Welcome to Pacific NW Portal, a Northwest Progressive Institute project that simplifies the task of staying up to date with news that matters to you. Today is the eighteenth day of the 2015 Washington State legislative session, the twentieth day of the 2015 Idaho State legislative session, and the twenty-eighth day since the 114th Congress convened. The Oregon State Legislature convenes for its 2015 session in ten days.
Pacific NW Portal does the hard work of keeping tabs on hundreds of different media sources at once, giving you a bird's eye view of what's going on. To see more of the front page, just scroll down. Use the links above in the turquoise-colored navigation bar to narrow your focus to a particular state, view the blogroll, check weather and traffic, find a progressive talk show to stream, or simply see what's breaking now at the state and federal levels.
Tired of constantly having to click and scroll on vote.wa.gov to check for updates to unofficial election results? Pacific NW Portal's Elections Centeroffers election results laid out on one page in a convenient grid format. You can easily scan the latest results for multiple federal, state executive, and hot legislative races — as well as ballot measures — without having to navigate from page to page. Try it out now!
Context is just a click away Want more information about any of the feeds presented below? Click on the heading for any feed on the front page, and a What's this? tooltip will pop up with more details.
→ Plan your commute or next trip Know before you go... find out where the traffic congestion and construction bottlenecks are
→ Get the latest forecast What'll the weather be like? Check the National Weather Service's predictions for the next few days
Did you know? This version of Pacific NW Portal — Version 5.7 (Yachats) — is the result of a decade of development and reader feedback. If you've got a complaint or an idea for the next version of Pacific NW Portal, we want to hear from you! You're also welcome to submit your blog to our Regional Blogs Directory if you're progressive and you blog about politics from the Northwest.
Washington’s incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen recently filed paperwork with the Public Disclosure Commission to start up a reelection campaign for 2016, PDC documents show, joining several other statewide Democratic incumbents who have active 2016 campaigns, in… (read more)
Mr. Harper put all of his eggs into one basket and then he dropped the basket… I’m tired of watching successive Liberal and Conservative governments dump these massive ecological, economic and social debts on the backs of future generations.
— NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, attacking Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s awful environmental record during the September 17th, 2015 Globe and Mail Leaders’ debate (via The Canadian Press).
This is a government where many of the senior members of that government can’t stand the person that has been elected to lead that political party, where it’s very clear that a number of senior members in the government promised both Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott that they would vote for them in last night’s ballot, which is why Tony Abbott was confident going into that ballot.
— Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, speaking after Malcom Turnbull deposed Tony Abbott as Prime Minister of Australia. Albanese also pointedly declared, “The idea that it’s business as usual today in the Coalition government is just farcical. The fact is, this is a government that is at war with itself” (via The Guardian).
This morning, the Washington State Supreme Court rendered a preliminary verdict in Huff v. Wyman, the scope challenge to Tim Eyman’s I-1366. The Court has ruled unanimously that plaintiffs’ request for an injunction should be denied, which we… (read more)
As of today, we are just two months away from the November 2015 general election. While we remain hopeful that the Washington State Supreme Court will spare us all the time and expense of having to vote on Tim Eyman’s incredibly destructive I-1366,… (read more)
Read this post to understand the lawsuit filed against Tim Eyman's I-1366 by a coalition including King County Elections Director Sherril Huff and Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall. (read more)
Looking for Conventions, Cities Add Hote…(Filed 3 days ago) — Hotel projects have drawn financial support from cities seeking increased convention business, but t……
Striking Seattle Teachers Poised to Retu…(Filed 3 days ago) — A weeklong walkout delayed the start of the 2015-16 school year for 53,000 students and thousands of……
Idaho: Hiking Trail Closed Because of Ag…(Filed 4 days ago) — Concerns about aggressive mountain goats have led the United States Forest Service to temporarily cl……
36 Hours in Portland, Ore.(Filed 6 days ago) — Ignore the hype, and indulge in the city’s simple pleasures — from $4 films to a puppet……
Jeb Bush lambasts both Bernie Sanders....(Filed 3 hours ago) — Bush said Sanders is the leading Democrat after recent polls showed him ahead of Hillary Clinton ....
Trump flips on gun control to support....(Filed 7 hours ago) — The frontrunner’s second policy paper also backs mandatory minimum prison sentences for violent c....
