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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Coastal beach communities bracing for Fourth of July revelers... and their trash
A favorable weather forecast and the Fourth of July falling on a weekend has beach communities in the Pacific Northwest bracing for an onslaught despite...
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Want a really big houseboat? Former Washington state ferry may head to auction again
A former state ferry now moored on the Olympia waterfront may be headed for auction for the third time in about three years, this time to remedy months of unpaid port bills.
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Washington state leaders hesitant about final phase of county-by-county reopening
Washington state leaders are expressing hesitancy about opening the door to the final phase of the governor's four-phase reopening plan. By the end of...
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Study estimates high costs, low ridership if Washington state boosted east-west train service
A consultant's study of what it would take to boost east-west passenger rail service across Washington state effectively threw cold water on the envisioned trains. The report to the state legislature predicted high costs and relatively low ridership.
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Study estimates high costs, low ridership if Washington state boosted east-west train service
A consultant's study of what it would take to boost east-west passenger rail service across Washington state effectively threw cold water on the...
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Does cuteness count? A cost-benefit analysis of the sea otter return to Oregon
A study of sea otter restoration in British Columbia is giving encouragement to a group that wants to bring sea otters back to the Oregon Coast. A...
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Washington State Ferries to stay on reduced schedule as summer begins
Summer officially begins on Saturday, but it still feels like winter if you study the sailing schedule of Washington State Ferries. With ridership...
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Education
Now showing at the drive-in: Class of 2020 high school graduation
An iconic, but disappearing American institution -- the drive-in movie theater -- came to the rescue of the senior classes in several Pacific Northwest communities this month. As luck would have it, a drive-in cinema is well suited for a socially-distanced graduation ceremony.
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Impaired driving arrests declined during pandemic, though you're not drinking less
Impaired driving citations dropped sharply across Oregon and Washington this spring during the coronavirus pandemic. There are multiple possible...
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Frustrated by delayed jobless benefits, laid off workers turn to state Supreme Court
Frustration with long delays in getting jobless benefits is boiling over into a lawsuit against the Washington State Employment Security Department....