For my latest story I reviewed over 100 cases where immigrants challenged their ICE detention in federal court in Washington. In most of those cases, judges determined ICE was holding people illegally.

License plate images are hypothetically in everybody’s hands after a WA judge ruled they are a public record - raising debate among transparency advocates, sheriffs and civil rights groups about how much access is too much https://ow.ly/nWBP50Ye18u

Immigrants are increasingly turning to federal district courts to challenge their detentions. In 2025, Washington federal judges ruled that the government violated immigrants’ due process rights in more than half of cases so far. www.investigatewest.org/rulings-foun...

The deaths of the two women expose repeated failures by the Okanogan County jail to provide appropriate care for opioid withdrawal and suicide prevention. www.investigatewest.org/two-colville...

NEW: Two Colville women were booked into a rural Washington jail. It became a death sentence. www.investigatewest.org/two-colville...

The lawsuit accuses two unnamed BIA police officers of chasing Cody Whiterock outside of their jurisdiction and shooting him multiple times in the face, back and chest. The officers “falsified or withheld evidence to escape accountability,” the lawsuit says. www.investigatewest.org/federal-laws...

Idaho's prison system investigated two prison guards accused of sexually assaulting multiple women behind bars. There were victim and witness accounts. One guard was decertified and another investigated by police. But neither faced criminal prosecution. www.investigatewest.org/two-idaho-pr...

A local group of Democrats has filed an ethics complaint against WA state Rep. Tarra Simmons regarding a $30,000 donation from surplus campaign funds she made to a nonprofit linked to a Nevada lawmaker. www.investigatewest.org/complaint-ag...

A northwest Oregon town is stepping up testing of the river that supplies some of its drinking water, prompted by our reporting that a wood treater released contaminated stormwater into the waterway while regulators kept it quiet. www.investigatewest.org/oregon-town-...

Images from license plate readers are hypothetically in *everybody’s* hands after a Washington judge ruled these images are a public record. That's raised concerns about bad actors - and how regulations should balance privacy and transparency. www.investigatewest.org/washington-s...

Washington's federal Victims of Crime Act award fell 76% between 2018 and 2024. Groups serving domestic violence and sexual abuse survivor say they need a long term state funding solution to avoid a collapse in the ecosystem of services. www.investigatewest.org/wa-crime-vic...

HUD told providers in Oregon and other states that it will reinstate previous grant applications for the Continuum of Care program, but could move forward with its overhaul if a federal injunction is “no longer in effect.” www.investigatewest.org/hud-says-hom...

More than 1,700 pages of public records and interviews with former workers reveal how SpaceX's Redmond site didn't take action to protect workers potentially exposed to dangerous chemicals for more than a year until the state got involved. www.investigatewest.org/a-starlink-l...

Seattle philanthropists Lisa Mennet and Paul Joseph Brown have renewed their $250,000 commitment to InvestigateWest, which will support our continued growth across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. www.investigatewest.org/investigatew...

InvestigateWest has received a $450,000 multi-year grant from the Inatai Foundation, marking one of the largest institutional grants in our newsroom’s history. Read more about how the grant will support our work in Washington communities - www.investigatewest.org/investigatew...

Customer support employees reported health issues and SpaceX safety managers flagged ventilation problems. But records show the company did not improve ventilation at a Washington office for nearly a year, until the state began investigating. www.investigatewest.org/a-starlink-l...

Unchecked sexual abuse in Idaho women's prisons. A couple's harrowing experience offers a window into what reproductive health care looks like when nearly all abortions are a crime. Check out some of our best Idaho reporting in 2025: https://ow.ly/K9Zt50XQc6m

Cuts to the Prison Rape Elimination Act Resource Center will result in less state support for training, guidance and grants https://www.investigatewest.org/idahos-efforts-to-confront-prison-sexual-abuse-hampered-by-trump-cuts/

Research shows Black, Native American and Latino youths in Washington are more likely to be transferred to adult court, subjected to harsher penalties and left with records that follow them into adulthood. Lawmakers are divided on reforms: https://ow.ly/5k4550XQcij

The Washington AG is one of few to go after businesses that try to bar clients from leaving negative online reviews. But nationwide, there's relatively little enforcement of the consumer law barring such "gag" clauses in contracts. https://ow.ly/Fozq50XQbRp

Give before midnight to ensure your gift is matched by a generous local donor and the NewsMatch program! This is your last chance to make an impact at InvestigateWest in 2025: www.investigatewest.org/donate/

“The spigot’s off at the federal level and there’s no money in Oregon.” A novel program that helped Oregon prisoners get training and find jobs could shutter when state funding runs out next year. Read our story with Bolts - https://ow.ly/fOjA50XQcak

An Idaho undocumented man with no criminal record has been detained in Nevada for more than a month. Far from home and his attorneys, his family says they've had to talk him out of signing voluntary removal papers out of desperation. https://ow.ly/GeWp50XQbNF

A Washington hospital's safety violations endangered suicidal patients. A school district kept teacher misconduct allegations quiet. Check out some of our hardest-hitting stories from Washington in 2025: https://ow.ly/tbhI50XQbTV

Check out some of our best reporting about Oregon from the last year: https://www.investigatewest.org/2025-investigative-reporting-on-oregon/

Cuts to the national Prison Rape Elimination Act Resource Center mean less support to states like Idaho for training, guidance and grants for preventing and responding to prison sexual abuse https://www.investigatewest.org/idahos-efforts-to-confront-prison-sexual-abuse-hampered-by-trump-cuts/

Check out some of our best reporting about Idaho this year: https://www.investigatewest.org/best-of-2025-investigative-reporting-idaho/

A WA plastic surgeon said in 2023 that his patients aren't required to sign NDAs, but former patients told us they signed agreements barring them from writing negative online reviews. https://www.investigatewest.org/despite-laws-against-it-some-cosmetic-surgeons-are-still-banning-negative-reviews/

Check out some of our best reporting about Washington this year: www.investigatewest.org/best-of-2025...

