Secular News

Eight Democratic state lawmakers in Washington retained their seats in this week’s election, with a ninth on the cusp of winning. State Rep. Edwin Obras inched closer to success Friday in the tightest House contest. Sen. Deb Krishnadasan declared victory a day earlier in the year’s most expensive duel among a stack of special elections […]

A month since GPs in England started offering online appointment bookings, patients recount their experiences.

A month since GPs in England started offering online appointment bookings, patients recount their experiences.

Two former Washington state lawmakers will return to public office after winning elections this week. Democrat Mark Mullet and Republican J.T. Wilcox each exited the Legislature at the end of their term in January. Both found success Tuesday in bids for nonpartisan posts. Mullet spent Wednesday morning picking up campaign signs in Issaquah, where voters […]

The Trump administration has proposed significantly shifting management of the nation’s public lands toward producing more revenue.  President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have issued orders aimed at expediting energy production on federal lands. Burgum has repeatedly referred to federal lands as America’s “balance sheet,” pushing for increased oil and gas extraction, logging […]

New treatments promise to make buildings fire-resistant without using older, toxic chemicals.

With the state strapped for cash, Democrats’ chief budget writer in the Washington Senate has told colleagues there’s no money available for new spending they might desire next year. Don’t even bother asking, Sen. June Robinson, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, warned fellow lawmakers in an email Tuesday. “I will not be […]

ChatGPT wrote a woman a suicide note and another AI chatbot role-played sexual acts with children, BBC finds.

ChatGPT wrote a woman a suicide note and another AI chatbot role-played sexual acts with children, BBC finds.

A close contest between two Democrats for a Washington state House seat tightened further Wednesday. Kevin Schilling’s lead on state Rep. Edwin Obras shrank to 199 votes in their 33rd Legislative District duel in south King County. The district includes Burien, Normandy Park, Des Moines, SeaTac and much of Kent. Schilling, the mayor of Burien, […]

Washington state’s new requirement for farms to post public notice of routine seasonal layoffs is more than an added nuisance for farmers. It’s yet another threat to the survival of already-struggling farms. This ill-conceived law, often called Washington’s “Mini-WARN” Act in a nod to the 1988 federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, began […]

A BBC investigation finds that a host of areas in England are closing waiting lists and others are rationing care.