Tom Banse
Regional Correspondent
About
Tom Banse covers national news, business, science, public policy, Olympic sports, and human interest stories across Washington state. Now semi-retired, Banse is an Olympia-based reporter with more than three decades of experience covering the Pacific Northwest. Most of his career was spent with public radio's Northwest News Network, but now in semi-retirement his work appears on multiple nonprofit news outlets including KUOW. His recent areas of focus range from transportation, U.S.-Canada borderlands, the Northwest region's planned hydrogen hub, and emergency preparedness.
Previously, Tom covered state government and the Washington Legislature for 12 years. He got his start in radio at WCAL-FM, a public station in southern Minnesota. Reared in Seattle, Tom graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota with a degree in American Studies.
Location: Olympia
Languages: English, German
Stories
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Environment
Washington’s border waters are on the cusp of a major rise in oil tanker traffic
‘Money Talks is one of the takeaways you could have from this. In the case of Canada now, when push comes to shove, a major province in the country depends on this industry as critical to their future growth.’ -Tom Banse
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Government
Puget Sound counties want modernized ferry fleets. Voters decide their fate this fall
Soundside host Libby Denkmann sits down with correspondent Tom Banse to talk about the finances behind replacing Washington's "other" ferries.
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Arts & Life
What'd you do on summer vacation? Oh, just scaled Washington's 100 highest peaks
One of the premier peak bagging objectives in the Pacific Northwest is to scale the 100 highest mountains in Washington state. That challenge is called the Bulger List. Two years ago, an Oregon man became the first to conquer all 100 peaks in a single season. Just in the past few days, a duo from Ellensburg, Washington, repeated the feat — not quite as fast, but with an extra-hard twist.
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Technology
Would you leave grandma with a companion robot? Care bots and robot pets find favor in Pacific NW
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KUOW salutes reporter Tom Banse
It's a bittersweet day for us here at KUOW as we say goodbye to a legend. For the last 37 years, one reporter has brought listeners to what’s felt like every corner of the state – as he’s broken news, covered politics, the environment, and told countless stories about the fascinating people around us. But after 37 years of diligent reporting, Tom is retiring.
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Private flying for regular people? A WA startup wants to widen the net
For a few years now, aviation enthusiasts have teased the idea of a Jetsons-style future in which small electric aircraft whisk us to work or across the state and region. That future is not here yet, though a handful of companies, including one based in the Pacific Northwest, are trying to get a head start on the future of flying using conventional planes.
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Retired Alaska Airlines turboprop to get new life as 'world's largest' hydrogen-powered plane
Alaska Airlines ceremonially handed over a surplus turboprop airliner on Monday to a company that aims to turn it into the largest hydrogen-powered plane yet to fly.
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Shellfish growers in Northwest's oyster capital want 'blitz' against invasive green crabs
Shellfish growers in Willapa Bay in southwest Washington, the self-styled "Oyster Capital of the World," are alarmed by an invasion of potentially destructive non-native European green crabs. Some are asking for an all-out trapping offensive to corral the invasive species.
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'Build in Washington' rule may be cast overboard to obtain new ferries affordably and quickly
Every new car ferry added to the Washington State Ferries fleet over the past fifty years was built at a Puget Sound shipyard. Now, state lawmakers are considering a break from past policy in order to obtain new vessels faster and cheaper for the troubled state ferry system.
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Business
Stockpile of Boeing 737 MAX jets assures Moses Lake years of work
When the MAX was grounded in 2019 after two deadly accidents, Boeing kept on manufacturing the airplane. Today, 100 or more undelivered MAX’s are still parked at an airfield in Moses Lake, Washington, awaiting modifications. The work is lasting so long that some technicians and machinists who were sent there from Boeing’s Puget Sound facilities are now buying homes and putting down roots.