Northwest

It's no stretch to believe this: Workers warm up daily to keep safe

LEWISBERG, Ore. — It’s 10 minutes till 7 on a Tuesday morning, and the employees of Greenberry Fabrication are getting ready for work. But before they fire up their welding torches or start cutting sheet metal, they have to do their warm-up exercises.

I-5 bridge over Skagit River collapses; cars in water

An Interstate 5 bridge collapsed into the Skagit River on Thursday evening, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Invasive quagga mussels found on boat entering Eastern Oregon

ONTARIO, Ore. — An Eastern Oregon checkpoint aimed at keeping invasive species from hitchhiking into Oregon on boats has opened for the spring, and it found an infested boat the next day.

FBI arrests suspect in Washington state ricin case

SPOKANE (AP) — The FBI has arrested a suspect in a case involving the discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin and says investigators are working “around the clock” to address any remaining risks.

Two insurers proposed to not cover Wash. abortions

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Two insurance companies who filed to compete in Washington state’s health care exchange initially proposed not to provide abortion coverage, officials said Wednesday.

Inslee signs Facebook job password bill

SEATTLE — Washington became the fifth state this year to sign into law protections of social media passwords at the workplace and job interviews.

Oregon timber country ponders future with fewer logs

O’BRIEN, Ore. — Jennifer Phillippi’s grandparents started producing lumber in this corner of Oregon timber country in 1922, when a man could set up a mill, log the trees within range of a team of horses and move the mill to a new stand when those trees ran out.