Replacing benefits of Snake River dams would cost billions
The benefits provided by four giant hydroelectric dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state can be replaced if the dams are breached to save endangered salmon runs, according to a new report released Thursday. Finding other ways to provide electricity, irrigation and enabling commerce would cost between $10.3 billion and $27.2 billion, said the report commissioned by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “We continue to approach the question of breaching with open minds and without a predetermined decision,” Inslee and Murray said in a press release.
news.yahoo.comAnti-hazing "Sam's Law" enacted in Washington
Last November, 60 Minutes reported on the death of 19-year-old Sam Martinez, who suffered acute alcohol poisoning while pledging to a fraternity at Washington State University. On Wednesday, following a campaign by Martinez's parents to toughen Washington's hazing laws and to disclose fraternities' disciplinary records, "Sam's Law" was signed by Governor Jay Inslee.
cbsnews.comAP Was There: The surreal first day of the pandemic
On the day the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, Koloud “Kay” Tarapolsi reflected the views of many people when she told an Associated Press reporter: “If we avoid each other and listen to the scientists, maybe in a few weeks it will be better."
Money coming to keep grocer in US-Canada border community
Money is on the way to help save the only grocery store in an isolated Washington state community that's been especially strained by the pandemic-related closure of the U.S.-Canada border. About 1,300 people live on Point Roberts, on the tip of a peninsula south of Vancouver, British Columbia, that juts into U.S. territory. Before the pandemic residents often traveled into Canada to shop, work or drive the 25 miles (40 km) through southern British Columbia to reach the U.S. mainland.
news.yahoo.comWashington governor signs sweeping police reform measures
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed one of the nation’s most ambitious packages of police accountability legislation, prompted by last year’s outcry for racial justice following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people at the hands of police. The dozen bills Inslee signed include outright bans on police use of chokeholds, neck restraints and no-knock warrants such as the one that helped lead to Taylor's killing in Louisville, Kentucky.
news.yahoo.comKamala Harris to lead National Space Council
Kamala Harris will lead the US National Space Council to help generate national space policies for the Biden administration, adding yet another item to the Vice President's brief. The Space Council was resurrected by the Trump administration in 2017 and led under Ms Harris' predecessor Mike Pence. The Biden administration's decision to keep the Council in operation was confirmed with Ms Harris' appointment on Saturday. However, a senior official told reporters that the Vice President intends "to put her own personal stamp" on the body and focus on a wide variety of space policies. While national security will continue to be a key issue for the Council, Ms Harris also intends to also focus on the development of sustainable commercial spaceflight, climate change and efforts for science, engineering and maths education, the official said. "In other words, the council's basic objectives: national security, basic science, technological development, contributions to US economic growth and the commercial sector will all be maintained," one official said. In a tweet confirming the new role, the Vice President said: "As I've said before: In America, when we shoot for the moon, we plant our flag on it. I am honoured to lead our National Space Council."
news.yahoo.comAustralia bans return of residents and citizens from India - offenders face fines and jail time
Australian residents and citizens who have been in India within 14 days of the date they plan to return home will be banned from entering Australia as of Monday and those who disobey will face fines and jail, government officials said. The temporary emergency determination, issued late on Friday, is the first time Australia has made it a criminal offence for its citizens to return home. The move is part of strict measures to stop travellers to Australia from the world's second most populous nation as it contends with a surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths. The restrictions come into effect from May 3 and breaching the ban risks civil penalties and up to five years imprisonment, Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement. "The government does not make these decisions lightly," Mr Hunt said." However, it is critical the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine systems is protected and the number of Covid-19 cases in quarantine facilities is reduced to a manageable level." The government will reconsider the restrictions on May 15. India's coronavirus death toll passed 200,000 this week, and cases are nearing 19 million as virulent new strains have combined with "super-spreader" events such as political rallies and religious festivals.
news.yahoo.comScott Peterson lawyers claim to know Laci Peterson's 'true killers': report
Attorneys for Scott Peterson claim they have new evidence that could get his conviction for the death of his pregnant wife and unborn child overturned in the form of new witnesses and suspects they believe are the true killers.
