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
-
Some freeways may be useable following 'the Big One' per new modeling by UW
New modeling by the University of Washington of the impacts of a major Cascadia earthquake offers a less dire picture of the aftermath of the so-called "Big One" — specifically when it comes to highway bridges.
-
Suicide prevention awareness sticker now on sale for WA license plates
-
Government
Washington state is not short on money as it debates its next two-year budget
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and state lawmakers will have billions more in tax dollars than last time around when they sit down to write a budget for the next two years.
-
Business
Job market 'exceptionally tight' as NW tech workers face layoffs, hiring freezes
Some of the biggest names in the tech industry are either laying off employers, or implementing hiring freezes for hundreds of workers in the Northwest.
-
Reducing collisions between ships and whales? There are apps for that — but they need work
Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often in the Pacific Northwest that ships collide with whales. But when it does, it's upsetting, tragic and the whale probably dies. Three separate teams have developed smartphone-based systems that can alert commercial mariners to watch out or slow down when there are whales nearby. A recent ride-along on a big container ship demonstrated that real-time whale alerts are still a work in progress.
-
Big ships transiting North Puget Sound asked to slow down, quiet down for orcas
Big ships entering and leaving Puget Sound will be asked to temporarily slow down to reduce underwater noise this fall. Washington state is importing this strategy from British Columbia on a trial basis in hopes of helping the Pacific Northwest's critically endangered killer whales.
-
No labels: Some election overseers want to make their offices nonpartisan to inspire greater trust
Should the top elections official in Washington state officially be a nonpartisan? That's one difference between the top two finalists running for Washington Secretary of State. Nonpartisan challenger Julie Anderson wants to make the job independent from political party affiliations. Her opponent, Democratic incumbent Steve Hobbs says it's an unnecessary change. County auditors and sheriffs associations are also chewing over party labels and what those labels convey about the leanings of their offices.
-
Politics
Independent candidates test how fed up Northwest voters are with both parties
A quartet of independent candidates on the ballot this November in Oregon and Washington state will test voter appetites for a centrist "third way." They are experienced contenders running for state senate, Oregon governor or Washington Secretary of State. Unaffiliated candidates are popping up around the nation too, with a common theme of being fed up with a divisive two-party system.
-
The last of the Salish Sea reefnetters don't want to be the last
Only 12 commercial fishing captains hold permits to go reefnet fishing in the Pacific Northwest out of a fleet that once numbered in the hundreds. The distinctive technique of reefnet fishing dates back thousands of years as a traditional Indigenous method to catch salmon. Its practitioners today say the gear should be the preferred way to harvest healthy salmon runs while avoiding fragile stocks.
-
All-new, all-electric commuter aircraft takes off on maiden flight from Moses Lake
An aircraft maker from Western Washington on Tuesday provided a glimpse at one possible future for sustainable air travel — electric commuter planes. Eviation celebrated the maiden flight of an all-new, short hop airliner named Alice in Moses Lake.