Tom Banse
Tom Banse covers national news, business, science, public policy, Olympic 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's stories can be found online and heard on-air during "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" on NPR stations in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Before taking his current beat, Tom covered state government and the Washington Legislature for 12 years. He 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 Olympic Peninsula 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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Bringing back sea otters to the Oregon Coast just got a high-level endorsement. The federal budget for this new year, which President Trump signed after some unrelated last-minute drama, includes a directive to study sea otter reintroduction. -
A new government report on high speed rail in the Pacific Northwest recommends that Oregon, Washington and British Columbia formalize their interest in a Cascadia bullet train by creating an independent body to plan and eventually build it.
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The pandemic has forced many information workers out of the office and into working from home. As these workers realize their jobs no longer require them to live in the cities where their employers are based, this had led to a real estate boom in scenic rural areas in the Northwest.
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University students and staff in the Pacific Northwest are giving a trial run to a smartphone app that tells you if you were recently near someone who just tested positive for COVID-19.
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The most recent extension of the U.S.-Canada border closure expires this Friday, November 21, but no one expects the restrictions to be lifted then....
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Last year, the Oregon and Washington Legislatures voted to observe daylight saving time year-round. California voters did the same in 2018. But we’ll change our clocks this weekend anyway.
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There is probably no better place to social distance than on a small boat in the ocean. But you do have to go into port occasionally, provided it's not...
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Aging veterans and their descendants are attempting to return memorabilia to the families of their former enemies ahead of a milestone anniversary.
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It's not often that you'll read an obituary for a tree.
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Multiple airport tenants in Portland and Seattle issued layoff notices in the past week. But in a possible sign of optimism over the long term, the Pacific Northwest's major airport operators, the ports of Seattle and Portland, are continuing with big budget construction projects.
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The coronavirus pandemic has served to remind many of us how much we count on strangers staying healthy so we can restock our cupboards and go about daily life.
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The carefully followed death toll from COVID-19 may not fully capture the loss of life in the Pacific Northwest during the pandemic.
