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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Albert sensors alert local governments to potential hacking attempts. But in Washington state, this cybersecurity tool has become the subject of suspicion by some on the political right. -
There's a national shortage of 911 operators. In Washington state, the situation is so dire that it closed a rural dispatch center. In addition to recruiting, technology might be a longer-term fix.
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Vice President Mike Pence travels to Pierce County, Wash., to access the status of the coronavirus in the state.
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Washington passed a law this week to create a new kind of public health insurance. It could inspire other states to try such a plan, but consumers might be in for a reality check. -
A man stole an airplane Friday night from Sea-Tac airport. Planes in the area were grounded and two F-15s responded from Portland before the plane crashed on a nearby island.
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Instead of soaring towers with antennas on top, future cell sites will adorn power poles and streetlights owned by cities and towns that are wary of turning them over to wireless companies. -
Telecom companies are aggressively lobbying state lawmakers across the country as the industry prepares to roll out the next generation of wireless technology.
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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. -
Washington state's first recreational pot shops open for business Tuesday. The Northwest News Network's Austin Jenkins reports on the lengthy process to get to the day's store openings.
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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.
