Locals’ efforts prompted buffers for auto shops and air filter rules for new buildings.
Communities
Posted inFebruary 18, 2019: Barriers to Entry
As shutdown ends, rural Washington considers life without feds
‘We’re going down a road to bitterness.’
Posted inArticles
A small island town prepares for a major earthquake
Without a single hospital, Washington’s Vashon Island emergency responders work to avert disaster should ‘the big one’ hit.
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
Chicano groups are embracing undocumented immigrants. It wasn’t always this way.
New alliances are forming in the face of racism and an unprecedented political moment.
Posted inFebruary 18, 2019: Barriers to Entry
The education crisis for children of deported parents
In Tijuana, an upstart model tries to address the challenges of educating U.S. kids who relocated to keep their families together.
Posted inArticles
Why was a study on trafficking in Indian Country canceled?
After the Trump administration transition, the Department of Justice killed a critical needs assessment initiative.
Posted inJanuary 21, 2019: What Killed Washington's Carbon Tax?
See iconic photographers’ forgotten work in 1950s Mormon towns
Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange capture a time when the religion was growing.
Posted inArticles
Why bulldoze one of the wildest places on Earth?
The Trump administration wants a road built through an Alaska wildlife refuge for medical needs – but commerce may be the real reason.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
Elizabeth Warren’s claim to Cherokee ancestry is a form of violence
Be it by the barrel of a carbine or a mail-order DNA test, the American spirit demands the disappearance of Indigenous people.
Posted inArticles
Adoption didn’t solve the ‘Indian Problem’
An author recounts how 1960s policies ripped apart families and communities, including her own.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
It’s time to start eating roadkill
Salvaging meat in Alaska is commonplace. Can it catch on in the Lower 48?
Posted inArticles
The stories that defined the West in 2018
The year in essays, analysis and investigations from across the Western U.S.
Posted inArticles
The metalheads of the Navajo Nation
See photos of the thriving music scene in backyards, abandoned houses and parking lot shows.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
What you lose when you lose local news
People are less likely to vote, and politics become more polarized.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
As the ecosystem of news changes, will journalists adapt fast enough?
Blooms can still be found in the West’s news desert.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
As the influence of newsprint erodes, Westword prevails
Despite the state of the media, Westword Editor Patty Calhoun maintains hope.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
How the Los Angeles Times went from union-busting to media role model
Resistance to deep cutbacks have brought about change to the 137-year-old paper.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
Where the news is drying up — and where it’s not
Rural areas can be hit hardest, but many small-town papers persevere.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
No news is bad news for public health
Losing local news sources and public health reporters hampers disease detection and outbreak response.