Washington news

• Talks start on Highway 99 tunnel tolls under Seattle. How high should they go?

  12-12-2017 23:57
  Tolls might begin March 1, 2019, ranging from $1 overnight to a top rate of $2.50 for an afternoon-commute trip between Sodo and South Lake Union, under one leading option.
  
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• Superintendent’s Robert E. Lee compromise gets cold shoulder from Wenatchee Scool Board

  12-12-2017 23:48
  The board didn’t reject the proposal to drop “Robert E.” from a school’s name, and two members indicated an openness to discussing it. But no motion was made to approve the proposal, and the topic was put on the board’s Jan. 8 agenda.
  
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• Superintendent’s Robert E. Lee compromise gets cold shoulder from Wenatchee School Board

  12-12-2017 23:48
  The board didn’t reject the proposal to drop “Robert E.” from a school’s name, and two members indicated an openness to discussing it. But no motion was made to approve the proposal, and the topic was put on the board’s Jan. 8 agenda.
  
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• Boy, 16, charged as an adult in shooting at Graham school

  12-12-2017 22:46
  A 16-year-old boy was shot in the thigh and a 17-year-old suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen. Both are students at Graham-Kapowsin High School and were among a group of youths who had gone off campus to watch a fight that never happened.
  
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• Hormonal birth control and cancer risk: How to sort it out

  12-12-2017 22:10
  The answer will be different for each woman and will depend on such factors as age and general health. But many doctors who prescribe contraceptives say there’s no cause for alarm — and no one should throw away her pills and risk an unwanted pregnancy.
  
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• San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who grew up in Seattle, dies at 65

  12-12-2017 21:23
  San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee had "a long history of breaking barriers," Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a statement. Lee spent part of his childhood in public housing and attended Franklin High School.
  
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• Court keeps ban on new mining claims around Grand Canyon

  12-12-2017 19:44
  FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A U.S. appeals court has kept in place an Obama administration ban on new mining claims around the Grand Canyon. The decision Tuesday comes as a U.S. House committee hears testimony on access to minerals on public land. The U.S. Forest Service under President Donald Trump said weeks ago it would […]
  
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• Ancient penguin was as big as a (human) Pittsburgh Penguin

  12-12-2017 17:04
  NEW YORK (AP) — Fossils from New Zealand have revealed a giant penguin that was as big as a grown man, roughly the size of the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The creature was slightly shorter in length and about 20 pounds (9 kilograms) heavier than the official stats for hockey star Sidney Crosby. It […]
  
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• Officers fatally shoot man at Magnuson Park after car chase, Seattle police say

  12-12-2017 17:03
  Seattle police fatally shot a man Monday night at Magnuson Park after he was involved in a reported armed robbery, led officers on a chase through North Seattle and shot at them, police said. According to police, the man is believed to have first been involved in a 10 p.m. armed robbery at the Forever […]
  
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• Temperatures in Seattle were colder than at Mount Rainier’s Camp Muir — 10,000 feet up. Here’s why.

  12-12-2017 16:34
  A "strong inversion layer" produced some odd temperatures at higher elevations on this week. "It was like spring," said hiker David Reid as he climbed to Mason Lake, at 4,300 feet.
  
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• Balmy in the mountains: Rare air inversion spikes temps for high-altitude hikers

  12-12-2017 16:34
  A "strong inversion layer" produced some odd temperatures at higher elevations on this week. "It was like spring," said hiker David Reid as he climbed to Mason Lake, at 4,300 feet.
  
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• SpaceX delivery delayed few days; 1st reused rocket for NASA

  12-12-2017 16:28
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has delayed its latest grocery run for the International Space Station by at least another few days. The company now aims to launch its first recycled rocket for NASA on Friday. The unmanned Falcon rocket originally flew in June. The Dragon capsule made a space station shipment in 2015. […]
  
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• SpaceX delivery delayed a day; first reused rocket for NASA

  12-12-2017 16:28
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX has delayed its latest grocery run for the International Space Station for at least a day. The company now aims to launch its first recycled rocket for NASA on Wednesday. The unmanned Falcon originally flew in June. The Dragon capsule, meanwhile, made a space station shipment in 2015. This will […]
  
