Courtney Flatt

2 days ago | spokanepublicradio.org | Amy Radil |Courtney Flatt |Doug Nadvornick |Owen Henderson

Birthright citizenship case that began in WA heads to SCOTUSLater this week, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the Trump administration’s efforts to end birthright citizenship. The case is the result of legal challenges from states including Washington. Attorney General Nick Brown said he’ll attend the hearing at the high court. The Trump administration is using this case to ask the supreme court to limit the use of nationwide injunctions or judicial orders.

2 weeks ago | nwpb.org | Courtney Flatt

UPDATE 4/30/25:Second Substitute House Bill 1154 is headed to Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk. The bill was delivered to the governor on April 23. That will mean the state Department of Ecology will sign off on landfill permits. That’s in addition to local health departments. Permits will still be issued by local health departments. But, the state can take over if it deems that local health departments aren’t doing their job monitoring landfills.

4 weeks ago | opb.org | Courtney Flatt

For the second spring in a row, Kennewick has found “forever chemicals” in its drinking water that are above Washington state’s standards. The city of Kennewick is warning people who are pregnant, breastfeeding or mixing infant formula with tap water to find other sources of drinking water — preferably, filtered bottled water. The amount of “forever chemicals,” or PFAs, the city has found is above state standards — by about two drops in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

1 month ago | knkx.org | Courtney Flatt

This time of year, biologists and technicians are doing some spring cleaning of their own at the site of the decommissioned Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon. They’re helping burrowing owls get their underground homes ready for the season. The site is home to deer, songbirds and North America’s largest population of burrowing owls, said Jon Bloom, an environmental specialist with the Oregon National Guard and the Oregon Military Department.

1 month ago | opb.org | Courtney Flatt

An adult female burrowing owl receives a numbered leg band in a long-term research effort to better understand regional owl populations. Most of the owls nesting on the depot overwinter in California. Courtesy of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ReservationThis time of year, biologists and technicians are doing some spring cleaning of their own at the site of the decommissioned Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon.