Government

When a police officer needs to question someone in Spanish, or any other language, they can no longer use US Border Patrol agents as interpreters. This change in federal policy comes after a group of attorneys and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) in Seattle filed a complaint earlier this year. 

More than 2,000 people showed up Thursday to tell regulators what they think should be considered in the environmental review of a proposed coal export terminal near Bellingham, Wash. If built, it could be the largest such facility on the West Coast.

Medical marijuana providers are challenging Seattle’s licensing rules in court. They say having to obtain business licenses forces them to incriminate themselves under federal law.

Washington’s chief of K-12 education says the state’s high school students are required to take too many exit exams in order to graduate.

The Seattle City Council is debating a plan that would transform a huge swath of the city’s center, and that for the first time would allow developers to build residential high rises just a block from Lake Union.

In the other Washington, lawmakers are still trying to reach a deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff," a series of sharp tax increases and spending cuts taking effect January 1. House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama spoke on the phone yesterday, a day after the president offered to reduce his initial demand for $1.6 trillion in higher tax revenue over a decade to $1.4 trillion.

Obama wants much of the revenue to come from raising tax rates on the wealthy. House Speaker John Boehner has accused the White House of stalling the negotiations. Central to a final settlement is Washington’s senior senator, Patty Murray. Ross Reynolds speaks with Senator Patty Murray about the looming fiscal cliff.

Seven Seattle-area school districts have been awarded a $40 million federal Race to the Top grant. The money is aimed at improving academic achievement in high-poverty schools in the Seattle, Kent, Federal Way, Highline, Renton, Auburn and Tukwila districts.

Looking for a holiday gift for the green thumb in your life? Greg Rabourn and Marty Wingate join us with a few ideas for useful gifts sure to please any gardener.