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Idaho Law Protects Faith Healers. It Wasn’t Always That Way.
From at least the 1880s through the early 1970s, it was illegal for parents in Idaho to choose prayer over medical care when a child’s life was at stake.
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Featured Stories
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Children in a Faith-Healing Sect Keep Dying. The State Lets It Happen.
For decades, Idaho laws have allowed parents who belong to the Followers of Christ and other faith-healing sects to pray rather than seek medical care. Since 2015, at least 15 children have died of treatable conditions.
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Oregon Is Spending More Than Ever on Low-Income Housing. A State Law Keeps the Details Secret.
The state has given developers an unprecedented $1.4 billion, and the cost of developing each subsidized apartment has nearly doubled. But, thanks to a carve-out in its public records law, Oregon doesn’t have to provide the details of that spending.
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Solar Developer Cancels Washington State Project on Sacred Indigenous Land
The company, Avangrid, pulled its long-standing and controversial project following years of delays, as well as tribal objections spurred in part by High Country News and ProPublica reporting.
Northwest News Staff
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Reporters
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Ashley Hiruko, Kyle Hopkins and Tony Schick
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Anchorage, Alaska
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Boise, Idaho
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More Stories
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On This Nearly Deserted Alaska Island, You Pay to Keep Hundreds of Empty Buildings Wired for Internet
U.S. phone customers pay more than $340,000 a year for an Anchorage company to keep homes and buildings on Alaska’s Adak Island wired for obsolete internet service. All but a few of them sit empty.
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Washington Law Says to Alert the Public When Doctors Are Accused of Misconduct. It Can Take Months.
In the case of Mark Mulholland, who was repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct, the board waited six weeks to announce that it had filed charges. He was allowed to keep seeing patients during that time, and one alleges he abused her in the interim.
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An Oregon Law Lets One Wealthy Region Turn the Desert Green. When Drought Hits, Farmers Pay the Price.
In the high desert of Central Oregon, the Deschutes River is a lifeline for farmers and landowners — but a century-old water law entitles just a few thousand people to more than half of its volume.
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Oregon Leaders Are Trying to Save the Deschutes River. Here’s Why That’s So Hard.
By law, one irrigation district has rights to most of the water from the Deschutes, forcing farmers to fallow their land in times of scarcity. Oregon has pushed three main solutions to deliver water more efficiently and sustainably.
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In This Church, Child Sexual Abuse Has Gone Unchecked for So Long That It Spans Generations
The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church’s culture of forgiving and forgetting sins has absolved abusers and silenced victims across the U.S. and Canada, ensnaring parents, children and grandchildren in the same cycle of abuse.
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A Low-Income Housing Program Is Pouring Billions Into Housing Many People Can’t Afford
The federal tax credit provides up to $15 billion in subsidies a year to help developers build apartments. It’s created housing that’s often no more affordable than the market rate.
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Alaska’s Deteriorating Schools Could Receive More Than $148 Million for Repairs. It’s a Fraction of What They Need.
Following reporting by KYUK, ProPublica and NPR, lawmakers tripled the funding the state would allocate toward school construction and maintenance. The budget increase would still only cover about 13% of what school districts requested.
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This Convicted Felon Gets $1 Million a Year to Sell Obsolete Internet Service. You Pay for It.
Roger Shoffstall spent three years in prison for tax evasion. Still, each year the federal government pays his Alaska company, Summit Telephone, for internet service that’s slower than in most of the U.S.
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We’re Investigating Alaska Internet Companies. We Need Your Help.
Alaskans pay the most for phone and internet but get the slowest service. Please fill out our quick survey to share how much it costs you to get online and what you think of the service.
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A Unique Oregon Law Allows It to Block Healthcare Deals. In Five Years, the State Hasn’t Done So Once.
Lawmakers said that giving the state oversight would stop multibillion-dollar deals from reducing care and increasing costs. Some who supported the law say it hasn’t been nearly as effective as they hoped.
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Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
The vitamin K shot, a lifesaving injection given to newborns to prevent uncontrollable bleeding of the brain and intestines, has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
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An OB-GYN Was Repeatedly Accused of Sexual Misconduct. The State Medical Board Let Him Keep Practicing.
The first accusation against Dr. Mark Mulholland came in January 2022. Two more arrived in 2023 and a fourth in 2024 before the board took action against his license last year. Then even more patients came forward.
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New Portland Trail Blazers Owner Played Key Role at Company Oregon Accused of Predatory Lending
Documents obtained by ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting reveal that Tom Dundon was behind what regulators called an “aggressive push” to waive proof-of-income requirements at Santander Consumer USA.
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As Trump Demands Voter Data, This Fiercely Independent Red State Says No
Wary of federal intrusion, Idaho passed a law three decades ago allowing it to sidestep so-called motor-voter laws. The exemption and the sentiment behind it are fueling resistance to President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.
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Oregon Voters Overwhelmingly Said Yes to Limiting Money in Politics. Then Politicians Had Their Say.
Some 78% of Oregon voters approved limiting campaign contributions in 2020. Four years later, the Legislature finally adopted limits, but an advocate for tighter controls says recent changes render Oregon’s contribution limits “illusory.”
