The Columbian

Northwest

Two people dead after tree falls on their car near Issaquah in Sunday’s storm

October 25, 2021, 7:41am Latest News

Two people died after a tree collapsed onto their car outside Issaquah as strong winds picked up in the region on Sunday, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office. Read story

10-digit dialing begins in Eastern Washington today

October 25, 2021, 7:39am Northwest

SPOKANE — Anyone needing a visual aid for why it’s necessary to tack on a three-digit area code for calls in Eastern Washington on Sunday would do well to take a trip to the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum. Read story

King County’s proof of COVID vaccine policy starts Monday

October 25, 2021, 7:39am Northwest

SEATTLE — Beginning Monday proof of vaccination or a negative test for COVID-19 will be required to enter restaurants, bars, gyms, theaters or entertainment venues in Washington state’s most populous county. Read story

Ships work to control a fire onboard the MV Zim Kingston about eight kilometres from the shore in Victoria, B.C., on Sunday, October 24, 2021. The container ship caught fire on Saturday and 16 crew members were evacuated and brought to Ogden Point Pier.

Fire contained on cargo ship off Victoria, B.C.; hunt is on for 40 containers that went overboard

October 25, 2021, 7:38am Business

SEATTLE — The fire on a large cargo ship anchored about 5 miles off Victoria, British Columbia, that started on Saturday was all but controlled on Sunday. Read story

Northwest Maritime youth programs get $2.75 million boost

October 25, 2021, 7:30am Northwest Updated 2 days ago

Northwest Maritime Center, one of the primary partners driving the advancement of the Highline School District’s new Maritime High School, has received more than $2 million from two Washington state donors: the McCaw Family and Bezos Family foundations. The center will use these funds for maritime education initiatives it coordinates… Read story

In this Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, photo, The Dalles Mayor Richard Mays looks at the view of his town and the Columbia River from his hilltop home in The Dalles, Oregon. Mays helped negotiate a proposal by Google to build new data centers in the town. The data centers require a lot of water to cool their servers, and would use groundwater and surface water, but not any water from the Columbia River.

Data centers intensify water fears in the Columbia River Gorge

October 25, 2021, 6:05am Editor's Choice Updated 1 hour ago

THE DALLES, Ore. — Conflicts over water are as old as history itself, but the massive Google data centers on the edge of this Oregon town on the Columbia River represent an emerging 21st century concern. Read story

InvestigateWest: Cleaner buildings will cost billions

October 25, 2021, 6:05am Latest News

Pumping insulation into walls and scrapping gas furnaces aren’t the most glamorous ways to attack climate change. Renovating old buildings seems downright mundane compared to fast-charging elec-tric cars or efficient high-rise buildings. But for Francisco Ramos, upgrading his Northeast Portland home made a huge difference. Read story

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2017, file photo, Nick Brown, then-counsel to Gov. Jay Inslee, takes questions at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Sens. The U.S. Senate has confirmed a pair of firsts to be the Justice Department's top lawyers in Washington state. Brown, the former general counsel to Gov. Jay Inslee, will be the first Black top federal prosecutor in Western Washington, while Vanessa Waldref, an environmental lawyer for the DOJ, will be the first woman to run the U.S. attorney's office in Eastern Washington. (AP Photo/Ted S.

From TV to U.S. attorney: Nick Brown plans ‘different perspective’ on justice in Seattle

October 25, 2021, 6:02am Latest News

The Australian outback is unforgiving, but not much more so than the fraught world of partisan politics. Newly appointed U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, a onetime contestant on TV’s “Survivor,” Harvard Law School graduate and U.S. Army defense lawyer, has thrived in both. Read story

FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2020, file photo, Auburn police Officer Jeff Nelson appears in King County Superior Court court in Kent, Wash. Nelson pleaded not guilty to charges in the killing of Jesse Sarey in 2019. Although Nelson has been investigated in more than 60 use-of-force cases since 2012, he wasn't on the King County prosecuting attorney's "potential impeachment disclosure" list, or Brady List, which flags officers whose credibility is in question due to misconduct, until after being charged in Sarey's death. An Associated Press investigation based on hundreds of documents and interviews with prosecutors, defense attorneys and experts on police reform found that prosecutors do not always used the lists to ensure accountability.

Tool for police reform rarely used by local prosecutors

October 25, 2021, 6:00am Latest News

SEATTLE — Isaiah Obet was behaving erratically and in mental distress in 2017 when Officer Jeff Nelson ordered his police dog to attack and then shot Obet in the torso. Obet fell to the ground and Nelson fired again, fatally shooting Obet in the head. The officer said his life… Read story