John Ryan

An oil train derailment near Seattle is under investigation. In late 2020, 10 tanker cars went off the rails. Now, the rail workers unions says they believe the disaster was caused by sabotage.

The consulate closes Friday under orders from the White House. In addition, 60 Russian officials are being expelled from the U.S. because of the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter.

The move comes seven months after an ill-fated fish farm collapsed, releasing as many as 250,000 of the nonnative fish into areas where wild Pacific salmon are already struggling to survive.

Historical photos show fishermen with chinooks almost as tall as they are. A century's worth of dam-building, overfishing, habitat loss and hatcheries has cut the size of the average fish in half.

Officials blame the failure of a pen near Washington's Cypress Island on high tides caused by the eclipse, but that is being questioned. Fishing boats are scrambling to catch as many as possible.

Member station KUCB tagged along with a meteorologist at one of America's most remote weather stations. This story originally aired on Dec. 22, 2015, on All Things Considered.

Twice a day, like clockwork, people release balloons around the world at the same time. These balloons are scientific tools, and the people releasing them are meteorologists.

President Obama is visiting Alaska this week to highlight his push to fight global warming. Two weeks ago, the Obama administration approved drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean.

Seattle will be home port to a large Shell Oil Arctic drilling platform when it's not up in the Arctic Ocean. But the city and many residents aren't happy about it. The crowd chanted, "Shell No."

Even with vacancies, most Seattle shelters don't let families stay right away. A system designed to alleviate homelessness has resulted in a bottleneck that leaves families on the streets for longer.