Some states offer domestic violence defenses to parents charged with failing to prevent child abuse. Should Oregon?

Parents in eight states can be acquitted if they can show “reasonable fear” of escalating violence

InvestigateWest, Invisible Institute sue Idaho for withholding police employment records

The lawsuit accuses Idaho State Police and the Idaho Department of Correction of concealing public records in response to critical reporting

Education

Mercer Island superintendent knew of teacher sexual misconduct allegations despite public statements

Curtis Johnston was allowed to voluntarily surrender his teaching license after the superintendent told a state investigator that no investigations existed, records show

Public Health

As Idaho grows, ambulance agencies warn they need more funding to keep up

State lawmakers wary of government spending have turned down bills to fund emergency medical services

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Public Health

Oregon Health & Science University president says neonatal ICU expansion is a top priority, but offers no timeline

Criminal Justice

Spokane prosecutors are suddenly declining to charge more felony domestic violence cases, citing staffing issues

Government

Oregon is doling out $37 million to preserve rural maternity care. Hospitals still worry about closures

Education

Shoreline Community College quietly updates hiring rules after sexual misconduct vetting failure

Criminal Justice

Jury finds Oregon mother deprived infant daughter of lifesaving care, protection from abuse

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Idaho passes law reforming youth treatment home oversight

The changes come in response to 2023 InvestigateWest series highlighting gaps that put child safety at risk

How InvestigateWest sparks change

A WA mother had custody of kids and protection from her abuser. Then a guardian ad litem got involved

Mother filed a lawsuit alleging that the guardian ad litem and her abuser’s attorney colluded to flip the narrative against her

Our record of excellence

Immigration

Rural Idaho sheriff’s office got at least $116,000 to help ICE

Owyhee County is among hundreds of local law enforcement agencies getting paid to join ICE’s immigration crackdown

Immigration

Surveilled and Sold: Privacy and Sanctuary in Portland

Immigration

Southeast Idaho sheriff signs up to help enforce immigration law

Immigration

‘I was trying to follow the rules:’ WA asylum seekers detained over questionable violations

More Immigration

Education

Mercer Island superintendent knew of teacher sexual misconduct allegations despite public statements

Education

Shoreline Community College quietly updates hiring rules after sexual misconduct vetting failure

Education

These reforms could improve accountability for Washington teachers accused of sexual misconduct, experts say

Education

An Everett teacher resigned over a relationship with a student. Shoreline Community College hired him months later.

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Indigenous Affairs

Bill to establish statewide oversight of jails in Washington dies in Legislature

Indigenous Affairs

Two Colville women were booked into a rural Washington jail. It became a death sentence

Indigenous Affairs

Lawsuit alleges Bureau of Indian Affairs officers “executed” unarmed Shoshone-Paiute man in Idaho

Indigenous Affairs

Most children charged as adults in Washington are youth of color

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Criminal Justice

Oregon prosecutors said she didn’t protect her baby. She says she was surviving abuse.

Even in states like Oregon without an explicit “failure to protect” law, abused mothers can face prison time

Public Health

As Idaho grows, ambulance agencies warn they need more funding to keep up

State lawmakers wary of government spending have turned down bills to fund emergency medical services

Public Health

Oregon Health & Science University president says neonatal ICU expansion is a top priority, but offers no timeline

Public Health

Oregon Health & Science University shelved plans to expand its overcrowded newborn intensive care unit. Nurses fear babies won’t get needed care

Public Health

Birth workers lay out opportunities to narrow Oregon maternal health care gaps

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State of Democracy

Washington scrambles to regulate license-plate cameras that could aid stalkers

State of Democracy

Idaho’s latest anti-drag crusade began with a falsehood, lawsuit says

Idaho Family Policy Center president Blaine Conzatti discusses his efforts to end abortion in Idaho on an episode of pastor

State of Democracy

For and by Christians: How Idaho’s influential Christian Nationalist group wants to reshape the state

Department of Homeland Security officers deploy crowd control munitions, including tear gas, at a demonstration outside the

State of Democracy

Bullies or demonstrators? How court records are describing Portland’s ICE protests

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Human Trafficking

Hannah Power was commercially sexually exploited by a man she met on Tinder when she was a minor, she said.

