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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Politics
Would you want to be composted after you die? Washington lawmakers consider making it legal
A bipartisan effort to make Washington the first state to legalize human composting faced its first test in front of lawmakers on Tuesday — and the idea seemed to go over relatively well.
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Oregon State Parks workers to clean overflowing garbage on federal lands during ongoing shutdown
Some Oregon State Parks workers are now tending to federal recreation lands as the partial U.S. government shutdown continues with no end in sight.
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Affected by last month's 911 outage? Washington's attorney general wants you to email him
Washington state's attorney general wants to know if emergency response was delayed to anyone during a nearly statewide 911 outage late last month. The...
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Washington State Ferries reveals plan for younger, greener fleet
Washington State Ferries has come up with a plan to replace more than half of its fleet with new, electric-powered ferries. But the new plan faces...
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Last open Mount Rainier gate closes as government shutdown drags on
"There will be no public services including food, restrooms, or snow plowing sufficient for safe public travel anywhere in the park beginning late Sunday," said Tracy Swartout, deputy superintendent at Mount Rainier National Park.
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Local impacts from a partial government shutdown shouldn't be too bad — for now
If Congress and the Trump administration cannot broker a deal to fund the government, which looks increasingly possible late Friday, there's a solace...
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Changing climate, water flows impact bald eagles' feasts on the Skagit River
From mid-December to February, hundreds upon hundreds of bald eagles flock to the Skagit River in northwest Washington to feast on spawning salmon. It's...
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Another Amtrak Cascades train derailed almost exactly one year after DuPont wreck; no injuries
An Amtrak Cascades train arriving in Vancouver, B.C., from Seattle derailed at low speed Monday. Nobody was hurt, but the timing was unfortunate: The...
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Last year's Amtrak derailment set back regional train service expansion by years
Last December's Amtrak derailment near DuPont, Washington, did more than cost three people their lives and injure dozens more. It's now becoming...
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Survivors still healing, seeking accountability one year after Amtrak Cascades derailment
It's been almost one year since an Amtrak Cascades train derailed near DuPont, Washington. The crash killed three passengers and injured more than 60,...