Tom Banse
Regional Correspondent
Stories
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Robotic balloons to explore Venus? An Oregon company is working on it
The space agency NASA has chosen a small Tillamook-based aerospace company to design and test robotic balloons for future scientific exploration of...
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Yes, there are mermaids in the Pacific Northwest. They get their own museum now, too
The Pacific Northwest might seem like an unlikely place for mermaids and mermaid culture to catch on given the cold water here. Yet, putting on an eye-catching tail and pretending to be a mythical sea being is a thing across the Northwest. There's even a brand new mermaid museum near Aberdeen, Washington.
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KUOW Newsroom
Interest in hydrogen fuel growing in the Pacific Northwest — and tax dollars following
More folks from Pacific Northwest government and industry are jumping on the hydrogen bandwagon to test if the alternative fuel could be a viable and green replacement for diesel and gasoline in some situations. The potential converts include more than half a dozen transit agencies from Everett to Eugene, state legislators and Boeing's drone subsidiary in the Columbia River Gorge.
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KUOW Newsroom
Small ship cruising getting ready to resume in Pacific Northwest and Alaska
Small ship cruise lines are pressing ahead with plans to restart overnight cruises on the Columbia and Snake rivers, around Puget Sound and in Alaska. They aim to cast off in April and May while the big cruise ships remain laid up by a red light from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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'Blue tides' of sailor jellies on Northwest coast correlate with warmer seas in winter
New research out of the University of Washington finds a correlation between warmer ocean waters and mass strandings of By-the-wind sailor jellyfish over the past two decades. The brief, widespread beachings of "gazillions" of purplish-blue jellies along the Pacific Northwest coast create a memorable sight for those who chance to be in the right place at the right time.
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KUOW Newsroom
March Madness remains off limits for legal sports betting in Northwest, but maybe not much longer
With March Madness getting into full swing this weekend, it's a safe bet that some area fans want to wager on their favored teams in the NCAA basketball...
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Couples, families separated by U.S.-Canada border closure find oasis at Peace Arch park
This coming Sunday, March 21, will mark one year since the U.S. and Canada closed their shared border to nonessential crossings due to the pandemic. It's anybody's guess when the border might reopen for discretionary trips. In the meantime, every weekend rain or shine, Peace Arch State Park in Blaine, Washington, becomes a happening meetup point for couples and families separated by the northern border.
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We still spring forward this weekend despite votes to ditch daylight saving time
Residents of the Pacific Northwest will have to set their clocks ahead by an hour this weekend to move onto daylight saving time. The Oregon and Washington legislatures voted nearly two years ago to stay on daylight time year-round -- joined later by Idaho and British Columbia -- but still the biannual time change ritual and associated grumbling persists.
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Hydrogen production plant groundbreaking signals renewed interest in alt fuel
A public utility in North Central Washington broke ground Monday for a hydrogen production facility. It's one of several related actions in the Pacific Northwest that reflect renewed interest in hydrogen as a clean alternative fuel.
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Prisoners eligible for stimulus checks, but getting payout behind bars is complicated
Like many Americans, people behind bars are waiting to see if they will be getting checks from the federal government as part of the new stimulus bill -- provided it passes Congress this month as expected. The majority of incarcerated people in Washington and Oregon were likely eligible for the first two rounds of relief money.