Northwest News

RICHLAND, Wash. – The Department of Energy says a Hanford contractor tried to interfere with an investigation into nuclear safety at the site. That’s according to letters from top Energy officials in an ongoing debate over the site’s safety culture. Correspondent Anna King reports.

The Obama administration released new rules Friday for protecting wildlife from wind farms.

In a morning news conference, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the voluntary rules offer ways to reduce the number of birds and bats that are harmed by wind farms. They focus on choosing sites with low wildlife risks, and designing the sites to avoid disturbing habitat.

Seventeen counts of murder. Six counts of assault and attempted murder. Those are the charges filed Friday against 38 year old Staff Sgt. Robert Bales. He’s the Washington-based soldier accused of killing 9 Afghan children and 8 adults in a massacre earlier this month. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Correspondent Austin Jenkins explains the next step is an Article 32 hearing.

Religious beliefs and contraception collided today in the Idaho House of Representatives. a majority of state lawmakers voted to send a message to the President and U.S. Congress to reject a new birth control policy.

Since 2009, Idaho lawmakers have tried, and failed, to pass a bill to ban texting while driving. Until today. Senators passed a ban this morning and sent it to Governor Butch Otter. The version that passed was watered down from the original legislation proposed earlier this session. Senator Jim Hammond, (R-Coeur d'Alene,), the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, explains.