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• SpaceX delivery delayed a day; 1st reused rocket for NASA

  12-12-2017 16:28
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has delayed its latest grocery run for the International Space Station for at least a day. The company now aims to launch its first recycled rocket for NASA on Wednesday. The unmanned Falcon originally flew in June. The Dragon capsule, meanwhile, made a space station shipment in 2015. This […]
  
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• Paris climate summit announces 12 international projects to financially support efforts to curb global warming

  12-12-2017 16:09
  PARIS (AP) — Paris climate summit announces 12 international projects to financially support efforts to curb global warming.
  
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• Opioid crisis strains foster system as kids are pried from homes

  12-12-2017 16:06
  Across the U.S., soaring use of heroin and other opioids has sent tens of thousands of kids flooding into the foster-care system — creating a generation of children abandoned by addicted parents, orphaned by fatal overdoses and torn from families by authorities fearful of leaving them in drug-addled chaos.
  
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• Arctic report card: Permafrost thawing faster than before

  12-12-2017 16:02
  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A new report finds permafrost in the Arctic is thawing faster than ever before. The annual report card released Tuesday also finds water is warming and sea ice is melting at the fastest pace in 1,500 years at the top of the world. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says Earth’s […]
  
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• Arctic report card: Permafrost thawing at unprecedented rate

  12-12-2017 16:02
  Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing faster than ever, water is also warming and sea ice is melting at the fastest pace in 1,500 years at the top of the world, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  
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• Arctic report card: Permafrost thawing at a faster pace

  12-12-2017 16:02
  Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing faster than ever, water is also warming and sea ice is melting at the fastest pace in 1,500 years at the top of the world, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  
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• Should King County change how it does inquests? Panel to tackle big questions

  12-12-2017 15:00
  Inquests have long been convened to determine the factual circumstances surrounding the use of deadly force by King County law-enforcement officers. But the process has increasingly come under fire by critics who say the scope is too limited and tilted toward the police.
  
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• Reward offered in poaching cases of two Washington wolves, including survivor from Profanity Peak pack

  12-12-2017 15:00
  Two conservation groups have offered a reward of $20,000 for information that leads to a conviction in the killings in Eastern Washington.
  
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• Escaped Atlantic salmon found 42 miles up Skagit River

  12-12-2017 15:00
  More than three months after about 100,000 Atlantic salmon escaped a net pen in Puget Sound, they are still turning up strong and lively in the Skagit River.
  
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• Aging tunnel near Mount St. Helens needs work to avert flood risks to nearby residents

  12-12-2017 15:00
  A new report calls for a collaborative effort to chart the future of human intervention in the drainages transformed by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
  
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• A rare sight: Geminid meteor shower might be visible in Western Washington

  12-12-2017 15:00
  Cloudy skies usually blot out the December sky show, but this year there’s a chance some folks in Western Washington could get a glimpse.
  
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• A rare sight: Geminid meteor shower might be visible here

  12-12-2017 15:00
  Cloudy skies usually blot out the December sky show, but this year there’s a chance some folks in Western Washington could get a glimpse.
  
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• Washington gets high marks for how it plans to evaluate schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act

  12-12-2017 14:00
  Washington’s plan for assessing schools under the federal K-12 education law is strong, according to the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Bellwether Education Partners.
  
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• San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee dies suddenly at 65

  12-12-2017 13:12
  SAN FRANCISCO — Mayor Ed Lee, who oversaw a technology-driven economic boom in the city that brought with it sky-high housing prices, died suddenly early Tuesday at age 65. A statement from the Lee’s office said the city’s first Asian-American mayor died at 1:11 a.m. at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. “It is with profound […]
  
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• Hillary Clinton tells ‘What Happened’ at the Paramount

  12-12-2017 08:22
  Hillary Clinton joined author Anne Lamott in a 90-minute conversation at the Paramount Theatre Monday, in support of Clinton's new book, "What Happened," about the 2016 election.
  
