NEWS

(CONWAY)- Spill responders have completed the emergency response to the December 10, 2023 gasoline spill from the Olympic Pipeline in Conway, Washington. The Unified Command leading the operation has ensured that no additional gasoline is seeping into nearby Hill Ditch, and is confident in turning the site over to the Washington Department of Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program who will oversee any remaining remediation work, according to a news release from the county. The Unified Command includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington Department of Ecology, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Lummi Nation, Skagit County Department of Emergency Management, and     (read more)

(OLYMPIA)– Amtrak Cascades passenger rail service celebrates its 30-year anniversary on April 1, 2024. On this date in 1994, the Washington State Department of Transportation and Amtrak launched a single daily roundtrip between Seattle and Portland. This train supplemented the nationally funded long distance and regional service that had operated in the Pacific Northwest since Amtrak was formed in 1971. Today the state-funded Amtrak Cascades system serves 18 cities in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, according to a news release from the WSDOT. Since its inception in April 1994, Amtrak Cascades has carried more than 18 million passengers. Its most popular stops along the 461-mile route include     (read more)

(NORTH CASCADES)- Week one of the 2024 North Cascades spring clearing work has been completed, according to a news release from the Washington State Department of Transportation. The eastside clearing crew started work on Monday, March 25 at Silver Star gate (milepost 171) and reported about 31 inches of compact snow on the road, the bottom 15 inches or so being hard pack on the road surface. The blower and D8 dozer are able to move the big stuff, with one of the crew following in a grader to break up the solid stuff. The crew reached milepost 165, about halfway through the Cutthroat avalanche     (read more)

(OLYMPIA)— Washington Presidential Primary election results certified Friday by Secretary of State Steve Hobbs show the second-most votes counted of any Presidential Primary in Washington history. More than 1.7 million Washingtonians participated in the Presidential Primary, a 35.3% turnout of the state’s 4.8 million registered voters, according to a news release from the Office of the Secretary of State. In 2020, nearly 2.3 million voters — a record 49.6% turnout — participated in that year’s Presidential Primary. Washington’s previous highest number of Presidential Primary voters was 1.3 million in 2000. “We had a sizable turnout for this election considering that both parties’ nomination processes were down to     (read more)

(SKAGIT COUNTY)- The Skagit County Commissioners will host a televised work session and Q&A regarding the March 21st agricultural venue administrative official interpretation (AOI) on Monday, April 1st, at 4:00pm. The AOI establishes procedures by which existing commercial event venue businesses in substantial and continuous operation may document existing use rights and obtain compliance with other relevant law through entry into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA), according to a news release from the county. The VCA is a standard contract used by Skagit County Code Enforcement to ease enforcement of agreed-upon compliance terms and conditions. The VCA additionally     (read more)