pushed for trans fats ban dies at 102

  02-06-2017 19:23
  
  URBANA, Ill. — A University of Illinois professor who spent decades pushing for a federal ban on artery-clogging artificial trans fats has died at age 102. Family members say Fred A. Kummerow died Wednesday at his home in Urbana. Kummerow was a comparative biosciences professor whose trans fats research dated back to the 1950s. His […]
  
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• Jon Stewart fights back tears remembering late firefighter

  02-06-2017 19:14
  
  HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Jon Stewart fought back tears Friday as he described his friendship with a retired New York City firefighter who worked in the rescue effort following the Sept. 11 terror attacks and died after an eight-year battle with cancer. The comedian spoke at the funeral Mass in Hicksville for Raymond Pfeifer, who […]
  
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• Jon Stewart among those praising late NYC firefighter

  02-06-2017 19:14
  
  HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Jon Stewart fought back tears Friday as he described his friendship with a retired New York City firefighter who worked in the rescue effort following the Sept. 11 terror attacks and died after an eight-year battle with cancer. The comedian spoke at the funeral Mass in Hicksville for Raymond Pfeifer, who […]
  
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• Podcast: Rep. Pramila Jayapal on her first months in Congress, Trump and impeachment

  02-06-2017 19:06
  
  For The Overcast, political reporters Jim Brunner and Dan Beekman sit down with 7th Congressional District Rep. Pramila Jayapal to talk about what it's like to serve in Congress in the Trump era.
  
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• A second act for the Double Header, the Pioneer Square gay bar that launched a thousand stories

  02-06-2017 18:55
  
  The Double Header — a former hub of drag, rock ’n’ roll and queer performance culture in Seattle’s Pioneer Square — hopes to reopen in the next few months under the name Nightjar. Its new owners, who run Re-bar, say they want to preserve the old bar’s 1930s renegade legacy.
  
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• National Trails Day is Saturday, with free parks, group hikes and more

  02-06-2017 18:53
  
  American Hiking Society event aims to bring more non-motorized use to trails across the nation.
  
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• Portland, Multnomah County set goal of being powered by 100% renewable energy

  02-06-2017 18:31
  
  The Portland City Council and Multnomah County passed resolutions that all of the city’s and county’s electric energy will come from renewable sources by 2035 and all of its energy will be from renewable sources by 2050.
  
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• Yay or meh? Tell us what Pike Place Market means to you

  02-06-2017 18:14
  
  We all love the Pike Place Market, but how often do you locals visit it other when showing Seattle to out-of-town friends? And you newbies, is it all you expected?
  
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• Man arrested in theft of Portland train victim’s ring

  02-06-2017 18:14
  
  PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A homeless man took the wedding ring off the finger of a man who died in last week’s knife attack aboard a Portland train, city police said Friday. George Tschaggeny was wearing Ricky Best’s ring when officers arrested him Friday morning beneath an overpass, Sgt. Pete Simpson said. The 51-year-old man […]
  
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• Bellingham to raise official flag for the first time. Do you like it?

  02-06-2017 17:14
  
  The Bellingham City Council adopted the flag in April, but it’s been flown around the city for more than a year. It’s the first official flag for the city and was designed by local artist Brad Lockhart.
  
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• Space capsule with 2 astronauts returns to Earth

  02-06-2017 16:47
  
  After six months aboard the International Space Station, a French and a Russian astronaut landed in Kazakhstan. U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson wasn't with them, because NASA extended her mission by three months.
  
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• Candidates for Seattle mayor talk city income tax, noncitizen voting, car-tab fees

  02-06-2017 16:31
  
  Six leading contenders for mayor, in the first open race since 1997, participated in a forum, seeking to impress an audience of union members.
  
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• Virgin Galactic conducts 9th unpowered test flight

  02-06-2017 16:14
  
  MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — Virgin Galactic has conducted another unpowered test flight of its space tourism spacecraft over the Southern California desert. The company says Thursday’s glide flight incorporated a special ballast tank filled with water at the rear of the craft to check handling qualities with more weight on board and with the center […]
  
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• It’s time for Chris Hansen and Sodo arena supporters to face reality

  02-06-2017 16:00
  
  Hansen has earned the emotional attachment he’s engendered with his efforts to bring back the Sonics. But barring an unforeseen change, the city is going to throw its support to one of two proposals to renovate KeyArena, rather than Hansen’s plan to build a new facility in Sodo.
  
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• EU chief: EU, China believe Trump climate decision ‘a big mistake’

  02-06-2017 15:52
  
  BRUSSELS (AP) — EU chief: EU, China believe Trump climate decision ‘a big mistake’ .
  
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• Bike-share companies vie for chance to set up shop in Seattle

  02-06-2017 15:30
  
  More than a half-dozen private, station-less bike-share companies are interested in opening in Seattle. They don’t want tax money, but the companies have no precedent in the U.S. and the city is trying to figure out how it will all work.
  
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• ‘There’s going to be a lot of dead gangsters’: Inside King County’s surging gang war

  02-06-2017 15:25
  
  Police attribute a troubling increase in gang-related shootings from Seattle to South King County to warring Hispanic gangs, including some that previously got along. “I’m very concerned about this heating up in the summer months,” says Federal Way’s mayor.
  
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• Putin refrains from criticism of Trump’s withdrawal from Paris climate accord, says agreement can still be reached

  02-06-2017 15:22
  
  ST.PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Putin refrains from criticism of Trump’s withdrawal from Paris climate accord, says agreement can still be reached.
  
