News

 The Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River at Mount Vernon north of Seattle collapsed late Thursday, throwing several cars and drivers into the water, and closing a key West Coast highway.

First responders rescued three motorists who were clinging to their cars on the partially submerged span.   There has been no official word on what caused the collapse, though initial reports indicate an over-sized load may have struck the bridge, destroying overhead girders and dropping the structure into the river.

A sexual harassment lawsuit against Evans Fruit near Yakima, Wash., came under scrutiny this week during a congressional hearing. The feds recently lost this expensive, high-profile case, and some Congress members are now asking… “Was it worth it?”

If proper equipment isn’t installed on irrigation pipes and pumps, fish can get sucked into farmers’ fields and drainage ditches. That clogs pipes and kills fish. A new fish screen was just installed on a Central Washington River to prevent this from happening. It’s the first of its kind in the state.

Voters in two Southwest Oregon counties have defeated short-term property tax increases that would have raised revenue for public safety. Amelia Templeton reports.

Wednesday FBI officials in Spokane arrested a man for connection with mailing a poisonous letter to a government building. Spokane Public Radio’s Paige Browning reports.

Officials at Fairchild Air Force Base say their role in the military's Asia-Pacific operations will not change anytime soon. That's despite the Pentagon Wednesday opting not to locate the next generation of Air Force refueling tankers at the base outside of Spokane, Wash. Jessica Robinson reports.

The number of coal export terminals proposed for Oregon and Washington has dropped from six to three. But a dozen Northwest groups aren’t backing down from their call for a regional impact study of the coal projects.

The groups filed a legal petition Wednesday with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They want the corps to study the environmental impacts of transporting coal by train and barge from mines in Montana and Wyoming to shipping terminals.

The largest disenrollment of tribal members in Washington State is still moving forward, following a tribal court’s ruling this week. Leaders of the Nooksack Tribe near Bellingham want to cut ties with some 300 members, as Liz Jones reports.

The homes of the future will come with remarkably low heating bills. At least that's the hope of a Portland-based non-profit showcasing 13 super energy efficient homes in four Northwest states. The question is, can you afford to buy one of these houses? Correspondent Tom Banse has this report.