El fiscal general del Estado de Washington, Bob Ferguson, dijo que el acuerdo de Ostrom con el Estado resolvía la demanda de derechos civiles contra la empresa por sus acciones injustas, engañosas y discriminatorias contra mujeres y trabajadores locales agrícolas de Washington. Read More
Ostrom Mushroom Farm must pay 3.4 million dollars for discriminating against workers. The Washington state attorney general said Ostrom’s settlement with Washington state resolved the civil rights lawsuit against the company for unfair, deceptive and discriminatory actions against female farmworkers and Washington-based workers. Read More
Los miembros del sindicato de profesores del Yakima Valley Community College no tienen confianza en la presidenta de la institución Linda Kaminski. Los líderes sindicales afirman que la administración no rinde cuentas ni atiende sus quejas. Pero los representantes de la universidad dicen que se han celebrado reuniones con el profesorado y que están trabajando para Read More
Yakima Valley College faculty union members voted no confidence in college president Linda Kaminski. Union leaders say the administration has become unaccountable and is not addressing their complaints. But, college representatives say meetings with faculty have taken place, and they are working to answer their questions. Read More
Al comenzar el mes nacional de concientización sobre los casos de mujeres y personas indígenas desaparecidas y asesinadas (MMIW/P), las familias siguen llamando la atención sobre las barreras y los retos que experimentan al abordar la crisis en Washington. Read More
As the national awareness month on the crisis starts, families continue calling attention to the barriers and challenges they experience when addressing the missing and murdered indigenous women and people MMIW/P crisis in Washington. Read More
La organización sin ánimo de lucro Friends of Toppenish Creek está pidiendo a la Agencia de Protección del Medio Ambiente de EE.UU. (EPA por sus siglas en inglés) que reabra una queja contra la Agencia Regional de Aire Limpio de Yakima (YRCAA en inglés). Read More
Yakima Clean Air Compliance website in Spanish. (Screenshot from the YRCAA website.) Listen (Runtime 1:33) Read A nonprofit organization, Friends of Toppenish Creek, is asking the U.S Environmental Protection Agency… Read More
Los trabajadores del campo se encuentran entre los más afectados por el estrés y la ansiedad. Investigadores y proveedores de salud afirman que la pandemia aumentó las dificultades económicas y las presiones laborales. Sin embargo, los trabajadores agrícolas no siempre son conscientes de que su trabajo puede afectar a su salud mental. Read More
Farmworkers are among the groups disproportionately affected by stress and anxiety. Researchers and healthcare providers say the pandemic increased economic struggles and job pressures. Still, agricultural workers are not always aware that it could impact their mental health. Read More
Listen (Runtime 0:56) Read Voting rights advocacy groups are helping Hispanic people in Central Washington understand the election process. Some citizens have not voted in past elections because they’ve had… Continue Reading Read More
Concerns about redistricting in the Yakima Valley may be overshadowed by concerns over low voter turnout amongst Latinos Listen NWPB’s Johanna Bejarano reports on concerns about low voter turnout amongst… Continue Reading Read More
It’s back to the drawing board for state regulators, after the Washington Court of Appeals ordered the Department of Ecology to rework permits for confined animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs. A panel of judges ruled that current waste discharge permits don’t adequately protect groundwater and don’t take climate change into account. Read More
What started as a slow trickle of people became a flood of cars over Easter weekend at the FEMA vaccination center in Yakima. And as April 15 approaches (when all adults are eligible for vaccination in Washington), some Seattleites are heading East for a coveted Covid-19 shot. Read More
Environmental groups and the Washington dairy industry are unhappy with a state permit that regulates pollutants. The groups made their cases before a state appeals court this week. In 2017, the Washington Department of Ecology issued what’s known as a discharge permit for large dairies or other concentrated animal feeding operations. Read More
So far this month, more than 400 Yakima Valley fruit packing workers have gone on strike, according to Familias Unidas Por La Justicia. The farmworker advocacy group, based in Skagit County, is helping these workers organize committees, negotiate with employers and seek legal advice. Read More
