Northwest (OR WA)

"Seattle's mayor is losing sleep over the unusually hot, dry weather that is causing a run on air conditioners and fans in the famously rainy city."

"The site of some of the fiercest environmental wars over water in recent years is now the subject of a federal investigation into millions of dollars that whistleblowers say were intended to secure water for drought-stricken fish but flowed instead to farmers and ranchers."

"In this hot, dry summer, even the Queets rain forest in Olympic National Park is burning. It’s a rare spectacle, but one that could become more common with climate change."

"A helicopter pilot who repeatedly flew over Curry County homes while spraying herbicides on clear cuts in 2013, drawing 20 complaints of illness, will not face any monetary fine from the state."

"The West is baking under a heat dome that has sent temperatures soaring to historically high levels, further drying out soils and priming the region for fast-spreading wildfires. The heat wave is noteworthy for its severity, extent and duration."

"A wildfire burning unchecked in Washington state has destroyed at least 23 homes and three commercial buildings near the eastern foothills of the Cascades, state police and emergency management officials said on Monday."

"The West Coast is experiencing the largest bloom of toxic algae in more than a decade, prompting wide-ranging closures of commercial crab and shellfish harvesting."

"After a long delay, the Obama administration has signaled that it’s ready to launch talks with Canada to renew the 51-year-old Columbia River Treaty, a controversial pact that created dams for electricity and flood control in the Pacific Northwest."

"A new oil refinery is the last thing you might expect Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration to be courting. After all, Inslee has developed a national reputation as a champion of curbing the use of fossil fuels."

"Bears, cougars, elk and even lizards will be getting a bridge of their own in Washington state so some of the region's largest and most endangered wildlife can safely cross a major highway."