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• Hillary Clinton talks Chardonnay and collusion at sold-out Seattle event

  12-12-2017 08:22
  Hillary Clinton joined author Anne Lamott in a 90-minute conversation at the Paramount Theatre Monday, in support of Clinton's new book, "What Happened," about the 2016 election.
  
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• World leaders, high security at Paris climate summit

  12-12-2017 08:14
  PARIS (AP) — More than 50 world leaders are gathering in Paris for a summit that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will give new momentum to the fight against global warming, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s rejection of the Paris climate accord. Some 3,100 security personnel are fanned out around Paris for Tuesday’s event, including extra […]
  
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• Paris summit finds new money, tech to fight climate change

  12-12-2017 08:14
  PARIS (AP) — World leaders, investment funds and energy magnates promised Tuesday to devote new money and technology to slow global warming at a summit in Paris that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will rev up the Paris climate accord that U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected. Trump wasn’t invited to the event but his name […]
  
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• Paris hosts major climate summit — and it’s all about Trump

  12-12-2017 08:14
  PARIS (AP) — The global climate summit in Paris was designed to bypass Donald Trump, but the U.S. president ended up playing a starring role. Trump became the unwitting villain as world leaders, investors and other Americans assailed him Tuesday for rejecting the Paris climate accord. To emphasize their point — and prevent others from […]
  
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• Macron’s climate summit in Paris finds new money, tech help

  12-12-2017 08:14
  PARIS (AP) — World leaders, investment funds and energy magnates promised Tuesday to devote new money and technology to slow global warming at a summit in Paris that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will rev up the Paris climate accord that U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected. Trump wasn’t invited to the event but his name […]
  
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• New Zealand space launch scrubbed from remote launch site

  12-12-2017 06:28
  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A space launch was scrubbed Tuesday from a remote launch site in New Zealand after an engine glitch caused engineers to abort the flight. The command to abort came two seconds after the engine of the Rocket Lab Electron rocket fired on its launch pad at Mahia Peninsula on North […]
  
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• No need to clam up as feds hold shellfish quota steady

  12-12-2017 06:04
  PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The federal government wants to allow U.S. seafood harvesters to continue collecting the same amounts of some popular kinds of shellfish. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it wants to keep the quotas steady for surf clams, ocean quahogs and Maine ocean quahogs. Fishermen have harvested more than 38 million […]
  
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• U.S. Army deserter to North Korea who married Japanese abductee dies at 77

  12-12-2017 05:13
  Charles Jenkins, a U.S. Army deserter to North Korea who married a Japanese abductee and lived in Japan after their release, has died there of reported heart failure. He was 77.
  
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• One injured after stolen Audi crashes into University District home

  12-12-2017 05:10
  The driver, who suffered life-threatening injuries, was trapped in the vehicle, which lodged under the porch and struck a natural-gas line outside the home.
  
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• Seattle imposes new limits on Airbnb, other short-term rentals with 7-0 council vote

  12-12-2017 05:06
  Council members said the new regulations are meant to preserve Seattle’s housing stock for local residents. But a special deal for some existing operators stirred controversy.
  
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• Bruce Brown, who made seminal surfing film ‘The Endless Summer’, dies at 80

  12-12-2017 04:35
  Though it was considered a longshot at best by distributors, there was something about “The Endless Summer” that resonated with audiences from New York City to Santa Monica, marking a cultural turning point for the sport — a lifestyle, Bruce Brown and others insisted.
  
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• Family enjoys highflying fun with toy planes

  12-12-2017 03:33
  The Davis family flies toy airplanes from the hill at Gas Works Park in Seattle on Saturday. They have been flying planes like this for about eight years as a fun way to get outside and describe it as "old-school, plane-glider day in the sun."
  
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• Police: Teen with explosive device arrested at Central Kitsap High

  12-12-2017 02:22
  The Kitsap County Sheriff's Office says the item was a commercially manufactured explosive device that required a federal explosives permit to possess.
  
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• Federal appeals court considers kids’ climate change lawsuit

  12-12-2017 02:20
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court is weighing in on an unusual lawsuit by a group of young people who say the Trump administration is violating their constitutional rights by failing to address climate change. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Monday from attorneys for the […]
  
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