Clark County Judge James Ladley couldn’t seem to believe what he was hearing. Before him was John Letellier, a 47-year-old Navy veteran accused of what a former federal prosecutor would later call a “chippy robbery” of a Subway store, netting $107 and a $5 gift card. Chippy or no, a conviction ...

Not all businesses have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the nation gun stores are doing brisk business, and here in Pierce County, firearm sales have more than doubled in 2020. Inventory is flying off the shelves, according to Damien Wongwai, owner and operator of Bull’s Eye Indoor Range ...

Washington lawmakers are looking to make it harder for police officers to take the stand in court or get rehired if their name is on a Brady list. Brady lists are disclosures of members of law enforcement whose involvement in a case as an arresting officer, investigator, or witness is in ...

In the wake of new restrictions meant to curb a surge in COVID-19 and a $135 million economic relief package aimed at taming the economic ripple they’ll cause, lawmakers are discussing what more can be done to help the hospitality industry — and quickly. Before the latest COVID-19 restrictions were introduced ...

Monday, the City Council is set to hold its final vote on a 2021 budget for Seattle that will leave both #defundSPD and pro-police spending activists along with Mayor Jenny Durkan mostly unsatisfied. That is the nature of compromise. In the city, this will bring a nearly 17% cut to the city’s 2021 ...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The last time the Washington state legislature officially met was at the end of the regular session in March just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning in the state and the U.S. But as a new legislative session nears, some members are advocating for a special session to ...

Approximately 93 percent of Sikh American citizens are registered to vote, and 96 percent of those registered voters have said they are voting in the 2020 election Nov. 3, reported the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund in the findings of its first-ever National Sikh Survey. Speaking at the survey’s ...

During a Behavioral Health Recovery System Transformation Task Force meeting on Friday morning, group members discussed the series of behavioral health recommendations they will submit to the governor’s office ahead of the next legislative session. The recommendations were developed during previous task force meetings dating back to September 2019.

Manka Dhingra

Washington State Senator

Always interested in history and politics, Washington State Sen. Manka Dhingra made history as the first person of the Sikh faith ever elected to any state legislature. She took the Eastside’s 45th District position during the 2017 special election, ...

Washington state lawmakers plan to pursue a broad range of police reforms the next time they meet, including possibly limiting police use of tear gas and chokeholds.