News and information on the COVID-19 pandemic released by state and local governments is primarily in English. And though health districts and emergency management offices translate some of that information into Spanish, immigrant communities in places like the Yakima Valley still struggle to access that information. Read More
Like many decades-old businesses, Yakima and Seattle-based PaintSmith has had experience with layoffs. After the 2008 recession, the company went from 80 employees to just 10. It taught Smith that his company can survive financial downturns. Read More
About 250,000 workers came to the U.S. on H-2A visas last year, the majority of them from Mexico. They've become an increasingly important piece of America's food industry. Continue Reading Coronavirus Threatens Food Supply Read More
As more old orchard land in central Washington is converted into housing developments and schools, there are concerns over legacy pesticides in the soil where children play and families live. That’s especially true in Wenatchee and Yakima. Read More
A delegation of Mexican government officials visited the Yakima Valley Monday to meet with dairy workers, most of whom are Mexican nationals. The group was looking to expand the role of the Mexican government in protecting the rights of workers. Read More
The only Latina candidate running for Yakima City Council appears to have lost her bid. That means Yakima -- the population of which is nearly 50 percent Latinx -- will likely be governed by an all-white council for the first time since 2015. Read More
Tuesday, Nov. 5 is election day, but the city of Yakima is debating what might go on its next ballot in 2020. Councilmembers are considering a proposal to put the establishment of a mayoral position to a vote. The Yakima mayor would replace the city manager’s position and be elected by the city at-large. Read More
Environmental and Latino groups are hosting a clean drinking water forum Saturday, Oct. 26. The goal is to help people learn how they can get their water tested – and why it’s important. Continue Reading Latino Read More
Almost a year later, KYNR, "the voice of the Yakama Nation," is broadcasting again after a burglary knocked them off the air. Staff were heartbroken for themselves and their listeners. Tribal members and others in the community depend on the station for news and information. Read More
NWPB listeners and viewers have a new voice and face helping to bring them the news of the Northwest – particularly central Washington’s Yakima Valley. Continue Reading Meet NWPB’s New Yakima Valley ReporterRead More
Looking for a road trip and food trip this Labor Day weekend? The Yakima Valley town of Granger hosts its annual Menudo Festival, complete with a contest for those who want to show off their tripe-cooking skills. Continue Reading Get A Read More
Informe critica a Yakima por vuelos ICE de deportación, mientras la ciudad explica dilema financiero
Un portavoz de Yakima dice que la ciudad vigila de cerca las operaciones de ICE que ocurren localmente. Sin embargo, el Centro de Derechos Humanos de la UW allega que “Yakima permanece responsable por su rol en envío de detenidos para ser abusados en otros sitios.” Read More
After his arrest Tuesday on suspicion of official misconduct, the case against former Wapato mayor and city administrator Juan Orozco was thrown out of the Yakima County Superior Court in a preliminary hearing. Continue Reading Former Wapato Mayor Read More
The city administrator in the Yakima Valley town of Wapato stepped down last month after a lawsuit from the state Attorney General’s office alleged he used his influence to enrich himself. And now other city leaders are being pushed out. Continue Read More
A city official in Wapato has resigned following allegations that he used his former position as mayor to enrich himself. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued the official, Juan Orozco, in June for violating ethics and open meeting laws. Read More
The only thing unique about this twice-weekly child play space, buried deep in a state Department of Social and Health Services office in Yakima, are its customers: families in crisis. "When they come into this room and are here for a while you see the shoulders drop," Maria Vasquez said. "They relax. They settle. They smile." Read More
On Dec. 26, 2017, Myrna Cloud’s 23-year-old cousin went missing on the Yakama Nation reservation in Central Washington. D. Lloyd’s body was found in a rural part of the reservation four days later. The murder is still under investigation. Read More
The Natural Resource Management Act includes a little of everything — meant to satisfy public land interests all over the country.