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• Seattle sphere craze continues with giant dome planned atop skyscraper

  02-06-2017 15:00
  
  The project just unveiled at 3rd and Virginia in Belltown features a dome that, at its peak, would sit nearly 500 feet above the street.
  
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• Is Seattle’s proposed soda tax also a tax on sugary lattes?

  02-06-2017 15:00
  
  Would the sugar-charged caramel or mocha latte your favorite barista makes just right be affected by Seattle’s proposed sweet-beverage tax? A final City Council vote is expected Monday, but not everyone is clear on how this might work.
  
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• UK’s May urged to take tougher line against Trump on climate

  02-06-2017 14:15
  
  LONDON (AP) — British opposition politicians are accusing Prime Minister Theresa May of failing to stand up to the United States over its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. May’s office says she spoke to President Donald Trump after his announcement and “expressed her disappointment with the decision.” May “stressed that the U.K. remained committed […]
  
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• Just 20% of kids got 4-year degrees, so Chehalis schools changed everything

  02-06-2017 14:00
  
  In Washington state, only about a third of students ever earn a bachelor’s degree. In rural counties, it’s even lower. But in Chehalis, a Lewis County town in the southwest part of the state, educators are trying to build college fever.
  
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• McCleary roundup: A poll, fact check and candlelight vigil on school funding

  02-06-2017 13:00
  
  While lawmakers continue to work on final McCleary fix, lobbying continues over how much, and what policies should change.
  
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• AP Explains: Why China is stepping up against climate change

  02-06-2017 11:14
  
  BEIJING (AP) — By backing off the U.S. commitment to address climate change, President Donald Trump leaves an opening for a chief economic rival, China, to expand its increasing dominance in the renewable energy industry. In reacting to Trump’s announcement that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, China reaffirmed its commitment […]
  
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• ‘I knew them all’: Confident Ananya Vinay wins spelling bee

  02-06-2017 10:16
  
  OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Ananya Vinay showed little emotion as she plowed through word after mystifying word in the final rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Later, as she stood beside the confetti-covered stage, the newly crowned champion flashed a toothy grin as she inadvertently revealed how much confidence she’d brought to the […]
  
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• Army helicopter rescues Canadian cop from Mount Rainier

  02-06-2017 06:22
  
  A 27-year-old constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was rescued by an Army helicopter Thursday after becoming stranded atop Gibraltar’s Rock on the south side of Mount Rainier. He was flown to Madigan Hospital, where he is being treated for severe hypothermia.
  
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• Army helicopter rescues Canadian cop, 27, from Mount Rainier

  02-06-2017 06:22
  
  A 27-year-old constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was rescued by an Army helicopter after becoming stranded atop Gibraltar Rock on the south side of Mount Rainier. He is being treated for severe hypothermia.
  
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• USS Nimitz ships out

  02-06-2017 03:28
  
  USS Nimitz leaves Bremerton as it begins six-month deployment in the western Pacific Ocean.
  
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• LED bike lights target night riders and ‘burners’

  02-06-2017 03:24
  
  California-based Monkeylectric has been in business for 10 years, convincing night cyclists that front and back lights are inadequate and that they need bright side lighting, too.
  
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• 3 years in prison for Snoqualmie man who lied his way to Purple Heart

  02-06-2017 01:42
  
  The former National Guardsman feigned injuries from an explosion in Iraq in 2005 and doctored statements from fellow soldiers to obtain two awards, a Combat Action Badge and a Purple Heart, which is reserved for those wounded in action.
  
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• Police: Man kills himself during standoff at Marysville home

  02-06-2017 01:07
  
  Police say officers were planning to arrest the man for arson and possessing a firearm when he drove away from his home, returned and refused to come out.
  
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• Family of suspect in Portland stabbing offers condolences

  02-06-2017 01:04
  
  PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Relatives of a man accused of stabbing two men to death who tried to defend two women from an anti-Muslim rant have offered their condolences to the victims’ families. In a letter, Jeremy Christian’s family expressed sympathy to the slain men’s loved ones; to the young women who were harassed on […]
  
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• Idaho officials say claims exaggerated in prison lawsuit

  02-06-2017 00:56
  
  The state’s attorneys say prison officials shouldn’t be held in contempt of court for violating a settlement in a decades-old class action lawsuit. They say problems with medical care have been fixed and that complaints about poor treatment are overstated and outdated.
  
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• Inslee calls Trump’s climate-pact withdrawal ‘pathetic’ — plus other Northwest reaction to U.S. abandoning Paris accord

  02-06-2017 00:23
  
  President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord — which kept a campaign promise — drew quick rebukes from prominent Washington state Democrats, as well as some Republicans and business leaders. Gov. Jay Inslee, in a media conference call with other Democratic governors, blasted the decision and said states like […]
  
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• Gov. Inslee calls Trump’s climate-pact withdrawal ‘pathetic’ — plus other Northwest reaction to U.S. abandoning Paris accord

  02-06-2017 00:23
  
  President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord — which kept a campaign promise — drew quick rebukes from prominent Washington state Democrats, as well as some Republicans and business leaders.
  
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• Negotiate a solution that closes Burke-Gilman Trail’s missing link

  02-06-2017 00:05
  
  Seattle City Hall needs to negotiate, not fight, with industrial and maritime businesses opposed to the missing link.
  
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