news.yahoo.comAlaska woman says feds searched home for Pelosi's laptop
Federal agents served a search warrant at a boutique resort in Homer, Alaska, saying they were looking for a laptop stolen from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, one of the Homer Inn and Spa owners said. Agents on Wednesday confiscated laptop computers and a cellphone, owner Marilyn Hueper said. A cellphone belonging to her husband, Paul Hueper, was also forensically audited by agents but not confiscated, she said.
news.yahoo.comUS investigating mysterious 'energy attacks' near White House
The US government is investigating possible "energy attacks" perpetrated on home soil after White House and National Security Council officials complained of debilitating symptoms similar to ones reported by diplomats in Cuba, Russia and China. The Department of Defence and other federal agencies have launched a probe and briefed politicians after being notified of an incident near the White House, CNN reported. The mysterious episodes first took place in Cuba, in 2016, when diplomats and other embassy staff complained of ear popping, vertigo, pounding headaches and nausea, sometimes accompanied by an unidentified "piercing directional noise." The cause of the symptoms has not yet been established, although State Department officials have previously referred to a “sonic attack” and “directional phenomena”. The illness was dubbed "Havana syndrome" and prompted the US to more than halve its numbers at the mission in 2017. Similar events took place in Russia and China in 2017 and 2018.
news.yahoo.comWashington state hospital system apologizes after offering COVID-19 vaccine to big donors
A Seattle-area hospital system has apologized after it offered COVID-19 vaccination appointments to big donors. The Seattle Times reports Overlake Medical Center & Clinics emailed about 110 donors last week who gave more than $10,000 to the hospital system, telling them that vaccine slots were available. The email gave the donors an access code to register for appointments "by invite" only. We need to give everybody a fair shot at the vaccine … We've got to maintain public credibility in the system. The hospital system says the vaccination slots were not offered exclusively to donors, but also to Overlake board members, some patients, volunteers, employees and retired health providers - some 4,000 people in all.
cbsnews.comWhy ‘tax the rich’ policies may make sense in a K-shaped economy
Andrew Cuomo Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images"Tax the rich" policies being weighed in some statehouses to cover Covid-era budget shortfalls may make more sense in the current economy. States may be better-suited by broadening sales taxes — to digital goods like streaming services, for example — instead of raising income taxes, Walczak added. Lawmakers in Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana and West Virginia have even called to cut income taxes this year. California lawmakers proposed hiking income taxes for millionaires, a move expected to raise more than $6 billion a year. In September, New Jersey enacted a measure to increase income taxes for residents with yearly income between $1 million and $5 million.
cnbc.comAmazon will open pop-up Covid vaccine clinic in Seattle
The Amazon headquarters sits virtually empty on March 10, 2020 in downtown Seattle, Washington. Amazon is opening a pop-up clinic in Seattle to administer Covid-19 vaccines. The one-day clinic will be set up on Sunday at Amazon's headquarters in downtown Seattle, the company announced Thursday at a news conference with Washington Governor Jay Inslee. Beyond the pop-up clinic, Carney said Amazon is working with Inslee and the state on its Covid-19 vaccine efforts. The clinic comes as Amazon has appealed to President Joe Biden and other officials for its front-line workers to get priority access to the Covid-19 vaccine.
cnbc.comStarbucks and Microsoft aiding with vaccinations in Washington state
Washington state Governor Jay Inslee said in a blog post this week it has enlisted Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco and other big companies to help with its vaccine rollout, with a goal of vaccinating 45,000 residents per day. "This is a massive effort, and as noble as any cause will be in 2021: Because this is the year we choose to get vaccinated, Washington," Inslee said in a press conference Monday. As of Wednesday, Washington had administered less than half of the doses it has received from the federal government so far. Starbucks is assigning workers from its operations services, labor and deployment, analytics and insights, and other departments to help design vaccination sites that are efficient and beneficial for patients, Starbucks said. "Basically, our role is figuring out how do we help these sites and the department of health as they set up vaccination sites.
