Last weekend should have seen thousands of anglers flock to Washington state lakes for the always-popular lowland lakes trout opener. Like so much else, opening day of fishing season was canceled due to the coronavirus. But freshwater fishing is coming back soon, along with significant additional elements of the  outdoor recreation scene. In Olympia on Monday, Washington that restrictions on fishing, hunting, hiking and golfing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will begin easing next week on May 5. Inslee also announced most state parks, state forestlands and state-managed boat...…Last weekend should have seen thousands of anglers flock to Washington state lakes for the always-popular lowland lakes trout opener. Like so much else, opening day of fishing season was canceled due to the coronavirus. But freshwater fishing is coming back soon, along with significant additional elements of the  outdoor recreation scene. In Olympia on Monday, Washington that restrictions on fishing, hunting, hiking and golfing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will begin easing next week on May 5. Inslee also announced most state parks, state forestlands and state-managed boat...WW…

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is facing increasing pressure from state lawmakers to move quickly to reopen certain sectors of the economy, perhaps even before his current “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order expires on May 4. On Friday, three of the four legislative caucuses that he consider allowing a specific set of businesses to reopen, provided they adhere to strict public health guidelines. The list included homebuilding, online auto sales, landscaping and in-home cleaning companies. Construction and auto sales are the state’s top two sources of excise tax revenue, according to a legislative...…Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is facing increasing pressure from state lawmakers to move quickly to reopen certain sectors of the economy, perhaps even before his current “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order expires on May 4. On Friday, three of the four legislative caucuses that he consider allowing a specific set of businesses to reopen, provided they adhere to strict public health guidelines. The list included homebuilding, online auto sales, landscaping and in-home cleaning companies. Construction and auto sales are the state’s top two sources of excise tax revenue, according to a legislative...WW…

© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsProtective surgical gowns are one of the most scarce and eagerly sought items in the current coronavirus pandemic. Responders-turned-MacGyvers in at least three separate places, including two in Washington state, have independently hit upon a do-it-yourself alternative using common construction house wrap.Washington state's COVID-19 emergency management center has 10 million gowns on backorder for distribution to first responders, hospitals, long-term care centers and health clinics. But with the...…© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsProtective surgical gowns are one of the most scarce and eagerly sought items in the current coronavirus pandemic. Responders-turned-MacGyvers in at least three separate places, including two in Washington state, have independently hit upon a do-it-yourself alternative using common construction house wrap.Washington state's COVID-19 emergency management center has 10 million gowns on backorder for distribution to first responders, hospitals, long-term care centers and health clinics. But with the...WW…

© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsIt’s springtime in the Northwest: birds sing, emerald shoots are pushing up from the earth and the irrigation sprinklers tick, tick like clocks — same as always. But so much else has changed. Still, spring work starts up, ready or not. And Northwest growers are scrambling to figure out how to work around the global coronavirus pandemic and still bring in the coming harvest. Farmers wonder: Can they get it done safely?First Up: AsparagusA good stretch north of Pasco, Washington, Jim...…© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsIt’s springtime in the Northwest: birds sing, emerald shoots are pushing up from the earth and the irrigation sprinklers tick, tick like clocks — same as always. But so much else has changed. Still, spring work starts up, ready or not. And Northwest growers are scrambling to figure out how to work around the global coronavirus pandemic and still bring in the coming harvest. Farmers wonder: Can they get it done safely?First Up: AsparagusA good stretch north of Pasco, Washington, Jim...WW…

© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsCattle brandings in the Northwest are usually dusty group affairs. Cowboys yell and call to each other. Horses work into a hot lather, helping their riders chase and rope the calves. Nervous mother cows bawl to try and find their babes. A smoky fire heats the irons. Children clad in Carhartt coats and cowboy hats watch from nearby pickups. You have to stay alert to not be trampled by horses or cloven hooves.Around a million beef cattle are born each spring in the Northwest — about 228,000 in...…© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsCattle brandings in the Northwest are usually dusty group affairs. Cowboys yell and call to each other. Horses work into a hot lather, helping their riders chase and rope the calves. Nervous mother cows bawl to try and find their babes. A smoky fire heats the irons. Children clad in Carhartt coats and cowboy hats watch from nearby pickups. You have to stay alert to not be trampled by horses or cloven hooves.Around a million beef cattle are born each spring in the Northwest — about 228,000 in...WW…

© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsProtestors took to the streets and parks in Spokane Wednesday in two events to push back against statewide stay-home measures.Like most other cities in the country under stay-home orders, the city core has been pretty quiet for weeks. Except for one corner by city hall, which was turned into a de-facto campaign event for Tim Eyman Wednesday afternoon.That’s what it looked like as the Republican candidate for governor smiled and handed out stickers and signs with his name.This downtown...…© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsProtestors took to the streets and parks in Spokane Wednesday in two events to push back against statewide stay-home measures.Like most other cities in the country under stay-home orders, the city core has been pretty quiet for weeks. Except for one corner by city hall, which was turned into a de-facto campaign event for Tim Eyman Wednesday afternoon.That’s what it looked like as the Republican candidate for governor smiled and handed out stickers and signs with his name.This downtown...WW…

© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsCourtney FlattLate Monday night, Sept. 14, a fire sparked alongside the winding mountain highway that leads to White Pass, a ski area about 15 miles east of Packwood, Washington.The fire started a few miles east of White Pass, in steep terrain. A ski area employee traveling U.S. Highway 12 spotted the early flames and reported it.White Pass mountain manager Russ Forman jumped in the company’s tanker truck and headed to the scene. Photos show embers flying, trees in flames and Forman dousing the...…© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsCourtney FlattLate Monday night, Sept. 14, a fire sparked alongside the winding mountain highway that leads to White Pass, a ski area about 15 miles east of Packwood, Washington.The fire started a few miles east of White Pass, in steep terrain. A ski area employee traveling U.S. Highway 12 spotted the early flames and reported it.White Pass mountain manager Russ Forman jumped in the company’s tanker truck and headed to the scene. Photos show embers flying, trees in flames and Forman dousing the...WW…

© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsIt really frustrates Mark Anderson when he sends a truck to a Northwest port hauling a container of alfalfa or timothy hay and the truck rolls back without an empty shipping container to refill.Anderson’s hay feeds everything from bunnies to camels to top race horses in 30 different countries.He puts his compressed hay in containers to protect it. Once at port, the containers are loaded on and off container ships like large blocks of colorful legos. When there aren’t enough shipping...…© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsIt really frustrates Mark Anderson when he sends a truck to a Northwest port hauling a container of alfalfa or timothy hay and the truck rolls back without an empty shipping container to refill.Anderson’s hay feeds everything from bunnies to camels to top race horses in 30 different countries.He puts his compressed hay in containers to protect it. Once at port, the containers are loaded on and off container ships like large blocks of colorful legos. When there aren’t enough shipping...WW…

© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsofThe skull of a gray whale that washed ashore in Puget Sound in 2019 will soon find its final resting place in a Jefferson County back yard.Mario RiveraofThe backbone of the adult gray whale shows how large of a lawn is needed for this kind of yard art.Mario RiveraLast year, a couple who lives near Port Townsend, Washington, agreed to let the federal government drop off a dead gray whale to decompose on their semi-isolated beach. Now, the couple has a permit to keep the whale skeleton and will...…© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsofThe skull of a gray whale that washed ashore in Puget Sound in 2019 will soon find its final resting place in a Jefferson County back yard.Mario RiveraofThe backbone of the adult gray whale shows how large of a lawn is needed for this kind of yard art.Mario RiveraLast year, a couple who lives near Port Townsend, Washington, agreed to let the federal government drop off a dead gray whale to decompose on their semi-isolated beach. Now, the couple has a permit to keep the whale skeleton and will...WW…

© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsMore than 100 Washington state parks made the cut to reopen for day use beginning Tuesday, but aficionados of Pacific Coast and Columbia River Gorge getaways will have to wait a while longer.The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission on Saturday of which state parks will reopen first and which will be kept closed until further notice in deference to the concerns of neighboring communities.The great majority of Washington’s state parks will be included in the first phase of reopening,...…© 2022 NW News NetworkRegional Public JournalismPlay Live Radio0:000:00Available On Air StationsMore than 100 Washington state parks made the cut to reopen for day use beginning Tuesday, but aficionados of Pacific Coast and Columbia River Gorge getaways will have to wait a while longer.The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission on Saturday of which state parks will reopen first and which will be kept closed until further notice in deference to the concerns of neighboring communities.The great majority of Washington’s state parks will be included in the first phase of reopening,...WW…