In the News

OLYMPIA — A day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic lawmakers responded with a call to chisel abortion rights protection into Washington’s state’s constitution. A constitutional amendment would become the centerpiece of a suite of legislative proposals to solidify the right to choice in Washington, buffering the state’s long-established access to reproductive care from political and legal attacks.

In recent years, DNA testing has been used to crack cold cases. What if it was used to shed light on international elephant poaching and ivory trafficking? University of Washington researchers are leading an effort to combat these crimes and dismantle the smuggling network. Their work found that genetic testing on elephant ivory tusks can be used to identify tusks from the same individual or its relatives, across dozens of different ivory seizures. “These methods are showing us that a handful of ...

Permits issued to develop farmland could be withdrawn if a planned project would violate the state Growth Management Act (GMA), under legislation sponsored by 32nd District Sen. Jesse Salomon. The 32nd District includes portions of Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. Senate Bill 5042 would protect communities from having to provide costly infrastructure for unplanned development by closing a loophole in permitting. “The way it works now, once a permit is vested a developer has a right to develop a proposed project even ...

A lawmaker in Washington state wants to make it a crime to use or sell a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. The measure would make it a misdemeanor to use a forged or falsified COVID-19 vaccination document along with making it a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine to sell or transfer false COVID-19 vaccine cards. The state of New York has a similar law on the books. Using a fake COVID vaccination document ...

If you’ve hiked or camped in the Pacific Northwest, you might have walked by a tiny, brown mushroom that some say has the capacity to change your life. Psilocybe azurescens and Psilocybe cyanescens are two psychedelic varieties that grow in damp, wooded areas in Washington and Oregon and produce visual hallucinations when ingested. These mushrooms — while freely growing and with a centuries long record of use among Indigenous people — are also Schedule I controlled substances: illegal drugs up there with heroin and ...

It’s a crime for kids to use a fake ID to try to buy alcohol. Soon, it could also be a crime in Washington for anyone to show a fake COVID-19 vaccination card to get into a bar, restaurant or other venue that requires proof of vaccination. On Monday, the Senate Law and Justice Committee will take public testimony on a bill introduced by Democratic state Sen. Jesse Salomon of Shoreline that would make it a misdemeanor to use a forged ...

A lawmaker in Washington state wants to make it a crime to use or sell a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. Northwest News Network reports that the measure, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Jesse Salomon of Shoreline, would make it a misdemeanor to use a forged or falsified COVID-19 vaccination document. It would also make it a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine to sell or transfer false COVID-19 vaccine cards. The state of ...

Former Kent City Councilmember Dennis Higgins called for Kent Police Assistant Chief Derek Kammerzell to resign immediately. Higgins, who served 10 years on the council from 2010-2019, read a passionate statement about the Kammerzell matter during the public comment period at the Jan. 18 Kent City Council meeting. The assistant chief has yet to respond to a Jan. 4 request by Mayor Dana Ralph to the Kent Police union for him to resign from the force after a public outcry over ...