Secular News

Colleen Melody said she’s done interviews for two jobs in the past 12 years. Bob Ferguson conducted both. About a decade ago, Ferguson, then Washington’s attorney general, chose her to lead his office’s new civil rights unit devoted to investigating and enforcing anti-discrimination laws. On Monday, Ferguson, now governor, named Melody as Washington’s newest state […]

Washington state is fining health insurance giant Regence Blue Shield over half a million dollars for disparities between its mental health and medical coverage. For years, Regence failed to provide the state with detailed documentation showing its behavioral health offerings are comparable to medical or surgical coverage, in violation of state and federal law. The […]

TOPEKA — The U.S. Senate passed a bill introduced by Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran to establish a 10-year program to identify Jewish-American servicemembers interred in cemeteries overseas with markers that didn’t properly indicate the individual’s religious heritage. The measure sent to the U.S. House would allocate $500,000 annually to the American Battle Monuments Commission […]

A 30-year-old political newcomer, who acknowledges that he’s skipped voting in past Republican primaries, entered the GOP primary for governor Monday by comparing the President Donald Trump-endorsed candidate Byron Donalds, who is Black, to a “slave.” James Fishback met with reporters shortly after filing his paperwork and tore into Donalds, a U.S. representative from Naples, as […]

Accompanied by a blazing turkey and — by his own estimation — fireable dad jokes, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia hosted a fried turkey safety demonstration Monday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Ingoglia, who also serves as state fire marshal, was joined by the Tallahassee Fire Department to caution Floridians against the danger of […]

Manny Diaz Jr. is the sole finalist to become the next University of West Florida president, the Pensacola school announced over the weekend. The move furthers Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mission to remake the school, located in a heavily conservative part of the state, in a more conservative light. Diaz has been interim president at the […]

TOPEKA — The head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the agency would roll out a relief plan for the country’s agriculture sector in December, offering potential good news in a year of uncertainty for Kansans. Secretary Brooke Rollins did not give details about the plan but indicated the USDA has been analyzing and […]

There was no clear commitment to phase out fossil fuels

Business owners describe breaking into tears as they were forced to lay off staff, while workers feared for their jobs

Business owners describe breaking into tears as they were forced to lay off staff, while workers feared for their jobs

If you have ever wanted to own an iconic Washington state ferry, now may be your last chance to buy one until the 2030s. There are two sizes available with no minimum bid — the decommissioned 144-car Hyak and the 87-car Klahowya. But before you get carried away with dreams of a palatial waterfront fixer-upper, […]

We're still behind on our global warming targets after the big summit in Brazil.