Latest Washington Headlines

All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Hot Weather Takes Toll On Washington Wheat Crop

Aug 21 2014 // Too much heat and too little rain this summer are taking a toll on the winter wheat crop in Eastern Washington. Joel Zwainz on Monday estimated that his family’s 3,400-acre farm near Reardan will produce 30 to 50...

Uber Hires Obama Campaign Strategist; Expands Into Courier Service

Aug 20 2014 // Uber has enlisted David Plouffe, President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, to devise and run its global political and branding strategy, as the fast-expanding car rides-on-demand startup runs into stiff...

Probe of Washington Refinery Blast That Killed 7 Closed by Feds

Aug 18 2014 // The U.S. Justice Department said it will file no criminal charges following a four-year investigation into the April 2010 explosion that killed seven workers at the Tesoro Corp. refinery in Anacortes, Wash.The decision was...

Government Rescue Behind It, AIG Beefs Up Washington Lobbying Corps

Aug 17 2014 // Insurer American International Group is ramping up its lobbying team in Washington, almost six years after it halted such efforts following its rescue by the U.S. government during the financial crisis.Many large companies...

How Much Credit Score Effect on Home Insurance Premiums Varies by State

Aug 14 2014 // Homeowners with poor credit pay 91 percent more for homeowners’ insurance than people with excellent credit, according to a study by an online insurance shopping service.The report by insuranceQuotes.com also found...

Ladenburg Thalmann to Acquire KMS Financial Services in Washington

Aug 13 2014 // Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire KMS Financial Services Inc., a Seattle, Wash.-based independent broker-dealer and investment advisor with a strong presence in the...

Fire-afflicted Washington Declared Disaster by President

Aug 12 2014 // Federal disaster aid has been made available to Washington to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the area affected by wildfires from July 9 to Aug. 5, the Federal Emergency Management Agency...

Food Company Wins Religious Exemption from Contraception Benefit

Aug 11 2014 // Fresh Unlimited Inc. won’t have to provide contraceptive coverage for its employees under the Obama administration’s healthcare reform law, in what may be the first exemption granted since a June U.S. Supreme...

Washington Artist Files Intellectual Property Suit Over ‘Angry Birds’ Pet Toys

Aug 7 2014 // A Seattle artist who designed a line of plush pet toys called “Angry Birds” is suing the company that sold them, saying it cheated her of millions of dollars when it reached a deal with the Finnish company that...

AssureStart in Washington Names Zenner Chief Marketing Officer

Aug 6 2014 // Seattle, Wash.-based AssureStart has named Chad Zenner as its new chief marketing officer. Zenner will drive AssureStart’s digital marketing and branding activities as well as work to enhance the online customer...

Obama Administration Weighing Options to Curb Corporate Inversions

Aug 6 2014 // The U.S. Treasury Department is examining unilateral actions to curb corporate inversions, reversing its position that only Congress has the authority to stop or slow the deals.About three weeks after Secretary Jacob J....

Wildfires Burn Structures, Threaten Homes In California, Oregon, Washington

Aug 5 2014 // Two wildfires that burned or threatened hundreds of homes in Northern California were bearing down on a small town as they plowed through more than 100 square miles of drought-stricken brush, and Tuesday brought a chance...

Washington Girl Gets $1.2M Settlement Over School Shooting

Aug 4 2014 // The family of a girl who was critically wounded two years ago when a gun went off inside a classmate’s backpack at her Washington state elementary school agreed Friday to a $1.2 million legal settlement.The Bremerton...

Allstate Seeks Agents in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii

Aug 4 2014 // Allstate Insurance Co. plans to add several local agency owners in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii in 2014.Allstate’s plan is to recruit 51 new exclusive agents, 13 financial specialists and the company...

Administration Seeks Full Court Review of Obamacare Subsidies Ruling

Aug 3 2014 // The Obama administration asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington to reconsider a three- judge panel’s ruling that customers on the federal marketplace authorized by the healthcare overhaul are ineligible...

Climate Change Debate in Denver Pits Coal Miners vs. Skiers

Jul 30 2014 // Coal miners took on skiers, and environmentalists dueled with business groups as the public debated sweeping rules from the Obama administration to combat global warming in a nationwide series of hearings yesterday.At the...

Cost Of Fighting Washington Wildfires So Far: $50 Million

Jul 29 2014 // The cost of fighting this season’s wildfires in Washington, including the largest one in the state’s history, has crossed the $50 million mark.Bolstered by the nearly 400-square-mile wildfire in north-central...

Washington Insurance Judge Untruthful In Case, Inspector Says

Jul 28 2014 // An independent investigator says the state insurance office’s top administrative-law judge was misleading and untruthful when it came to a high-profile insurance case that ultimately led to her suspension in...

With Premium Refunds in Process, Washington Criticism of Flood Insurance Ebbs

Jul 28 2014 // Insurance agent, insurance carrier and real estate lobbyists praised federal regulators in charge of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) last week on Capitol Hill, agreeing that the process of issuing flood...

Washington Bank Sued by Women Claiming Sex Discrimination

Jul 24 2014 // Two former employees of the Miles City branch of Stockman Bank in Montana have filed a lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination by their supervisors.Cindy Conley of Miles City and Tracee Burchell of Castle Rock, Colorado,...