Sanders and Colbert: a match made in ....(Filed 8 hours ago) — The usual crowd gathered outside the Ed Sullivan theater in New York City was joined Friday by en....
Will Ferrell, Red Hot Chili Peppers a....(Filed 8 hours ago) — The Vermont senator’s campaign releases VIP endorsement list after Sanders attends fundraiser in ....
White House denounces Trump's anti-im....(Filed 9 hours ago) — Spokesman says Trump ‘isn’t the first Republican’ to capitalize on anti-Muslim bigotry to win fav....
House passes bills to defund Planned ....(Filed 12 hours ago) — One measure would defund the organization for a year while Congress investigates ‘sting’ videos a....
Ex-Sen. Gorton takes partisan shot....(seattlepi.com: Joel Conn....) — Ex-U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton became the week’s second big-name Republican to endors....
Sen. Patty Murray Warns Of Governm....(KUOW News and Information) — Democratic Washington Senator Patty Murray visited a Planned Parenthood clinic i....
The Downside Of Computer Automat....(Boise State Public Radio....) — This interview was originally broadcast in February of 2015 The epic battle between m....
Kate Brown Will Run For Oregon G....(Boise State Public Radio....) — Oregon Governor Kate Brown told a reporter in Pendleton, Oregon, Friday that she will....
Former Jail Inmate Describes Iso....(Boise State Public Radio....) — Brian Phillips spent 71 days in solitary confinement this summer. He was locked up in....
Idaho Lawmaker Plans To Introduc....(Boise State Public Radio....) — If you’re being stalked by a person who isn’t a relative or a romantic partner in Ida....
Open government workshops set in....(Spokesman.com: Eye On Bo....) — The public is invited to attend any of three upcoming free workshops on Idaho/’/;s....
New details emerge about Bergdah....(Spokesman.com: Eye On Bo....) — As the two-day hearing for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl wrapped up today in Texas, top military....
Documents & Power Point Presentation ....(Yakima & Tri-Cities ....) — The Third round of videos, audio recordings and documents released from the Special Investi....
Preliminary hearing held for accused ....(Idaho Falls :: Local New....) — The preliminary trial of two of the accused kidnappers got underway Friday. Two others will begin t....
Fifth suspect in kidnapping case arre....(Idaho Falls :: Local New....) — The Bonneville County Sheriff's office has arrested the fifth suspect in an August kidnapping.
RELEASE: The Global Community Must Do Mo.... (Center for American Progress) — Washington, D.C. — The forced displacement crisis has been percolating for years but is only now fully entering the global consciousness with scenes of ....
Job Growth Holds Steady in Most States, .... (Economic Policy Institute » ....) — Today’s release of state employment and unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that over the summer months, most states remained l....
Crisis in Context (Center for American Progress) — This report explores the numbers behind the global refugee and internally displaced people crisis and offers practical solutions moving forward, from mo....
3.6 Million Millennials Gained Health In.... (Center for American Progress) — Although the Affordable Care Act has enabled millions of young people to access affordable insurance, more needs to be done to support the health and ec....
RELEASE: The SDGs Are an Opportunity to .... (Center for American Progress) — Washington, D.C. — Next week, at a U.N. Summit that is likely to be the largest gathering of global leaders ever convened, nations will adopt the Sustai....
Leave No One Behind (Center for American Progress) — Leave No One Behind is the headline of the Sustainable Development Goals, but without further definition and a plan to achieve this objective, it will b....
Weekend Reading 9/18/15 (Sightline Daily) — Kristin Why does the media care so much about Hillary’s emails, but not at all about the fact that Bush’s tax proposals are a pack of lies ? The path to....
Having an opinion while female? Get ready for a fight (rabble.ca) — Chip in to keep stories like these coming. Many of you will be unsurprised to learn that I get in a lot of arguments with men. These arguments often tak....
Housing bubble risk has federal leaders at a loss (CBC | Politics News) — Economists, Realtors and academics are at odds over the possible scope of a Canadian housing bubble, and last night the federal party leaders offered fe....
NDP pledges $2.6B support for universal drug coverage (CBC | Politics News) — A New Democratic government would use the purchasing power of the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs and pass those sav....
Pacific NW Portal is owned and powered by the Northwest Progressive Institute, a netroots powered strategy center working to raise America's quality of life through innovative research and imaginative advocacy.