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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Not every Olympic story is happening in Tokyo this week. Take for instance these two runners in Tacoma. He's a 26-year-old former Oregon Ducks standout, now a professional quarter-miler. She's a 67-year-old baby boomer who began sprinting barely a decade ago. Together they overcame various personal disappointments and sorrows to make a winning combination. -
Earthquake researchers are eager to dig into a trove of new data about the offshore Cascadia fault zone. The valuable new imaging of the geology off the Oregon, Washington and British Columbia coasts comes from a specialized research ship.
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Last summer, Pacific Northwest public lands and trailheads were overrun by people seeking COVID-safe getaways in the fresh air. The pandemic may be winding down, but it doesn't look like the crowds are abating.
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As the story of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Pacific Northwest changes from scarcity to surplus, one northwestern Washington community says it is in a unique position to extend a helping hand across the border.
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In another sign of the rebound in travel, Amtrak and the state transportation departments of Oregon and Washington announced plans to restore a good...
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Idaho legislators gave a warm reception Monday to an Oregon group that wants to redraw state lines so that conservative eastern and southern Oregon would become part of the expanded state of "Greater Idaho."
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The space agency NASA has chosen a small Tillamook-based aerospace company to design and test robotic balloons for future scientific exploration of Venus.
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The Pacific Northwest might seem like an unlikely place for mermaid culture to catch on, given the cold water here. Yet, putting on an eye-catching tail and pretending to be a mythical sea being is a thing across the Northwest.
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Small ship cruise lines are pressing ahead with plans to restart overnight cruises on the Columbia and Snake rivers, around Puget Sound and in Alaska.
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The brief, widespread beachings of "gazillions" of purplish-blue jellyfish along the Pacific Northwest coast create a memorable sight for those who chance to be in the right place at the right time.
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This coming Sunday, March 21, will mark one year since the U.S. and Canada closed their shared border to nonessential crossings due to the pandemic. But every weekend, rain or shine, Peace Arch State Park in Blaine, Washington, becomes a meetup point for couples and families separated by the northern border.
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Residents of the Pacific Northwest will have to set their clocks ahead by an hour this weekend to move onto daylight saving time. The Oregon and Washington legislatures voted nearly two years ago to stay on daylight time year-round -- joined later by Idaho and British Columbia -- but still the biannual time change ritual and associated grumbling persists.
