Indigenous Affairs Native nations lead salmon restoration efforts in Columbia Basin The number of returning adult salmon and steelhead has doubled since the 1990s, but is still only halfway to the NWPCC’s goal of 5 million. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore + ICT / February 10, 2025
Indigenous Affairs Cowlitz Tribe youth help lead this year’s First Salmon Ceremony “It’s what we do to thank the salmon for what they give,” said Lydia Hodges, 15, part of the new generation carrying on the sacred ritual. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore + ICT / June 24, 2024
Indigenous Affairs Yakama Nation’s new public safety campus gives justice room to grow The tribal court system, which had occupied a cluster of trailers since the ’50s, plans to add services like a mental health or a veterans court. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore News and ICT / January 9, 2024
Equity Snoqualmie Tribe starts land protection sales tax at Salish Lodge The 2% tax will preserve ancestral sites such as Snoqualmie Falls, and could be a model for other Indigenous nations. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore/ICT / July 17, 2023
News The Washington mental health lifeline made for and by Native people The Native and Strong Lifeline provides connection and culturally specific care to callers in crisis. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Indian Country Today and Underscore News / June 19, 2023
Opinion King County prosecutor’s ‘progressive’ reputation is lipstick on a pig Washington courts have ruled against sentencing children as though they were adults. So why are local prosecutors asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider those rulings? by Nikkita Oliver & Jessica Rock & Martina Kartman & Karisa Morikawa / January 29, 2021
Opinion The movement to defund Seattle police is not a personal attack Chief Carmen Best's resignation must not distract from the work of overhauling public safety and investing in Black communities. by Nikkita Oliver / August 20, 2020
Opinion Empower King County youth to invoke their rights with police Young people too often waive their Miranda rights during encounters with law enforcement. We need to fix that. by Nikkita Oliver & Dominique Davis & Sean Goode / August 13, 2020
Opinion To fight climate change, Washington needs a clean fuel standard Doing so will cut carbon emissions and spur jobs of the future, write Port Commissioner Fred Felleman and King County Executive Dow Constantine. by Dow Constantine & Fred Felleman / March 10, 2020 / Updated at 8:04 am March 3, 2020
Opinion King County's new youth jail and the false promise of 'zero youth detention' The county named for Martin Luther King Jr. is investing vast amounts of money in a facility intended to incarcerate children. by Nikkita Oliver / February 11, 2020
