Austin Jenkins

Washington has gained back more than half the jobs it lost during the Great Recession. The state reached that benchmark last month with the gain of 10,000 new jobs.

Even so, Washington’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in June at 8.3 percent. That’s because the universe of people actively looking for work is also growing.

There’s a government office in Olympia where employees travel the globe and titans of Wall Street are regular visitors. The singer Bono even dropped in once, after a concert.

We’re talking about the Washington State Investment Board. Its job is to maximize returns on an $85 billion investment portfolio. To do that the Board invests in some very exotic places, as Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins found.

The Washington and Oregon state capitols have been the scenes of two bizarre incidents in recent days. Both involved apparently mentally unstable men. One had a gallon of gasoline, the other wielded a samurai sword.

The summer fighting season in Afghanistan continues to claim the lives of Northwest soldiers. So far this year, 19 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord have been killed. The Army announced the latest death over the weekend. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has more.

Two aerospace companies plan to expand their operations in Washington. Gov. Chris Gregoire made that announcement Monday from the Farnborough Air Show in London. But the news highlights a gap between the legions of unemployed and the skills they need for many new jobs.

It looks like voters in both Oregon and Washington will decide this fall whether to legalize recreational marijuana. Backers of an Oregon ballot measure submitted a final batch of petitions Friday to the Secretary of State. In Washington, a pot legalization initiative has already qualified for the ballot. The question now: are Northwest voters ready to say ‘okay’ to getting high? Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

"Groundhog Day.” That’s what Washington initiative promoter Tim Eyman says it going to feel like Friday. This will be the third time Eyman has submitted signatures for a ballot measure to require a supermajority vote of the legislature to raise taxes. Friday is the deadline in Washington and Oregon for initiative sponsors seeking to qualify for the November ballot. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins has this preview.

Overdose deaths from a popular painkiller called Methadone appear to have peaked nationally. That’s according to a CDC report released Tuesday. The Northwest has one of the highest Methadone prescription rates in the country. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has more.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray has introduced legislation to overhaul the mental health system for war veterans. The move comes in the wake of a scandal at Washington’s Madigan Army Hospital. Doctors there incorrectly told dozens of soldiers they didn’t suffer from PTSD. One of those soldiers was Richard Kellar.

Washington’s Lands Commissioner is expected to declare the state’s first ever forest health hazard warning Monday. The formal declaration comes amid growing concern about the potential for a catastrophic fire – not unlike what we’ve seen in recent days in Colorado. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.