Washington state government
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2020, file photo, housing activists erect a sign in Swampscott, Mass. A federal freeze on most evictions is set to expire soon. The moratorium, put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their homes. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
EXPLAINER: WA tenants get modified eviction reprieve

By Rachel La Corte Jun. 25, 2021 03:09 PM EDT

Washington governor extends eviction moratorium to Sept. 30

By Rachel La Corte Jun. 24, 2021 01:44 PM EDT
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday he was extending the state's eviction moratorium to Sept. 30, with some modifications, to...

Washington state Capitol reopening to public July 1

Jun. 17, 2021 07:13 PM EDT
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state Capitol building will reopen to the public on July 1 after being closed since March 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2020, file photo, Staff Sgt. Travis Snyder, left, receives the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine given at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, south of Seattle. Nurse Jose Picart, right, administered the shot. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday, June 17, 2021, announced a new COVID-19 vaccine incentive lottery for the state's military, family members and veterans because the federal government wasn't sharing individual vaccine status of those groups with the state and there were concerns they would be left out of a previously announced lottery. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
New vaccine lottery announced for military in Washington

By Rachel La Corte Jun. 17, 2021 01:37 PM EDT

In this photo taken Sept. 10, 2019, a detainee works in a kitchen area at the GEO Group’s immigration jail in Tacoma, Wash., during a media tour. After nearly four years of litigation and pandemic-related delays, a federal jury on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, began deliberating whether the GEO Group must pay minimum wage to detainees who perform cooking, cleaning and other tasks at the facility – instead of the $1 per day they typically receive. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Jury deciding if immigration detainees must get minimum wage

By Gene Johnson Jun. 15, 2021 07:34 PM EDT

King County: COVID mask mandate to end June 29

Jun. 15, 2021 06:17 PM EDT
SEATTLE (AP) — Health officials said Tuesday that 70% of eligible people in Washington state's most populous county have received either the one-dose Johnson...

Washington State Fair to return in-person in September

Jun. 10, 2021 07:57 PM EDT
PUYALLUP, Wash. (AP) — The Washington State Fair is returning to Puyallup in September after it was canceled last year amid the coronavirus pandemic. ...

Washington state: People on unemployment must look for work

Jun. 10, 2021 03:55 PM EDT
SEATTLE (AP) — State officials say people in Washington collecting unemployment benefits will again be required to actively search for work to keep those...

Cemetery and funeral workers place the coffin of a man who died of COVID-19 into a niche at the Nuestra Señora de Belen cemetery in Fusagasuga, Colombia, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
The Latest: Pot-for-shots plan stumbles in Washington state

By The Associated Press Jun. 09, 2021 01:58 AM EDT

Marcus Glasper, director of the Washington State Lottery, poses for a photo, Thursday, June 3, 2021, in Olympia, Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that Washington is the latest state to offer prizes to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Incentives will include a series of giveaways during the month of June including lottery prizes totaling $2 million, college tuition assistance, airline tickets and game systems. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Washington vaccination lottery: cash prize, tuition, flights

By Rachel La Corte Jun. 03, 2021 05:36 PM EDT

Amber Coole, left, a medical assistant with Peninsula Community Health Services, gives a person the first shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, Tuesday, May 25, 2021, in the galley area of a Washington state ferry sailing from Bremerton, Wash. to Seattle. Tuesday was the first day of several dates that the vaccine would be offered to people on ferry sailings between the two cities. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
COVID vaccinations offered aboard Washington ferries

May. 25, 2021 06:00 PM EDT

Some ag groups upset with Inslee over farm worker rules

By Nicholas K. Geranios May. 25, 2021 03:39 PM EDT
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Some top agriculture groups are upset with Washington Gov. Inslee because farm workers were not covered in last week's announcement that...

FILE - In this May 2, 2021, file photo, Stephanie Birman, right, a Seattle Sounders season ticket holder, wears a Sounders mask, jersey and earrings as she gets the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in a concourse at Lumen Field prior to an MLS soccer match between the Sounders and the Los Angeles Galaxy. On Thursday, May 20, 2021, authorities in King County, Wash., which includes Seattle, said all people should continue wearing masks indoors until 70% of people in the county 16 and older are fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Washington state's largest county says keep the masks on

By Lisa Baumann May. 20, 2021 06:05 PM EDT

Labor and Industries creates new farmworker safety team

May. 20, 2021 08:11 AM EDT
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state Department of Labor and Industries is creating a new team aimed at improving farmworker safety. ...

Governor signs $59 billion, two-year budget for Washington

By Nicholas K. Geranios May. 18, 2021 07:01 PM EDT
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed a $59 billion, two-year state operating budget that he said would help provide relief and...

All Washington counties move to Phase 3 reopening

May. 18, 2021 06:47 PM EDT
SEATTLE (AP) — Four counties that had been in a more restrictive second phase of Washington state’s current COVID-19 reopening plan have joined the 35 other...

Washington governor: State on track to fully reopen June 30

By Rachel La Corte And Lisa Baumann May. 13, 2021 05:44 PM EDT
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington is on track to fully reopen its economy by June 30, and a full reopening could happen even sooner if 70% or more of residents...

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2021, file photo, hand sanitizer, wipes, and surgical masks rest on a desk in a fourth-grade classroom at Elk Ridge Elementary School in Buckley, Wash. Washington State authorities said Thursday, May 13, 2021, all schools in the state must provide full-time, in-person education for students for the 2021-22 school year and that students and staff will still be required to wear masks as a COVID-19 mitigation effort. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Washington schools to open full time in fall, masks required

May. 13, 2021 02:45 PM EDT

Washington governor signs agriculture worker overtime bill

By Nicholas K. Geranios May. 11, 2021 04:27 PM EDT
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Agricultural workers in Washington state would become eligible for overtime pay under a bill signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee...

Washington not yet weighing school COVID vaccine mandate

May. 11, 2021 03:52 PM EDT
SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities say schools in Washington state won’t consider a requirement to mandate COVID-19 vaccines in schoolchildren until a vaccine is fully...