Washington State

Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic legislators see linking Washington’s cap-and-trade program with carbon markets in California and Quebec as a critical next step for the signature climate policy and are pushing ahead to make it happen.

Federal scientists say there is a high likelihood of extinction for 13 Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead runs without immediate attention.

Upcoming hearings offer a preview of issues legislators will encounter when they convene in January.

Backers say they turned in nearly 420,000 signatures. The measure seeks to end the cap-and-invest program that’s brought in nearly $1.6 billion this year for pollution-fighting efforts.

State attorneys general in Oregon, Washington and California and two Oregon-based environmental groups are asking federal energy regulators to reconsider their approval of a natural gas pipeline.

A new national climate report warns that increased wildfires, extreme heatwaves and drought will have widespread impacts on the people, industries and ecosystems in Idaho and across the Northwest.

Spokane will soon have a new mayor. In January, longtime Democratic state legislator and former Washington Department of Commerce chief Lisa Brown will step into the job.

Susanna Johnson ousted incumbent Sheriff Adam Fortney to become the first woman to lead the law enforcement agency in Washington’s third most populous county.

Employees of three Mount Adams Fruit packing facilities in the Columbia River Gorge say they want safer conditions, better treatment and pay.

The state Department of Natural Resources will purchase about 9,000 acres of forestland in southwest Washington to generate revenue from logging.