Northwest News

The Federal Aviation Administration restricts flights to and from the D.C. area. But it has now authorization for eight non-stop flights from Western cities to Reagan National. Senator Ron Wyden says it'll be good for business.

This is the week candidates formally file for office in Washington. Republican State Senator Michael Baumgartner made it official Monday: he will challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat. But the race is starting out as a bit of a mismatch.

Beginning Monday Oregon drivers can purchase a wine country license plate. The additional cost will benefit tourism marketing.

There are specialty license plates for salmon, Crater Lake, culture and other causes. Now Oregon is the first in the nation to offer one touting the state's wine industry.

At Gonzaga University’s commencement, Archbishop Desmond Tutu mixed humor with a serious message to the graduating class.

On Monday the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the Export-Import Bank bill, which passed overwhelmingly in the House last week. In a trip to Spokane on Friday, Senator Maria Cantwell said the bank helps fund international trade out of states like Washington. She says the bank’s authorization expires at the end of the month.

Since the 1970s, U.S. policy toward American Indian tribes has been to encourage economic independence. Tribal casinos are probably the most visible symbol of that policy. These days, tribes are diversifying into other businesses. In 2005, the Chehalis Indian tribe in southwest Washington partnered with a Wisconsin-based water park chain to build a destination resort. The state of Washington, in turn, granted the project tax exempt status. But now, correspondent Austin Jenkins has obtained internal state documents that question whether Great Wolf Lodge really is a tribal entity and eligible for favorable tax treatment.

The U.S. women's basketball team dominated China in an exhibition game played in Seattle Saturday. Final score: 100 to 62. The prelude to an upcoming Summer Olympics showdown coincided with the U.S. squad's first team training camp. Correspondent Tom Banse reports on why that's in Seattle.

In the early part of the 20th century, when many Northwestern rivers were dammed, fish hatcheries provided a way to keep salmon in rivers. But now an estimated 5 billion hatchery fish are released into the Pacific every year. A collection of research released Monday highlights possible concerns about how all those hatchery fish might be impacting wild stocks. Ashley Ahearn reports.