Open Government 2026

With interest rates still high, homebuyers and sellers alike are off to a somewhat disappointing start to 2026, not only here in the Northwest, but also across the country. So what are some incentive straggles that some sellers and buyers alike are using to buy or sell a home? On this edition of Northwest Now, we’ll have our annual checkup of the local real estate market. We’ll hear from Cheyenne Gallooly President of The Seattle King County Relators and Jenah Mahan President of the Tacoma Pierce County Association of Realtors and longtime Northwest Now guest, Robert Lipston Executive Vice President of Evergreen Home Loans.

Across America - taking about the resistance means protesting the Trump administration. But in Washington State, the Democrats have ruled state government for decades - and here, the resistance is made up of conservatives now going to court to fight the new income tax. That's part of the discussion on this edition of Northwest Now.

Tacoma has had three chiefs of the city's police department over the past six years, and that includes newly appointed chief Patti Jackson, the city's first female police chief. On this edition of Northwest Now, we'll sit down with Jackson to discuss her vision for the future of the Tacoma Police Department.

International opera star J'Nai Bridges was born and raised in the South Sound and she's sitting down with Northwest Now for a discussion about her Grammy-winning career and her journey from local kid, to the toast of opera halls around the world.

Believe it or not, some studies show that soccer is the third most popular sport here in the US - and that's why so many people are fired up about the World Cup - coming to Seattle in June. Will some of the joy spread to the South Sound - that's the discussion on this edition of Northwest Now.

Viewers of Jerry Wennstrom’s art might walk away inspired or disturbed – or both. From a hot New York painter to a homeless wanderer to a renown sculptor now in his second act - we're talking with Whidbey Island's Jerry Wennstrom on this edition of Northwest Now.

Tacoma still flies under the radar when people talk about the Pacific Northwest. But the people who know it - love it. That includes the city's new mayor Anders Ibsen who says public safety and homelessness are his two top priorities. That's the discussion on this edition of Northwest Now.

Legally required open government measures are supposed to help discourage corruption, until they're legislated away. Every now and then though, an average person gets wise, roots out exposes malfeasance. Those stories are at the heart of independent journalist and Syracuse University fellow Miranda Spivack's book, "Backroom Deals in Our Backyards - How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back" - on this edition of Northwest Now.

Some view Arthur West as a litigious thorn in the side of state and local governments, others see him as one of the most influential and effective open government activist in state history. It's a bit of a Rorschach test. We're talking with Arthur West on this edition of Northwest Now.

There are so many ongoing battles between transparency advocates and government, it's fair to say there's a clear cut effort underway to kill the public records act. That's part of the discussion on this edition of Northwest Now.