State & Regional News | The Daily Chronicle

State cuts early literacy funding, but pediatricians persist

FEDERAL WAY — When the pediatrician handed her 1-year-old a book at their most recent checkup, Brittany Phillips noticed her daughter looking intently at the doctor and pictured the wheels … more

Claire Withycombe / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 12/9/25

Seattle is ‘getting a grip’ on nightlife violence, deputy city attorney says

SEATTLE — Three young people were killed and six others injured during a shootout at a hookah lounge on Rainier Avenue South early on a Sunday morning in August 2023. Seattle police recovered … more

Sara Jean Green / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 12/9/25

Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, left, participates in the extradition from California of Harjinder Singh, accused of causing a crash that killed three people in Florida. (Photo via Collins’ X account)

Washington state erred in granting hundreds of commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens

Washington state mistakenly issued nearly 700 licenses to drive trucks and buses to noncitizens who don’t qualify over the past seven years. This issue has drawn heavy criticism from … more

By Jake Goldstein-Street / The Washington State Standard | 12/9/25

Investigators say they found military equipment and Nazi flags in the home of two Lacey men arrested earlier this year.

Two Thurston County men appear on federal charges for brutal assault at JBLM in June

Two Thurston County men — both former members of the military — appeared in federal court in Tacoma on Friday for their alleged involvement in a brutal assault on Joint Base Lewis McChord … more

By The Chronicle staff | 12/8/25

BLM launches ‘one dollar, one tree’ holiday savings across Washington, Oregon public lands

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced a series of holiday affordability measures that are aimed at helping families save money, enjoy public lands and support wildfire prevention efforts … more

By The Chronicle staff | 12/8/25

The Chehalis River meanders through clear-cut timberland on Weyerhaeuser property upstream from Pe Ell. Loggers are required to maintain trees in the riparian zone.

Litigation filed in response to expanding buffers on non-fish streams in Washington state

In response to the Forest Practices Board issuing the rule to expand buffers on non-fish perennial streams on Nov. 26, the Washington Farm Forestry Association (WFFA) and Washington Forest Protection … more

By Andrea Watts / The Daily World | 12/8/25

Alexander Lee Rogers, 51, of Longview, sits during his arraignment hearing at the Cowlitz County Jail courtroom on Tuesday, Sept. 9, in Kelso. He is looking toward the court spectators. Rogers pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Thursday.

Man accused of murdering woman, beating elderly man sentenced to 40 years in Cowlitz County Superior Court

Alexander Lee Rogers, the man accused of murdering a 64-year-old woman and severely injuring an elderly man in a Longview home earlier this year, was sentenced Thursday to over 40 years. Rogers, … more

Matt Esnayra / The Daily News | 12/8/25

Canada scrambles to convince Nutrien to abandon Cowlitz County fertilizer terminal

Canadian officials are working to convince global agriculture giant Nutrien to back out of its plan to build a $500 million to $1 billion dollar fertilizer export terminal in Longview just weeks … more

Henry Brannan / Murrow News | 12/8/25

Some states have issued guidances for schools in connection with how to respond to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. (ICE Office/TNS)

Report of people pretending to be police prompts officers in Cowlitz County to ICE arrest

Ramon Tovar Jimenez, the Longview resident accused of assaulting a federal immigration officer during another arrest , could face additional charges from the U.S District Attorney's Office. … more

Matt Esnayra / The Daily News | 12/8/25

Republicans left tribes out of their $50B rural health fund; now, it’s up to states to share

The Trump administration is touting its $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program as the largest-ever U.S. investment in rural health care. But the government made minimal mention of Native … more

By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez / KFF Health News | 12/8/25

The Hopper is where Washington lawmakers file proposed bill language. (Courtesy of the Washington Legislature)

Bills begin streaming in ahead of Washington state’s 2026 legislative session

Washington lawmakers are warming up for a sprint. They’ve been pre-filing bills and holding press conferences this week, knowing they’ll have just 60 days to drive their policy ideas … more

By Jerry Cornfield / The Washington State Standard | 12/8/25

Smoke smolders in a fire pit at a homeless encampment at the end of Eckerson Road in Centralia on Thursday.

With homelessness rising, new federal rules could benefit states that take tougher approaches

As the housing shortage pushes more Americans into homelessness for the first time, the Trump administration wants to focus federal housing aid on mental health treatment and enforcement against … more

By Robbie Sequeira / States Newsroom | 12/8/25

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and a federal agent detain a person at a home in Phoenix, Ariz.

Ban on police face coverings pitched ahead of Washington state’s 2026 legislative session

California in September became the first state to ban law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings, in response to immigration raids where federal agents wore masks. The U.S. … more

By Jake Goldstein-Street / The Washington State Standard | 12/8/25

Suspect with axe charges at deputies near Wilsonville, leading to shooting, sheriff’s office says

A suspect with an axe charged at two sheriff’s deputies near Wilsonville during a traffic stop Friday evening, resulting in at least one of the deputies shooting the person, the Clackamas … more

The Oregonian / oregonlive.com (TNS) | 12/7/25

Albany homeless shelter sued over ‘abnormally dangerous’ cat

A lawsuit filed in Linn County alleges a man suffered serious medical issues after being attacked by an “abnormally dangerous” cat at Albany Helping Hands. Filed in March, the suit … more

Cody Mann / Corvallis Gazette-Times (TNS) | 12/7/25

Heavy rain causes high water and flooding along Highway 101 in Tillamook, Oregon on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023.

Back-to-back atmospheric rivers trigger flood watch, landslide concerns in NW Oregon

Oregonians from Astoria to Oakridge should brace for “widespread and heavy rain” in the coming days that has prompted flood warnings across state’s northwest corner. … more

Sami Edge / oregonlive.com (TNS) | 12/7/25

The Centralia TransAlta plant is shown here in an aerial photograph taken on Thursday, Oct. 23.

As Washington state’s coal ban looms, Montana wind fills only some of the energy gap

STILLWATER COUNTY, Mont. — Near a dusty road over rolling hills, clouds hung low above the jagged peaks of the Beartooth Mountains just outside Yellowstone National Park. On the plains of … more

Amanda Zhou / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 12/7/25

Arrest made in Tacoma shooting that killed 14-year-old boy, police say

Tacoma police detectives didn’t have to chase a suspect in a fatal Friday shooting that killed a 14-year-old boy. The man turned himself in a few hours later. The disclosure comes from a … more

Sean Robinson / The News Tribune (TNS) | 12/7/25

Senator: ICE dog attack on Washington state man ‘should shock the conscience’

When a man dressed as a construction worker knocked on Wilmer Toledo-Martinez’s door claiming to have hit his car, he believed it was an accident. Instead, ICE agents were waiting for him … more

Caitlyn Freeman / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 12/7/25

Relentless rain, flooding incoming for Western Washington

We're in the calm before the storm, Seattle, as heavy rain and flooding are expected to sweep Western Washington next week. Typical rainy season weather was in the forecast for the first weekend … more

Caitlyn Freeman / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 12/7/25