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Licensed outdoor marijuana grows may be allowed in Washington after all.

Staff at the state’s Liquor Control Board said Wednesday they’ve been persuaded by potential growers to consider alternatives to energy-intensive indoor pot production.

Meanwhile, medical marijuana patients rallied at the state Capitol in opposition possible new restrictions on them.

The Army is planning to spend $26 million on a new National Guard facility in Tacoma. The readiness center would bring the Guard back to the city after leaving its historic Armory two years ago.

Congressman Derek Kilmer, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, joined Reps. Adam Smith and Denny Heck in pushing the Army to fund the new center. He said the Tacoma project is a high priority, even in an atmosphere of military budget cuts.

Kim Thompson, co-publisher of influential Seattle-based publisher Fantagraphics Books — known for celebrated alternative comics, graphic novels and comic strip anthologies — has died.

Fantagraphics announced Thompson's death Wednesday, four months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was 56.

Fans spoke, and apparently Microsoft listened.

In a reversal of the company's previous position, Microsoft announced Wednesday that its forthcoming Xbox One gaming console would no longer require a regular Internet connection and would not restrict used or shared games.

Since the system was revealed in May and at its big presentation at E3

Washington’s delegation to the Paris Air Show is trying to persuade more European aerospace companies to do business here. They're finding that European companies are receptive, in part because they want to do business in dollars.

A vaccine against human papillomavirus — the most common sexually transmitted infection and the cause of almost all cervical cancer — is dramatically reducing the prevalence of HPV in teenage girls.

The first vaccine against HPV, Merck's Gardasil, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006.

Washington state's labor market continues to improve slowly, according to the latest unemployment rate released Wednesday. The state's Employment Security Department said the jobless rate for May ticked down two-tenths of a percent from April to land on 6.8 percent.

State labor economist Paul Turek says it's the first time since late 2008 that the unemployment rate stood below 7 percent.

What's at stake: Between 4 million and 10 million more hungry people overseas could be fed -- for the same amount of money -- if proposed changes are enacted, according to experts at a leading anti-poverty think tank, Center for Global Development. Continue reading →

Here’s the plan. China wants to move 250,000,000 people out of its rural areas and into cities within the next 15 years. There are 316 million people in the United States. China’s plan is to move nearly as many people as the world’s third most populous country. To do so, China is undertaking a massive … Continue reading →

As the NY Times reports: The United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday that an estimated 7.6 million people around the globe were displaced because of conflict or persecution in 2012, including 1.1 million refugees and 6.5 million people who were displaced within their own countries. Thomson Reuters puts it visually:   Continue reading →

Charles Darwin once observed that much of life on Earth thrives thanks to a frighteningly thin veneer of topsoil – which grows most of our food and produces much of our atmosphere, among othert things. Soil is different than sand and dust. And, as this short article points out, we’re losing it an alarming rate. … Continue reading →

A very interesting story by the Boston Globe focused on the largely unknown country of Western Sahara:  “A former Spanish colony now annexed and ruled by neighboring Morocco, this territory has been waiting four decades for a shot at independence it was promised but never received” Source: Bostonglobe This year marks the 40th anniversary of … Continue reading →

The man who identified the quietest place in the Lower 48—dubbed the "One Square Inch of Silence"—is going deaf.

This Olympic Peninsula fellow campaigned against noise pollution, particularly at his symbolic spot in the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. The self-described "Sound Tracker" is now in a race to edit his life's work before he loses more of his hearing.

The glass is at least half full in Africa’s fight against poverty, reports Deutsche Welle. Source: Dw Even though Africa will most likely not meet all eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, the continent has shown remarkable progress. But Africa still lags when it comes to targets like eradicating poverty. Fifteen African countries are … Continue reading →

Somali militants attack UN compound, 22 dead (Reuters) — Islamist militants carried out a deadly assault on the main U.N. compound in the Somali capital on Wednesday, dealing a blow to fragile security gains that have allowed a slow return of foreign aid workers and diplomats. Brazil’s protests continue and spread (AP) — More than … Continue reading →

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nStp4urqcM

Italy's high court has explained why it reversed the acquittal of American student Amanda Knox, saying the decision acquitting her of murder was full of contradictions.

In March, the Court of Cassation overturned Knox's acquittal in the 2007 murder of flatmate Meredith Kercher and ordered a new trial. On Tuesday, the high court issued its written reasoning for doing so.

Traffic began rolling across the repaired Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River Wednesday morning, completing a hasty, around-the-clock salvage and reconstruction job.

The repair started less than four weeks ago after an oversize load brought down the vital bridge.  Northwest Washington drivers and businesses are relishing a return to normal.

While the American Medical Association may not have the clout it once did, it's still the largest single group of doctors making waves about health and the practice of medicine.

So it's not nothing when the AMA's House of Delegates approves a measure to label obesity a disease.

I knew that  recipe was dangerous the moment I saw it. Six Thai peppers? A half cup of chile oil? And that was just the start of the hot stuff. Naturally, I couldn't wait to make it. 

Because he'll eat anything (except tofu), I invited Weekend Edition host Kevin Kniestedt over to have some. We were in agony. And we couldn't stop. Maybe you'd like to try it.