May 26—The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will renew its effort to prevent construction of the Pebble copper and gold mine, an action that Pebble critics have long sought as a possible fatal blow to the project. The federal agency said Wednesday that it would issue a proposal to ban the project from disposing of dredged or fill material into streams or wetlands — an ... Read More

May 22—More time is needed to complete Puyallup's new Sound Transit garage due to delays and supply-chain issues, which will cost the agency more money. Sound Transit pushed its completion date further in the year as more time is needed to complete the project. The board voted in April to allocate an additional $3.25 million to the total cost to complete the construction phase, according to ... Read More

May 19—A Washington state council has found that the 24-mile ridge line of Horse Heaven Hills south of the Tri-Cities is an appropriate place for a wind farm. The Washington state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council voted Tuesday to approve an order finding that Scout Clean Energy's application to build the Horse Heaven Wind Farm was consistent with Benton County land use plans and zoning ... Read More

Intel said Thursday it will build a $700 million research center at its Jones Farm campus in Hillsboro where the company will study new technologies for cooling data centers. The new “mega lab” will investigate ways to make data centers operate more efficiently, primarily by reducing their heating, cooling and water needs. The 200,000-square-foot facility, slated to open late next year, will ... Read More

Beaverton School District voters approved a $723 million bond to replace Beaverton High and Raleigh Hills K-8 school and carry out deferred maintenance and seismic upgrades throughout the district. To pay for it, property taxes will increase by 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, resulting in a $709 school construction-related tax bill for the owner of the typical home, assessed at ... Read More

May 17—A developer is laying plans for a major project overhauling a downtown Anchorage block, with a vision for residential and retail space, a hotel and more. Plans for the project, estimated to cost more than $200 million, also include the demolition of the historic 4th Avenue Theatre, which was built in the 1940s and some community members have long passionately advocated for preserving. ... Read More

May 12—The legal battle between Spokane Valley and the contractors who built City Hall for $14 million rages on — and it's getting more expensive. On May 3, the Spokane Valley City Council agreed to set aside $700,000 to cover ongoing legal expenses and repair costs related to City Hall, which opened in 2017. Roughly half of that money will go toward attorneys fees and other costs associated ... Read More

Oregon adopted permanent job site rules Tuesday mandating that employers take steps to protect workers from extreme heat and wildfire smoke. The heat rules take effect June 15 while the wildfire rules go into effect July 1. The regulations, adopted by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division, lay out specific steps employers must take once the temperature or air quality reaches a ... Read More

May 10—Construction on the Waterfront Seattle project has been delayed because of a lack of concrete delivery availability, brought on by the concrete drivers' strike in King County, according to the Seattle Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects. Completion of the project, originally slated for 2024, is now set for 2025. The strike began Dec. 3. Teamsters Local 174 union said concrete ... Read More