Tom Banse
Regional ReporterTom Banse covers business, science, public policy, sports and human interest stories from across the Northwest. He reports from well known and out–of–the–way places in the region where important, amusing, touching, or outrageous events are unfolding.
Tom got his start in radio at WCAL–FM, a public station in southern Minnesota. Reared in Seattle, Tom graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota with a degree in American Studies.
When not sifting through press releases, listening to lobbyists, or driving lonely highways, Tom enjoys exploring the Northwest backcountry and cooking dinner with his wife and friends. Tom's secret ambition is to take six months off work and travel to a faraway place beyond the reach of email.
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Solar power installations on home rooftops are surging in Oregon and Washington state. Alongside, you may have noticed an uptick in ads pitching rooftop solar, or even gotten an in-person solicitation. Some of the sales pitches contain dubious or potentially misleading claims. And now, consumer watchdogs are urging homeowners to do their homework before signing any contract. -
A huge dress rehearsal for regional earthquake disaster relief was supposed to happen next week until the ongoing pandemic forced its cancellation. Some smaller drills are going ahead this weekend and next featuring civilian volunteers who will demonstrate unusual ways aid may get to Pacific Northwest earthquake survivors.
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Close to 200 federal, state and tribal emergency preparedness planners gathered around a giant map of the Pacific Northwest this week to rehearse and critique the federal response plan for "The Big One."
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Private electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest are planning tens of millions of dollars in upgrades to reduce the risk that their power lines could spark wildfires during extreme weather.
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People with an interest in geography or Pacific Northwest history are coming up with replacement names for dozens of places around the region that currently have a name considered derogatory. The U.S. Secretary of the Interior launched the search for new names by ordering a specific racial slur stricken off the map nationwide as expeditiously as possible.
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For more than five years, Washington state, Oregon and British Columbia have collaborated on studies of a possible Cascadia bullet train to run between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, Canada. What will it take to make high-speed rail a reality in the Northwest?
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A proposed tax on gasoline and diesel delivered to out-of-state customers from Washington refineries has gone by the wayside.
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Majority Democrats in the Washington Legislature on Tuesday narrowly beat back a third attempt to squelch a new tax they proposed on gasoline and diesel exported to neighboring states from Washington refineries.
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None of the thirteen Winter Olympians with ties to the Pacific Northwest is coming home from the Beijing Games with a medal. Still, many of the Northwest's elite skiers, skaters and sliders will leave Sunday's closing ceremony with feelings of accomplishment.
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Inexpensive and abundant hydropower-generated electricity made the Pacific Northwest a major hub for aluminum production after World War II. Now, a complex deal is taking shape to revive the Pacific Northwest's last remaining aluminum smelter.
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The presence of eleven skiers, skaters and sliders with ties to the Northwest should add intrigue to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, although the upcoming sports spectacle beset with extreme COVID precautions, a diplomatic boycott and scarce snowfall hardly needs more drama.
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The American Red Cross says blood supplies going into the holidays are "dangerously low." One reason for this is that fewer donors are coming forward during the pandemic. Another is short staffing among the blood collectors, known as phlebotomists.
