skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Sunday, April 27, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

White House is 'close' on Japan, India tariff agreements but expect them to be light on specifics; Families in limbo following federal energy assistance program cuts- we have reports from NH and MD; NV adopted CA's 'clean car' standard, rule now under GOP examination.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Educators worry about President Trump's education plan, as federal judges block several of his executive orders. Battles over voting rules are moving in numerous courts. And FSU students protest a state bill lowering the age to buy a gun.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Migration to rural America increased for the fourth year, technological gaps handicap rural hospitals and erode patient care, and doctors are needed to keep the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians healthy and align with spiritual principles.

WA Celebrates Legacy of Justice Tom Chambers

play audio
Play

Thursday, January 9, 2014   

SEATTLE - Retired state Supreme Court Justice Tom Chambers, who died of cancer on Dec. 11, is being honored today. From working in his father's gas station in the Yakima Valley to 12 years on the state's highest court (2000-2012), Tom Chambers never forgot his roots and made a difference both on and off the bench, admirers said, as a mentor and a crusader for fairness in the judicial system.

A Seattle attorney and family friend, Lori Haskell, said one decision he was especially proud of spelled out the state's duties to children in foster care.

"They have a responsibility to give them a good life, you know - to not move them constantly, to keep them with the same family, to keep them in the same schools - to have stability," Haskell explained. "He charged the state with doing that."

Haskell noted that this case (Braam v. State of Washington) has had ramifications the state still wrestles with, and it was Chambers who reinforced foster children's constitutional rights.

Chambers had more in common with fellow Justice Mary Fairhurst than their Supreme Court seats: They both had cancer at the same time. Fairhurst said when his treatments wouldn't allow him to be at the court, Chambers sat in online; and when he wasn't able to speak, he wrote his questions and she would read them.

"I think it was just that shared recognition of how important it is that you do your job and you do it well," said Fairhurst. "And what trust the people instill in us, to be sure that justice is administered efficiently and well."

One of Chambers' opinions was cited this week in a New York Times article on the public defender system, which in many states is critically backlogged and underfunded.

Chambers and his wife of 46 years also were major donors to local groups helping lower-income Washingtonians with medical care and housing.

Today's memorial service is expected to be packed with a "who's who" of the Washington political community. It is set for 4 p.m. at the Museum of Flight, at Boeing Field.

More information about Justice Tom Chambers' life and career is online at http://tomchambers.com/.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $3.1 billion for "underserved farmers" and land access, according to the USDA. (Pixabay)

Environment

play sound

Frozen federal grants have thrown a South Florida farm training program into chaos, leaving a nonprofit scrambling to salvage it after sudden funding …


Environment

play sound

North Dakota lawmakers have opted to side with farm chemical manufacturers facing legal challenges about the safety of their products. The state has …

play sound

It has been a busy week for supporters of higher education in Illinois, with two separate protests at Northern Illinois University and Northeastern …


Social Issues

play sound

More than 60 Pennsylvania counties do not have enough public defenders for their caseloads, forcing some, including in Erie County, to each handle …

Originally operated by Entergy, Palisades was acquired by Holtec International in June 2022.
(JHVEPhoto/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

The owner of Michigan's Palisades Nuclear Plant is getting another $47 million to restart the facility. It is the third installment of a $1.5 …

Environment

play sound

Next week, Congress is expected to vote on whether to roll back states' authority to set their own clean car and truck standards. Research shows …

Health and Wellness

play sound

The Alaska branch of the American Heart Association is helping save lives by teaching the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021