Tom Banse
Regional Correspondent
About
Tom Banse covers national news, business, science, public policy, Olympic sports and human interest stories from across the Pacific Northwest. He reports from well known and out–of–the–way places as our roving regional correspondent. Tom's stories can be found online and heard on-air during Morning Edition and All Things Considered on NPR stations in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho who cooperate as part of our Northwest News Network consortium.
Before taking his current beat, Tom covered state government and the Washington Legislature for 12 years. He got his start in radio at WCAL–FM, a public station in southern Minnesota. Reared in Seattle, Tom graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota with a degree in American Studies.
When not sifting through press releases, listening to lobbyists, or driving lonely highways, Tom enjoys exploring the Olympic Peninsula backcountry and cooking dinner with his wife and friends. Tom's secret ambition is to take six months off work and travel to a faraway place beyond the reach of email.
Location: Olympia
Languages: English, conversational German
Stories
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KUOW Newsroom
Slow down, people! Surge in traffic deaths continues in West Coast states
While many of the disruptions of the pandemic have eased this year, the surge in traffic fatalities is showing few signs of abating. Policymakers are trying a number of tactics to respond.
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KUOW Newsroom
Some freeways may be useable following 'the Big One' per new modeling by UW
New modeling by the University of Washington of the impacts of a major Cascadia earthquake offers a less dire picture of the aftermath of the so-called "Big One" — specifically when it comes to highway bridges.
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KUOW Blog
Suicide prevention awareness sticker now on sale for WA license plates
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KUOW Blog
Washington state is not short on money as it debates its next two-year budget
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and state lawmakers will have billions more in tax dollars than last time around when they sit down to write a budget for the next two years.
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KUOW Newsroom
Job market 'exceptionally tight' as NW tech workers face layoffs, hiring freezes
Some of the biggest names in the tech industry are either laying off employers, or implementing hiring freezes for hundreds of workers in the Northwest.
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KUOW Newsroom
Reducing collisions between ships and whales? There are apps for that — but they need work
Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often in the Pacific Northwest that ships collide with whales. But when it does, it's upsetting, tragic and the whale probably dies. Three separate teams have developed smartphone-based systems that can alert commercial mariners to watch out or slow down when there are whales nearby. A recent ride-along on a big container ship demonstrated that real-time whale alerts are still a work in progress.
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KUOW Newsroom
Big ships transiting North Puget Sound asked to slow down, quiet down for orcas
Big ships entering and leaving Puget Sound will be asked to temporarily slow down to reduce underwater noise this fall. Washington state is importing this strategy from British Columbia on a trial basis in hopes of helping the Pacific Northwest's critically endangered killer whales.
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KUOW Newsroom
No labels: Some election overseers want to make their offices nonpartisan to inspire greater trust
Should the top elections official in Washington state officially be a nonpartisan? That's one difference between the top two finalists running for Washington Secretary of State. Nonpartisan challenger Julie Anderson wants to make the job independent from political party affiliations. Her opponent, Democratic incumbent Steve Hobbs says it's an unnecessary change. County auditors and sheriffs associations are also chewing over party labels and what those labels convey about the leanings of their offices.
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KUOW Newsroom
Independent candidates test how fed up Northwest voters are with both parties
A quartet of independent candidates on the ballot this November in Oregon and Washington state will test voter appetites for a centrist "third way." They are experienced contenders running for state senate, Oregon governor or Washington Secretary of State. Unaffiliated candidates are popping up around the nation too, with a common theme of being fed up with a divisive two-party system.
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KUOW Newsroom
The last of the Salish Sea reefnetters don't want to be the last
Only 12 commercial fishing captains hold permits to go reefnet fishing in the Pacific Northwest out of a fleet that once numbered in the hundreds. The distinctive technique of reefnet fishing dates back thousands of years as a traditional Indigenous method to catch salmon. Its practitioners today say the gear should be the preferred way to harvest healthy salmon runs while avoiding fragile stocks.