Latest Washington Headlines

All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Washington Crash Investigators Complete Interviews, Probe Plane Wreckage, Flight Logs

Feb 4 2025 // The National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday it has completed interviews with air traffic controllers in its investigation into the collision last week between an American Airlines regional passenger jet and a...

Near-Misses at Washington Airport Worried Pilots Long Before Fatal Crash

Feb 3 2025 // U.S. commercial pilot Rick Redfern was preparing to land at Reagan Washington National Airport about a decade ago when he spotted a bright red Coast Guard helicopter hovering about 50 feet (15 m) above the Potomac...

Washington Man on Workers’ Comp for 3 Years Caught on Video Carrying 48lb Table

Jan 29 2025 // A Pierce County, Washington, man has been ordered to pay back more than $60,000 to Washington’s workers’ compensation fund after videos reportedly showed he was working and carrying heavy objects in the years...

Sky Zone in Washington Fined for Overworking Teens

Jan 27 2025 // The owner of a Tukwila, Washington, trampoline park faces more than $68,000 in fines for not giving teen employees meal breaks, and for working them longer hours than allowed under law. The Washington State Department of...

People Moves: Washington Insurance Commissioner Kuderer Adds to Executive Staff

Jan 23 2025 // Washington State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer made six additions to her executive team. Kuderer was sworn in as the state’s ninth insurance commissioner on January 15. She replaces Washington Commissioner of...

Washington House Flippers Fined $116K Over Asbestos Removal Rules

Jan 22 2025 // Two Vancouver, Washington, business owners are facing a combined $116,000 in fines for ignoring rules to protect workers, neighbors, and the environment from exposure to hazardous asbestos at a home-flipping site. The...

Bayer Faces Billions in Payouts for Decades-Old Toxic Mess

Jan 16 2025 // Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit stopped making toxic PCBs a half century ago, but the legal fallout lingers even as many of the building materials made with the chemicals are no longer used in US homes, schools and...

Kuderer Sworn in as Washington Insurance Commissioner

Jan 16 2025 // Patty Kuderer was sworn in as Washington’s ninth insurance commissioner on Wednesday. She is one of only 11 elected insurance commissioners in the U.S., and she’s Washington’s first new commissioner in 24...

Heffernan Insurance Brokers Acquires Green Financial in Washington

Jan 13 2025 // Heffernan Insurance Brokers acquired Green Financial in Kirkland, Washington. Fred Green, president of Green Financial, and his team have joined Heffernan Insurance Brokers’ small business division,...

Hub International Acquires Otter Insurance Agency in Washington

Dec 20 2024 // Hub International Ltd. acquired the assets of Otter Insurance Agency Inc. in Lynnwood, Washington. Patrick Otter, president, and the Otter Insurance Agency team will join HUB Northwest. Otter Insurance Agency will be...

Washington Commissioner Fines PacificSource, Delta Dental, Lemonade, Others

Dec 19 2024 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued fines totaling $576,500 against insurance companies, agents, brokers and unlicensed entities in October and November of 2024 for violations of state insurance laws and...

Washington Fines and Moves to Bar Asbestos Removers From Working in State

Dec 18 2024 // Two Washington asbestos removal contractors face losing the ability to legally do future asbestos removal work, plus nearly a half-million dollars in fines, for allegedly knowingly exposing workers to extremely hazardous...

World Insurance Associates Acquires Sprague Israel Giles in Washington

Dec 13 2024 // World Insurance Associates LLC acquired the business of Sprague Israel Giles Inc. in Seattle, Washington. Sprague Israel Giles was founded in 1958 by David Sprague and Mike Israel. Ten years later, Leon Giles joined the...

Fraud Ringleader in Washington Sentenced, Ordered to Pay $7.1M in Restitution

Dec 6 2024 // A Washington man has been sentenced to a dozen years in prison and ordered to pay $7.1 million for leading a fraud scheme that involved staged collisions. A U.S. District Judge sentenced William Oldham Mize to 144 months...

Washington Workers’ Comp Premium Going up in 2025

Dec 2 2024 // The average cost of workers’ compensation insurance in Washington will go up about 3.8% in 2025, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced. Employers and workers together will pay on average...

Washington Woman Wanted After Failing to Appear in Court for Insurance Fraud Charges

Nov 22 2024 // A Federal Way, Washington, woman is on Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s insurance fraud most wanted list after she failed to appear at her arraignment. Yelena Gruy faces a felony charge for filing a false...

Washington Commissioner: Most Homes in 2023 Wildfire Were Underinsured

Nov 18 2024 // An analysis of the claims paid out after the Gray and Oregon Road fires in Washington last year found that most of the homes destroyed were underinsured. The fires destroyed 366 homes, burning more than 20,000 acres...

Washington Farm Labor Contractor Fined $140K for Withholding Info From Workers

Nov 18 2024 // A Pasco farm labor contractor faces nearly $140,000 in fines for violations uncovered during a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries investigation that include withholding information from worker. According...

Washington Workers’ Comp Scam Exposed by Gym Trips

Nov 15 2024 // A Washington man is being charged in a felony in a $28,000 workers’ compensation scam after a trip the gym seemingly exposed him. Omid Mohammadi Dashti, 41, of Renton, was charged with one count of first-degree...

Former UFC Fighter Wanted on Insurance Fraud Charges in Washington

Nov 8 2024 // A former UFC fighter is wanted in Washington for insurance fraud, among other charges. Bryan Caraway, originally from Richland, has landed on Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s insurance fraud most...