KUOW News Podcast

Residents of southwest Idaho appear sharply divided over a proposed new nuclear power plant near the Oregon–Idaho border. Thursday night, around 250 people filled a high school auditorium for an initial public hearing on the project. Regional ...

The recent health care debate in Washington D.C. has been filled with political rhetoric. But closer to home, the issue is much more stark. A new report from the Washington Insurance Commissioner's office shows the number of people without health ...

Hunters in Idaho will be allowed to shoot wolves in most parts of the state for an extra three months. Idaho's Fish and Game Commission Thursday extended the state's wolf season through next March. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports ...

For several years now, energy experts have been predicting a nuclear renaissance in this country. But that's not materializing very quickly. In Idaho, an energy developer is now on his third proposed site for a new commercial nuclear power plant. ...

Randy Dorn plans to ask the Washington State Legislature to delay high school graduation requirements in math and science. Dorn is State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He announced his request in Seattle Thursday. KUOW's Phyllis Fletcher reports.

Northwest colleges and universities have been tightening their belts in this tough economy. Some are dropping degree programs and refocusing their basic fields of study. But the University of Idaho is proposing cuts even in places that go to the core of ...

This week, school teachers in Spokane are meeting with parents to talk about students' fall grades. What's different this year, for grades four through six anyway, is that the traditional letter grades are gone. They've been replaced by a more ...

The Seattle School Board has approved new attendance boundaries for all its schools. Board members passed the student assignment plan unanimously last night.

Incoming Seattle city attorney Peter Holmes says he's still stunned by his election victory over incumbent Tom Carr. One area where Holmes hopes to bring change is in the city's attitudes toward marijuana enforcement. Holmes says he has no plans to ...

Today State lawmakers in Oregon and Washington will get the latest look at their state's financial picture. In Oregon, it's the final update before voters weigh in on a pair of budget–balancing tax measures in January.

Olympic short–track speed skater Apolo Ohno was mobbed by autograph seekers during a rare visit to his home town of Seattle on Tuesday. Ohno told fans at SeaTac Airport that he's in the best shape of his life as he prepares for the Winter Games in ...

This Sunday a group of Seattle cyclists will race through Woodland Park, up and down paths of gravel, grass, sand and mud. The sport is called cyclo–cross: "Cyclo–cross is everything your mom told you not to do with your bicycle growing ...

The man suspected of being responsible for a string of arsons in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood was charged with 11 counts of arson yesterday.

Eighty Oregon spotted frogs were released on Tuesday at Fort Lewis in Pierce County. It's part of an effort to restore endangered frog populations in the Northwest. Some of the frogs were raised by scientists at the Oregon Zoo. But, others were raised by ...

Seattle–area hospitals are taking extra steps these days to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus. They're following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control. But sometimes, those guidelines differ from what other health organizations ...

The Seattle School Board is scheduled to vote tonight (Wednesday) on three proposals parents have been watching for months: the operations and capital levies voters will see on ballots in February, and the student assignment plan that decides where ...

Pregnant women are often extra careful to avoid toxic products, like certain plastics and chemicals in household cleaners. But a new study of West Coast mothers shows those efforts only go so far. Babies are born already exposed to toxins linked to ...

Marine scientists have been surprised by the persistence of an unusual red tide along the Washington and northern Oregon coast. This is the algae bloom which produced a slimy foam that killed thousands of seabirds earlier in the fall. Foam turned up on ...

The Obama Administration says it plans to appoint a blue ribbon panel soon to determine the fate of the nation's radioactive waste. For years now the waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has been destined for a deep hole in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. ...