The land-conservation measures have received a lot of attention. But there are other provisions in the bill concerning the Northwest, among them wildfire risk, research and air quality resources, hunting on public lands, water management for Read More
For six years, Yakima County has been dealing with a complicated problem – nitrates in the groundwater. This month, after missing two other deadlines, a group of citizens tasked with finding a solution finally came up with a plan. For about 2,000 people, that’s good news because they’re closer to clean water. But some critics aren’t so sure. Read More
More people than expected are drinking water that could be harmful to their health. That’s according to a new study that looked at a water contaminate that’s been an issue in one of the Northwest’s most productive farming regions. Continue Read More
For six years, Yakima County has been dealing with a complicated problem – nitrates in the groundwater. This month, after missing two other deadlines, a group of citizens tasked with finding a solution finally came up with a plan. For about 2,000 people, that’s good news because they’re closer to clean water. But some critics aren’t so sure. Read More
The Washington State Department of Health released its annual report on HIV and AIDS this week, pegged to the Dec. 1 World AIDS Day. According to the report, 14,000 people are HIV positive in Washington, on par with past years. Continue Read More
Emily Washines was 18 years old when she was crowned Miss National Congress of American Indians. Yakama tribal councilmembers and elders sung a warrior song for her and then extracted a promise. Tribal leaders had something in mind. They wanted Washines to remember a message about a little-known war that wracked the Northwest in the 1850s. Read More
Recently, 18 Filipino veterans received Congressional Gold Medal replicas at the Filipino Community Hall in Wapato, Wash. All but two were awarded posthumously. Continue Reading Yakima Valley Filipino WWII Vets Honored Read More
Almost 40 years ago, Scott Nicolai started his stream restoration career taking logs out of the water. A project that’s putting more than 6,000 logs back into remote streams across Central Washington. Continue Reading Helicoptering Logs In Read More
Some Washington Latino-owned businesses say they were wrongly put on a list that claimed they were against I-1631, a state ballot initiative seeking to tax carbon emissions. Continue Reading Latino Businesses Caught In Read More
It’s September, so the hops harvest is in full swing in Washington’s Yakima Valley. At the Carpenter family’s farm in Granger, workers are making their way between rows of trellises, pulling down vines and feeding them into a sorting machine. Continue Read More
Smoke from wildfires is blanketing much of the West. That's ruining some crops and may be stunting others. And it's making it difficult or unsafe for laborers to pick the harvest. Continue Reading As Wildfires Burn, Smoke Chokes Read More
Maria Gonzalez started at DeRuyter Brothers dairy in February 2015. At the time, she was the first and only woman working as a milker. For Maria, working there was a step up in career and pay. But it also meant facing sexual harassment from a male coworker. It ended with losing her job. Read More
You’ve probably seen and felt it this week: a blanket of grey haze over large parts of the region. Smoke from wildfires in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and California has led to poor air quality, causing health experts to caution: minimize your exposure. So how do people who work outdoors fare? Read More
Yakima will soon be home to the largest farmworker housing complex in Washington. The revamped FairBridge hotel officially opened Friday, June 1, and the first guest workers will be housed there beginning June 11th. Read More
In the Columbia Basin, communities are pushing back on recreational marijuana by leveraging county regulations – regulations like Benton County’s new “Sight and Smell Ordinance.” Continue Reading Years After I-502, Legal Read More
May Day demonstrations happened around the Northwest May 1, including in Latino-concentrated Yakima. The peaceful gathering focused on immigration reform. But the turnout was low compared to previous years with only a couple hundred people there. Read More
May 1st marks International Workers’ Day. In Yakima, May Day organizers are pushing last-minute flyers before their march on Tuesday. They hope for strong turnout from farmworkers, the immigrant community, and Latinos. But some are worried the political climate will affect attendance. Read More