covid

(King County, WA) -- The leader of the union representing King County corrections workers is calling for a two-week quarantined shutdown of the county's jails due to surging COVID-19 case numbers. Guild president Dennis Folk issued a letter to the Department for Adult and Juvenile Detention Thursday urging them to shut down jail operations for two weeks--stressing that the county has a fundamenta

(Salem, OR) -- The Oregon Employment Department reports $24 million in fraud during the first year of the pandemic. $3 million was the result of identity theft cases and $21 million went to unemployment insurance fraud. Investigators have been able to get about a million dollars back so far ...

(Olympia, WA) -- Washington State Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig has COVID-19. The Democrat is fully vaccinated and boosted against the illness. He says says he's not experiencing any symptoms, but did recently test positive. Billig represents the 3rd Legislative District in Spokane ... Read More ...

(Edmonds, WA) -- The Edmonds City Council is moving forward with a controversial new rule requiring restaurants to pay 4,000 dollars to continue using makeshift outdoor dining areas. City Council implemented the fee Monday after three councilmembers boycotted a meeting that was called to consider cutting it in half ...

(Olympia, WA) -- Washington State Senator Doug Ericksen has passed away. The Whatcom County Republican tested positive for COVID-19 while in El Salvador last month. He was taken to a hospital in Florida but was reportedly in stable condition and recovering ...

(Salem, OR) -- The State of Oregon has paused acceptance of new applications for emergency rental assistance after the Housing and Community Services agency reported that it has allocated all of the $289 million dollars of federal money it received ...

(Salem, OR) -- The state of Oregon will no longer be taking applications for emergency rental assistance. Governor Kate Brown says she's discussing options with legislative leaders to extend protections for renters who have applied for assistance, but all of the $289 million from the federal government has been allocated ...

(Seattle, WA) -- The Seattle Police Department is activating Stage 3 emergency operations due to staffing shortages. The police department made the move Wednesday--clearing detectives and other non-patrol units to act as first responders to 911 calls ...

(Seattle, WA) -- The Seattle School Board is considering asking state health officials to require all Washington state students to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The board discussed a resolution Wednesday that would urge the state Board of Health to add the coronavirus vaccine to the list of immunizations students must obtain before attending school in-person ...

OLYMPIA, Wash.--Governor Jay Inslee is calling on Idaho leaders to do more to control the surge of COVID-19 cases in that state. Inslee spoke on MSNBC Friday, saying Idaho is "clogging up" Washington state's hospitals by sending their COVID-19 patients across state lines for care ...