cbsnews.comCOVID-19 vaccine rollouts are lagging. Here's what states are doing to pick up the pace
A growing number of states that have struggled to speedily distribute the COVID-19 vaccine are enlisting the National Guard for help. In all, about 20 states are using their local National Guard troops for everything from leading the vaccination effort to distribution to giving people shots. That was also the reason more states appeared to be turning to the National Guard for help. Jessica Hill / APLast week, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson activated 45 National Guard troops. Back in the spring, when the coronavirus was spreading rapidly, the complex on the west side of Manhattan was repurposed by National Guard troops into a COVID-19 treatment facility.
cbsnews.comNew York, Washington state impose curbs on airline passengers from U.K.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic agreed to test travelers from the United Kingdom for COVID-19 before they board flights for New York. The quarantine is mandatory and although it's legally enforceable, Inslee said no one will be taken into custody over it. On Monday night, Cuomo called for a federal policy to try to keep the mutated strain from being brought to New York from other states, reports CBS New York. And this whole notion that any one state can protect itself was foolish from the beginning," Cuomo said. And for us to once again be incompetent as a federal government and take no action is just not a viable option for us in New York," Cuomo said.
cbsnews.comSome states impose new restrictions as U.S. tops 11 million COVID-19 cases
Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Sunday announced the state would enforce new restrictions on businesses and social gatherings for the next month as it continued to combat a rising number of cases. Get Breaking News Delivered to Your InboxThe actions also follow grim milestones passed by Texas and California last week as the states each marked more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The restrictions announced by Inslee, a Democrat, temporarily rolls back all counties and places them under the same guidelines. As of Sunday, Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker has reached 11 million after topping 10 million cases November 9 — with the most recent million coming in just six days. It took 300 days for the U.S. to hit the 11 million mark since the first case was diagnosed in Washington state on January 20.
cbsnews.com6/28: Mike Pence, Gov. Jay Inslee, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Sen. Tim Scott, Sherrilyn Ifill
6/28: Mike Pence, Gov. Jay Inslee, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Sen. Tim Scott, Sherrilyn Ifill This week on "Face the Nation", a record number of new coronavirus cases explodes in the U.S., while governors in multiple states hit pause on reopening and the White House downplays the dangerous spread.
cbsnews.comA tracing army: As they reopen, states look to contact tracers in COVID-19 fight
With governors around the nation lifting stay-at-home orders implemented to slow the spread of coronavirus, many are now seeking new combatants: contact tracers. Andrew Cuomo said that about three dozen contact tracers would be needed for every 100,000 people in affected areas. New York state has remained a hotbed of the coronavirus outbreak, with 305,000 cases and more than 23,300 deaths. The states stay-at-home requirement is set to expire on May 15, but could be extended. In Indiana, officials announced a program this week that includes having 500 trained contact tracers in place in the weeks ahead.
latimes.comU.S. braces for 'hardest, saddest' week as coronavirus deaths surpass 9,300
A man walks along an empty street as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in New Orleans, Louisiana U.S., April 4, 2020. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T)The coronavirus is truly vicious and effective at what the virus does, Cuomo told a daily briefing. However, a few churches were holding large gatherings on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week in Christian churches. NO ARCHIVESAdams, the surgeon general, said governors who have not issued month-long stay-at-home orders should at least consider one for the upcoming week. Kate Lynn Blatt, 38, a property manager from rural Pottsville, Pennsylvania, said she was astounded that her states governor, Tom Wolf, waited until April 1 to issue a statewide stay-at-home order.
feeds.reuters.comU.S. braces for 'hardest, saddest' week as virus deaths surpass 9,000
A man walks along an empty street as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in New Orleans, Louisiana U.S., April 4, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos BarriaNew York, the hardest-hit state, reported on Sunday that there were nearly 600 new deaths for a total of 4,159 deaths and 122,000 total cases. The coronavirus is truly vicious and effective at what the virus does, Cuomo told a daily briefing. And I want America to understand that.Places such as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Washington, D.C. are starting to see rising deaths. Louisiana has become a hot spot for the virus, on Saturday reporting a jump in deaths to 409 and more than 12,000 cases.
