‘Make it make sense’: Advocates stunned as WA lawmaker helps slash funds for groups clearing old drug convictions
After being fired from the legal aid group she once led, Rep. Tarra Simmons supported state cuts that crippled similar organizations
Indigenous Affairs
Native Americans face double the average medical debt, report finds — often for bills that aren’t their responsibility
Federal analysis reinforces InvestigateWest reporting on problems facing members of Colville tribe
‘A different standard’: Native Americans still searched at far higher rates by Washington State Patrol, new data shows
Though disparities for other races improved, InvestigateWest analysis reveals Native Americans five times more likely to be searched despite ongoing scrutiny
Three years, no investigations: A slow start for Washington office tasked with probing police violence
Most cases under review involve the deaths of Native Americans
Colville tribal citizens left on the hook when Indian Health Service doesn’t pay medical bills
Some IHS patients face a choice: Pay a bill that isn’t their responsibility or take a hit to their credit rating
Report lays bare stark disparities in health care outcomes for Native Americans in Washington
Health system performance scorecard shows shorter life spans, higher rates of death before 75 from preventable and treatable causes
Four-year-old Oregon report identifies missing Native American women as an ‘emergency’ — but progress has been limited
Main recommendations remain unfinished, governor has not read the report, and critics say Indigenous voices have been left out
The Federal Government Just Acknowledged the Harm Its Dams Have Caused Tribes. Here’s What It Left Out.
The Biden administration said officials historically gave “little, if any, consideration” to impacts on tribal fishing. But some sought deliberately to upend the harvest, according to documents obtained by ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcast
Washington AG’s office joins forces with local police to intensify search for missing Indigenous teen
Teen’s disappearance — highlighted in recent InvestigateWest report — among the first cases taken by new state investigative unit
WA state wants school districts to keep better track of truant students
Districts say they’re changing practices in effort to keep kids from falling through the cracks
An Indigenous teen in Washington disappeared amid clear signs of danger. It took more than a year before police started investigating
School, police and state CPS officials all received warnings that teen was unsafe
Indigenous people in WA incarcerated at higher rates than any other group, data show
The disparity between Indigenous and white incarceration in Washington has roughly doubled over the past decade.
Tribes call for feds to ban chemical in car tires that is linked to salmon deaths
So far, a more environmentally-friendly alternative to keep tire rubber from degrading hasn’t emerged.