Human Trafficking

Seattle-area man who allegedly trawled dating sites for victims charged with sex trafficking

Jay is within a minority of sexual assault survivors whose abusers are held criminally accountable. But the plea deal that

Human Trafficking

King County woman’s chance to testify lost as prosecutors opt for plea deal, raising concerns about justice in sexual assault cases

Hannah Power, a survivor of what the police suspect to be child sex trafficking, looks out over the Puget Sound by her home

Human Trafficking

A Washington teen was trafficked by a man she met on Tinder, she says. Two years later, she’s still waiting for justice.

The number of people convicted for sex trafficking in Washington and Oregon has remained low over the last decade as

Human Trafficking

New WA legislation prioritizes human trafficking prosecutions and support for child victims

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Climate

Developers’ tree-cutting pace surges under contested Seattle tree protection ordinance

Mayor Harrell promised law would get Seattle “back on track,” but new street-tree planting data raises doubts

Climate

In wildfire-prone Washington, ‘collaboration’ on forest management gives way to timber interests

Sandy Shettler, from Tree Action Seattle, speaks to a crowd in February 2024 in front of Astra, a 100-year-old Western Red

Climate

Seattle claims to ‘protect’ hundreds of trees that were never threatened

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will being recreating a key program meant to reduce the state’s overall

Climate

Oregon begins rewriting landmark climate program derailed by gas lawsuit

More Climate

Criminal Justice

Some states offer domestic violence defenses to parents charged with failing to prevent child abuse. Should Oregon?

Criminal Justice

Spokane prosecutors are suddenly declining to charge more felony domestic violence cases, citing staffing issues

Criminal Justice

Jury finds Oregon mother deprived infant daughter of lifesaving care, protection from abuse

Criminal Justice

Oregon prosecutors said she didn’t protect her baby. She says she was surviving abuse.

More Criminal Justice

Guarded by Predators

Idaho Legislature passes bill to expand prison sex abuse law

Guarded by Predators

Idaho lawmakers order investigation of sexual assault in women’s prisons

Guarded by Predators

Idaho records exposed officer misconduct. Then the state decided to conceal them.

Guarded by Predators

Two Idaho prison guards sexually assaulted her, witnesses said. Neither was charged

More Guarded by Predators

Our Team

Danielle Dawson is a collaborative investigative reporter and Report for America corps member for InvestigateWest, covering eastern and central Oregon.

Jacob Fries is InvestigateWest’s executive director. A lifelong journalist, he’s spent his career mentoring reporters, forging media partnerships and managing deep-dive investigations that exposed injustice and changed laws.

Kaylee Tornay is InvestigateWest's reporter covering labor, youth and health care. A reporter since 2017, she has dedicated herself to rigorous, revelatory journalism that scrutinizes power and equips local communities with knowledge they can use.

Kelsey Turner is an investigative reporter at InvestigateWest. Her reporting has stretched from her home state of New Jersey to Illinois, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

Melanie Henshaw is the Indigenous affairs reporter at InvestigateWest. She covers Indigenous communities in the region, including coverage of tribal sovereignty, health care and the environment.

Moe K. Clark is a collaborative investigative reporter covering Washington state for InvestigateWest. Her position is supported by the Murrow News Fellowship, an initiative of Washington State University which aims to bolster coverage of civic issues in underserved communities around the state.

Rachel Spacek is an investigative reporter covering migrant labor for InvestigateWest through Report for America. She is based in Boise and has covered Latino affairs in Idaho for the last five years.

Thy Vo is an investigations editor with InvestigateWest. She has been a community journalist covering government, politics, courts and immigrant communities in the West for nearly a decade.

Whitney Bryen reports on injustice and vulnerable populations for InvestigateWest. A journalist since 2010, she is dedicated to raising marginalized voices and holding power to account especially at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice.

Wilson Criscione is an investigations editor with InvestigateWest. He’s spent more than a decade reporting and supervising major investigations that uncover corruption, misconduct and injustice in the Pacific Northwest.

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