By Zach Wendling | Reporter
A three-part series from our partners at Stateline and reporter Alex Brown, who joined Washington firefighters and learned firsthand how first responders are fighting fire with fire and working to protect communities.
A crew member hoses down vegetation to keep a prescribed fire from spreading outside of a designated parcel. Local leaders in the small town of Roslyn, Washington, have embraced prescribed burns as a way to protect the community. (Photo by Alex Brown/Stateline)
ENVIRONMENT & AGRICULTURE
By Alex Brown
ROSLYN, Wash. — Francisco Martinez hefts a canister filled with a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline. A tongue of flame dances above the nozzle. He tips the drip torch forward — whoosh — and a stream of blazing liquid races across the forest floor.
In less than a minute, a long wall of fire is spreading across the slope as Martinez and a small team of igniters fan out along the hillside.
A crew member ignites a forested area with a drip torch as part of a prescribed burn near the town of Roslyn, Washington. (Photo by Alex Brown/Stateline)
ENVIRONMENT & AGRICULTURE
By Alex Brown
ROSLYN, Wash. — In less than an hour, this hillside will be ablaze — sparks flying, smoke swirling, the forest floor turning into a black carpet.
That’s all part of the plan.
A crew member uses a drip torch to ignite a prescribed burn in Southwest Washington. Leaders in Washington and other states want to empower more residents to lead burns like this on private lands. (Photo by Alex Brown/Stateline)
ENVIRONMENT & AGRICULTURE
By Alex Brown
AUBURN, Wash. — In the back row of a small community college classroom, I sip my coffee and consider a cumulus cloud, a puffy white pillar over an expanse of blue. I’m not staring out the window, but at a presentation on a screen at the front of the room.
Data centers operate in Oregon in 2024. Some states are scaling back their data center incentives as the facilities contribute to increasing electric bills and raise environmental concerns. (Photo by Rian Dundon/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
COMMENTARY
By George Ayoub
The Nebraska Legislature doesn’t convene for another four months, but a fresh look at what’s on voters’ minds is always helpful. That was clear at a recent legislative candidate forum in Lincoln.
Justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court (and when they were seated), front row from left: William Cassel (2012), Jeffrey Funke (2016, 2024 as chief justice) and Stephanie Stacy (2015). Back row, from left: Jason Bergevin (2025), Jonathan Papik (2018), John Freudenberg (2018) and Derek Vaughn (2026). (Courtesy of the Nebraska Judicial Branch)
ICYMI
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — A Nebraska Supreme Court justice ordered Lincoln city officials to certify three petitioned amendments to the Lincoln City Charter for the November election or answer by 9 p.m. Monday why they should not do so.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks at the Detroit NAACP Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner on April 26, 2026. Jeffries is in line to become House speaker if Democrats win control of the chamber in November. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
D.C. BUREAU
By Shauneen Miranda
Though the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting push could help them shore up several seats and the battleground of competitive districts stands relatively small, Democrats maintain an edge to win the House, said Erin Covey, an editor specializing in U.S. House races for the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
COMMENTARY
EDITOR'S CHOICE
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