Austin Jenkins
Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."
Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise.
Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. In 2019, he received his Master of Communication in Digital Media from the University of Washington Communication Leadership program.
Austin's reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists. Austin was part of a team that won a 2018 national Edward R. Murrow award for breaking news coverage.
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Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson's lawsuit has led to a temporary halt of the Trump administration's ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries. -
Voters in Washington state will decide whether to privatize the sale of hard liquor on Tuesday. Currently spirits can be sold only at state-run or contract liquor stores. Retail giant Costco has been pouring money — about $22 million — into advertising in favor of getting the initiative passed.
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The Justice Department is launching a new public information campaign into the investigation of the decade-old murder of Tom Wales. The federal prosecutor was shot in his home on Seattle on Oct. 11, 2001. The FBI suspects that people have more information — they're just not sharing. -
Think of it as malpractice insurance for fire bosses. U.S. Forest Service managers are buying liability insurance policies to protect themselves if they are investigated or prosecuted for their decisions about fires.