A novel program walks incarcerated Oregonians through developing a resume and cover letter, interviewing, and finding job opportunities. Its funding is set to run out soon. Don’t miss our new collaboration with @investigatewest.bsky.social:

A partnership between labor development boards and Oregon state agencies provides career services to incarcerated adults as they prepare for their release. Its future funding is uncertain. Read more in our new collaboration with @investigatewest.bsky.social:

As Idaho reckons with revelations of widespread sexual abuse by women’s prison staff, the Trump administration has cut off support meant to help states combat that kind of abuse. By @wbryen.bsky.social - www.investigatewest.org/idahos-effor...

Oregon has a rare program that helps people get jobs when they leave prison. It's made a big difference. But budget cuts are threatening to end the program, & lawmakers are failing to act to fix it. NEW, check it out: boltsmag.org/oregon-priso...

NEW in Bolts: Oregon has a novel program for providing one-on-one career coaching and job support for people after release. Budget cuts are threatening the program. Our latest collaboration with @investigatewest.bsky.social:

A novel Oregon program provided one-on-one career coaching, job fairs and support for people about to leave prison. But the program could shut down next year because of the state's budget woes. Read the story, a collab w/ @boltsmag.org - www.investigatewest.org/budget-cuts-...

On Google Reviews, a Spokane plastic surgeon has a rating of 4.8 out of 5. But that appears to be an artificial facade: some patients had to sign NDAs, in violation of a 2016 federal law. Read more from @danielwalters.bsky.social - www.investigatewest.org/despite-laws...

One Idaho atty said she planned to represent two men sent to Las Vegas for detention, but they were deported before she could get in touch again. Attorneys in Oregon have flagged similar concerns in a recent lawsuit.

Idaho's governor said the state's partnership with ICE is geared at transporting "dangerous" criminals, but 6 people taken to ICE custody had no convictions. The state wasn't verifying that people had criminal records until after local news exposed the issue. www.investigatewest.org/idaho-immigr...

Reports reveal a troubling pattern: Black, Native, and Latino youth are still far more likely to be sent to adult court, receive harsher sentences, and carry the long-term consequences into adulthood. From our friends at @investigatewest.bsky.social www.underscore.news/justice/most...

Some advocates would like to ban the practice of charging children as adults altogether, except in cases of aggravated murder. It’s a tough sell, with stiff opposition from law enforcement groups, though prosecutors aren’t totally dismissing the idea. https://ow.ly/hLzf50XHeyP

Many people who were detained in an Idaho immigration raid were sent to detention facilities in other states - making it harder for their families and lawyers to help them fight their detention. www.investigatewest.org/idaho-immigr...

From our friends at @investigatewest.bsky.social New research shows white youth in Washington are far more likely to get second-chance diversion programs while Native American and Black children are offered those opportunities the least. Read full story below www.underscore.news/justice/nati...

More than 80% of children charged as adults in state court are not white, data shows. Some Washington lawmakers would like to pass a law that would retroactively remove "juvenile points" that can lengthen sentences, but such proposals face stiff opposition. www.investigatewest.org/most-childre...

Board of Correction Chairman Dodds Hayden said InvestigateWest’s reporting warrants a clear message to prison staff that improper conduct won’t be tolerated — “a really loud, repeated message to get us back on track.” www.investigatewest.org/idaho-prison...

In 2011, WA school district called high school English teacher Curtis Johnston to a meeting over rumors he was in a romantic relationship with a student. The purpose of the meeting, according to school records: “To protect Curtis and the District.” https://ow.ly/WWlG50XANV1

A lawsuit filed by a former patient and employee makes alarming claims against the cosmetic surgeon, including that he let an unlicensed staffer help with a surgery, reused implants, sexually harassed staff and performed surgery drunk. www.investigatewest.org/allegations-...

In some of Washington’s largest counties, the gaps are startling. In Pierce County, Native American youths charged with a misdemeanor who had a prior offense are 50% less likely to be diverted than white youths. https://ow.ly/B3MC50XANj2

A lawsuit filed by Oregon, Washington and several other states called changes to the federal Continuum of Care program a "death blow" to their homeless services. https://www.investigatewest.org/oregon-wa-sue-trump-administration-over-overhaul-to-federal-homeless-housing-grant-program/

The decision comes after InvestigateWest reported on shoddy probes into many prison sexual abuse complaints. IDOC director Bree Derrick said an investigation into a prison delivery man was reopened after reviewing “a handful” of messages www.investigatewest.org/idaho-prison...

Oregon, WA lawsuit challenges Trump administration overhaul to federal homeless housing grant program www.investigatewest.org/oregon-wa-su...