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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Lights, camera, action! 'Hollywood North' revved up despite Covid — and because of it
Filming of TV shows and movies is going gangbusters in the Vancouver area this fall, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
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Time to ‘fall back’ despite lawmakers’ vote to lock the clock
Daylight saving time goes away this Sunday, November 1. You'll get an extra hour of sleep from the time-change ritual. But wait, wasn't this hassle of...
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Safest place may be at sea, say Portlanders who cast off on global trip
There is probably no better place to social distance than on a small boat in the ocean. But you do have to go into port occasionally, provided it's not closed. The risks and unknowns created by the ongoing pandemic have put off some people's plans to sail around the world right now. But not for one Portland couple.
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Chehalis Tribe opens distillery after overturning centuries-old prohibition
A new distillery will soon begin making whiskey, vodka and gin on Chehalis tribal land in southwest Washington state. It's the first legal, Native-owned distillery to open on tribal land in the nation. The Chehalis Tribe's effort to diversify its economy by joining the craft spirits boom had to first overcome a nearly two century old prohibition on liquor production in Indian Country.
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Dead whale left to rot on private beach now on its way to becoming amazing yard art
Last year, a couple who lives near Port Townsend, Washington, agreed to let the federal government drop off a dead gray whale to decompose on their semi-isolated beach. Now, the couple has a permit to keep the whale skeleton and will soon assemble the most amazing yard art.
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New momentum to retire Native-themed mascots at Washington state schools
The first Native American woman elected to the Washington State House of Representatives says she is drafting legislation to retire Native-themed...
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Tablet and phone cameras monitor mask-wearing and distancing in cafes and lobbies
A tech startup in the Seattle area is offering new software that it says can help businesses track whether they are COVID-safe, including monitoring for...
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Bonsai tree exhibit offers novel take on 75th anniversary of end of World War II
One of the more unusual ways the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II is being marked this summer is with an exhibit of stunted trees. They’re bonsai trees on display at the Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way, Washington.
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Ferry service boosted to U.S. exclave of Point Roberts, which is cut off by Canada
The Port of Bellingham is increasing temporary ferry service to the isolated enclave of Point Roberts, Washington. That community was largely cut off...
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Two 100-year-old World War II vets, separated by an ocean, lap expectations
A World War II army veteran in Great Britain achieved world renown earlier this year with a charity walk to raise money for British health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. The achievement went viral -- in a good way -- and inspired another pandemic feat by a 100-year-old U.S. Army veteran across the ocean in Portland, Oregon.