Northwest News

President Barack Obama is due back in Seattle on Thursday for two fundraising events to benefit his re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

The first is a brunch for big donors and the second is a reception at the Paramount Theatre.

Work crews are ahead of schedule on safety improvements at the north Idaho mine where two men died last year. That’s the update today from the Hecla Mining Company, which owns the troubled Lucky Friday Mine. The federally mandated improvements have taken a bite into Hecla’s profits.

Federal inspectors ordered Hecla to make a whole stack of safety improvements at its north Idaho silver mine. The biggest task is a top to bottom scrubbing of the mine’s main shaft. Inspectors found loose cement on the wall of this 6,000 ft conduit that takes ore and people in and out of the mine.

Hundreds of people gathered at Portland's Pioneer Square today to protest coal export projects in the Northwest. Cassandra Profita reports.

Conservation organizations will proceed with a legal challenge of the Goose Logging Project in the McKenzie River Watershed in the Willamette National Forest. KLCC's Christina Kempster has more on the story.

The Great Recession has taken its toll on morale at Washington’s largest state agency. Employee satisfaction at the Department of Social and Health Services has plummeted over the past couple of years. That’s according to a new employee survey.

Here in the Northwest, you hear lots of complaints about the abundant rain. But this year's cool March weather and above normal rainfall in April may have eased the suffering of people with pollen allergies.

The University of Idaho rededicated its Dan O’Brien Track and Field Complex on Monday following the completion of a $2.5 million renovation.