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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One of the premier peak bagging objectives in the Pacific Northwest is to scale the 100 highest mountains in Washington state. That challenge is called the Bulger List. Two years ago, an Oregon man became the first to conquer all 100 peaks in a single season. Just in the past few days, a duo from Ellensburg, Washington, repeated the feat — not quite as fast, but with an extra-hard twist. -
Twenty grandmas and grandpas on the Washington coast joined a pilot project that is trialing how artificial intelligence-driven companion robots could reduce loneliness and social isolation among seniors —especially those living alone.
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For a few years now, aviation enthusiasts have teased the idea of a Jetsons-style future in which small electric aircraft whisk us to work or across the state and region. That future is not here yet, though a handful of companies, including one based in the Pacific Northwest, are trying to get a head start on the future of flying using conventional planes.
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There's a rallying cry at various bays and beaches up and down the West Coast; it's "Help the kelp!"
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The largest aircraft yet to fly on hydrogen-electric power made a successful first flight in Moses Lake, Washington, on Thursday. The maiden flight of a converted turboprop airliner offered a preview of one possible pathway for how to make your future flights more eco-friendly.
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Would you prefer to pay a couple of cents for every mile you drive in exchange for not having to pay gas tax or those steep electric car registration fees?
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State lawmakers from the Willamette Valley are worried destinations south of Portland are being left behind in the planning for a future Cascadia bullet train.
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Washington lawmakers are debating possible new responses to surging traffic fatalities. And similar action is being considered by Oregon lawmakers in Salem.
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Everywhere they look, Pacific Northwest scientists find teeny-tiny plastic pollution. Broken down particles are in our water, falling out of the air, in salmon, shellfish and in our own bodies.
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The stewards of Oregon's tallest lighthouse are sprucing up the popular landmark on Oregon's central coast for its 150th anniversary in 2023.
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The states of Washington and Oregon have submitted a joint bid to the U.S. Department of Energy to get a share of $8 billion that Congress set aside to launch "Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs" around the nation. But good luck trying to learn what exactly the bi-state bid entails.
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The majority of captains of big commercial ships entering and leaving Puget Sound are cooperating with a request to slow down temporarily to reduce underwater noise impacts to the Pacific Northwest's critically endangered killer whales.
