Tagged: Politics

For some of us public land in the west is a place to camp and recreate. For all of us, these lands are a source of water and the air we breath. That’s especially true in Idaho - where more than half of the land is federally owned and managed.

President Obama’s pick for energy secretary can expect a lot of questions about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation at a confirmation hearing Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden chairs the committee considering physicist Ernest Moniz to head the sprawling federal agency.

Congress is back in session this week. The House will discuss two proposals that would increase logging in federal forests to raise money for struggling timber counties. Amelia Templeton of EarthFix reports.

  SALEM, Ore. – Marijuana advocates are taking their message to the Oregon capitol. A legislative panel will consider a measure Tuesday that would legalize and tax the drug. It comes as Washington state is in the process of crafting rules about how to regulate pot after voters there approved legalization.

Still, Anthony Johnson knows he's asking a lot.

"I understand that this is a heavy lift for the legislature to pass this bill this year," he says.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee wants to close or curtail a dozen tax breaks and continue a couple of tax increases that are about to expire. The money raised – more than a billion dollars – would be earmarked for public schools. The plan unveiled Thursday is part of the Democrat’s budget priorities for the next two years. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

SALEM, Ore. – Gun legislation is gaining momentum at the Oregon capitol. A Senate panel has scheduled a marathon hearing on a slate of measures that would require more background checks and limit where people could carry guns. The hearing is set for next Friday, April 5.