Tagged: Washington

OLYMPIA, Wash. – “Talk therapy” may work in some cases. But a Washington state lawmaker says it’s time to invest in evidence-based programs to treat mentally ill youth. This past fall we brought you a series of stories on failures in how the Northwest treats young people with serious mental health issues. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has this update from Olympia.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A bipartisan duo of Washington lawmakers wants to end most tax breaks for businesses, nonprofits, farms, and others. The two representatives held a press conference Friday in Olympia asking their colleagues to rethink these tax exemptions.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Out-of-pocket medical expenses are crushing some Washington families – even though they have health insurance. A key legislative committee voted Thursday to place an overall cap on how much a family would have to pay each year.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington lawmakers are introducing several proposals that echo the demands of the Occupy protesters. In fact, the formal title of one proposal introduced Thursday says it is aimed at -- quote --“Guaranteeing that the top one percent pay too.” The chief sponsor, Democratic Representative Marko Liias , says the Occupy movement wasn’t the only thing that prompted this idea.

BOEING FIELD, Wash. -- Lead paint was banned in the United States in the 1970s. Leaded gasoline was slowly phased out over the next 20 years. Those efforts drove one of the great public-health improvements of the past century. The amount of lead found in human bloodstreams has dropped by more than 90 percent.

Six college presidents from across Washington state met in Seattle Wednesday night to discuss funding higher education. Northwest Public Radio’s Bryan Buckalew has more.