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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In timely but unexpected vote, U.S. Senate goes for permanent daylight saving time
The U.S. Senate Tuesday voted to adopt year-round daylight saving time. The measure now goes to the House for further consideration. This timely, but unexpected development raises the prospects for ending the twice-yearly changing of our clocks.
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New bridges and ferries, wider highways, and free fares in freshly passed WA transportation package
Majority Democrats in the Washington Legislature drove the largest transportation spending roadmap in state history across the finish line on Thursday on nearly party line votes. The revenue and spending package funds new spans over the Columbia River, wider highways, four new ferries, bus rapid transit expansions, free fares for youth, fish-friendly culverts and new bike trails and pedestrian bridges.
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Washington Legislature gets religion on earthquake retrofits for older school buildings
An effort to jump-start the pace of earthquake retrofits to vulnerable, older school buildings in Washington state has passed the legislature unanimously. The Evergreen State has lagged behind other West Coast states and provinces in reinforcing schools to withstand strong shaking.
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Washington House jettisons exported fuel tax proposal that angered neighboring states
A proposed tax on gasoline and diesel delivered to out-of-state customers from Washington refineries has gone by the wayside. The Washington House of Representatives voted Tuesday night to jettison and replace the "exported fuel tax" after strong blowback from neighboring states.
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Government
Democrats in Olympia undeterred by anger from Oregon, Idaho and Alaska over targeted fuel tax
Majority Democrats in the Washington Legislature on Tuesday narrowly beat back a third attempt to squelch a new tax they proposed on gasoline and diesel exported to neighboring states from Washington refineries.
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How our Winter Olympians fared: No medals, but personal triumphs for athletes with Northwest ties
None of the thirteen Winter Olympians with ties to the Pacific Northwest is coming home from the Beijing Games with a medal. Still, many of the Northwest's elite skiers, skaters and sliders will leave Sunday's closing ceremony with feelings of accomplishment, or relief just to have made it through the ever-present COVID-19 testing gauntlet, not to mention the geopolitical tensions of competing on Chinese soil in 2022.
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Washington state legislators propose tax on Oregon drivers' fuel
Democrats in charge of the Washington Legislature are proposing a new tax on gasoline and diesel fuel destined for Oregon, Idaho and Alaska to partially pay for a cornucopia of highway, transit, rail, bike trail and ferry construction across Washington state. The "exported fuel tax" was included in a transportation spending and revenue package unveiled Tuesday in Olympia.
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Green aluminum? Complex deal seeks to restart the last aluminum smelter in the NW and cut pollution
A complex deal is taking shape to revive the Pacific Northwest's last remaining aluminum smelter. Alcoa idled its Intalco Works smelter near Ferndale, Washington, a year-and-a-half ago and laid off virtually all the workers there. The plan to bring this industry back involves a new owner, cash from taxpayers and an uncertain new contract for cut-rate wholesale power.
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Earthquake safety for Washington schools heading to the ballot
The January 15 volcanic eruption near Tonga was a stark reminder of the threats posed by tsunamis. That's long been a concern in the Pacific Northwest, where thousands of students go to school within reach of a large tsunami. Oregon and Washington have been plugging away at retrofitting schools to withstand earthquakes. But the burden of relocating low-lying schools falls largely on local taxpayers. A vote-by-mail school bond election now underway in a coastal section of Grays Harbor County, Washington, will test voter appetite to pay higher taxes to build tsunami-safe schools.
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These athletes from the Northwest are going to the 2022 Winter Olympics
The presence of eleven skiers, skaters and sliders with ties to the Northwest should add intrigue to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, although the upcoming sports spectacle beset with extreme COVID precautions, a diplomatic boycott and scarce snowfall hardly needs more drama. Several late additions to the Team USA Olympic roster upped the regional representation at next month’s Winter Games to similar levels as in past editions.