Bill to establish statewide oversight of jails in Washington dies in Legislature
Washington is one of 12 states without enforceable state standards or oversight — that won’t change in 2026
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But the results on the ground, in rural community and economic development, have been deeply uneven, and nonexistent for many people who still gaze out to the blinking lights of the factory ships and wonder what happened.
In a series of three pieces for InvestigateWest, Portland-based reporter Lee van der Voo Lee van der Voo visits Alaksa's fishing industry a generation after it was rationalized. She uncovers absentee landlords, brokers and bankers, and fish quota that costs more than your house — realities that fly in the face of more official, rosy portrayals.
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