feeds.reuters.comU.S. enters 'hardest, saddest' week in coronavirus crisis
A man walks along an empty street as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in New Orleans, Louisiana U.S., April 4, 2020. This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only its not going to be localized, he said. And I want America to understand that.Places such as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Washington, D.C. are starting to see rising deaths. The White House coronavirus task force warned this is not the time to go to the grocery store or other public places. However, a few churches were holding large gatherings on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week in Christian churches.
feeds.reuters.comWashington State signs facial recognition curbs into law; critics want ban
Facial recognition software can identify individuals in photos and videos based on a database of known subjects. Washingtons law requires government agencies to obtain a warrant to run facial recognition scans, except in case of emergency. Previously, several cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have banned government use of facial recognition, and California is among states that have barred facial recognition from being used in tandem with police body cameras. Microsoft Corp, based in Redmond, Washington, sells facial recognition software and backed the new law. Microsoft has said bans go too far and that real-world usage is needed to determine how best to regulate facial recognition.
feeds.reuters.comWashington state governor approves $200 million in coronavirus emergency funds
(Reuters) - The governor of Washington signed legislation on Tuesday approving $200 million in emergency funds intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus in one of the hardest-hit U.S. states. The measure was approved earlier this week by state lawmakers in Washington, which has over 900 confirmed cases and 48 deaths from the coronavirus. A long-term care facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland was the site of one of the nations first outbreaks. New York, Washington state and California have the most confirmed cases of the highly contagious respiratory illness. The Trump administration on Tuesday pressed Congress to pass a $1 trillion stimulus package to buttress a U.S. economy hit by coronavirus fears.
feeds.reuters.comCoronavirus has now spread to all 50 states and DC, US death toll passes 100
The new coronavirus that's rapidly spreading throughout the U.S. reached all 50 states and D.C. on Tuesday after West Virginia confirmed its first case and the U.S. death toll passed 100. The virus has now infected more than 5,809 people across the country and killed at least 100, NBC News reported. There were just 62 confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. on March 1, according to the World Health Organization. More than half of all deaths in the U.S. occurred in Washington state, where the virus has killed 53 people. King County in Washington state has been hit particularly hard by the virus with 46 deaths reported in the county alone.
cnbc.comWashington state's death toll from coronavirus jumps to 37
(Reuters) - The death toll in Washington state from coronavirus has surged by six to a total of 37, Governor Jay Inslee said on Friday as he issued new executive orders intended to reduce the spread of the respiratory illness. Washington, the hardest hit state in the outbreak of COVID-19, has confirmed 538 cases, Inslee said at an afternoon press conference at the statehouse in Olympia. The U.S. coronavirus death toll reached 46 on Friday. I dont take these decisions lightly, Im doing this for the health of all Washingtonians, the governor said. The bulk of the deaths from coronavirus in Washington state centered on a long-term care facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland.
feeds.reuters.comWashington state's death toll from coronavirus leaps by 6 to 37
(Reuters) - Washington states death toll from the coronavirus has surged by six to a total of 37, Governor Jay Inslee said on Friday. The state was extending its ban on gatherings of 250 people or more to across the state, and public and private schools will close as of Tuesday, Inslee told a news conference.
feeds.reuters.comSchools ordered to close in three Seattle-area counties
(Reuters) - Washington state Governor Jay Inslee on Thursday ordered schools to close in three Seattle-area counties to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus in a state battling the nations deadliest outbreak. The closure affects King, Pierce and Snohomish counties and all schools in the state may be ordered to close on Friday, Inslee told a news conference. Asked by a reporter about President Donald Trumps comments that he was considering travel restrictions to Washington, Inslee said he had not been consulted by the Trump administration about such a move and hoped it would not happen.
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