(PHOENIX, Az.) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday signed repeal legislation of a long dormant, near-total abortion ban that was recently revived by the state Supreme Court, stirring widespread controversy and debate. Hobbs’ signature will reverse the pending reactivation of the restrictive abortion law that dates to 1864 — but it won’t do so immediately. Instead, the ban, which was ruled last month to be enforceable by the Arizona Supreme Court in light of the U.S. Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade in 2022, cannot be struck down by the new repeal law until 90 days after the Arizona Legi ..read more

(The Center Square) – Hikers have more to watch out for than bears this summer. Washington state’s gray wolf population has increased over the last 15 years, said Julie Smith, endangered species recovery section manager for the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, during Wednesday’s episode of “The Impact” on TVW. In fact, the gray wolf population jumped by 20% alone in 2023, she said, with packs now moving south of Interstate 90 and further into the western half of the state. At the end of 2023, WDFW and tribes around the state counted 260 wolves and 42 packs, according to the depart ..read more

(The Center Square) – Washington Republican candidate for governor Dave Reichert is blasting Gov. Jay Inslee over ongoing issues plaguing Washington State Ferries. “With nearly 40% of the vessels in the Washington State Ferries fleet out of service, I’m calling on Inslee to take immediate action on the mismanaged nightmare that happened on your watch,” a news release from Reichert’s campaign said. The news release went on to say, “The current administration has decided to just let the ferry system deteriorate purposefully because they have planned to transfer to electric ferries.” Reichert ela ..read more

(SANTA CRUZ, Ca.) — The captain of a scuba dive boat that caught fire off the California coast in 2019, killing 34 people, was sentenced to four years in federal prison on Thursday, according to ABC Los Angeles station KABC. The sentence also included three years of supervised release, KABC reported. A federal jury found Jerry Boylan, 70, of Santa Barbara, guilty of seaman’s manslaughter in November 2023 in connection with the deadly boat fire. Boylan was the captain of the Conception, a 75-foot boat that caught fire while it was docked at Platt’s Harbor near Santa Cruz Island during a scuba d ..read more

Jordan Davis is dropping a live acoustic recording of his song, “Church in a Chevy,” on Friday. You can hear a preview of it now on X, formerly known as Twitter. Mickey Guyton is “working on something really special” and has invited her fans in New York City to be part of it. If you’ll be in the Big Apple on May 8, you can register for a chance to be a part of Mickey’s surprise project at set.fan. Scotty McCreery recently performed “Fall of Summer” from his forthcoming album, Rise & Fall, on The Kelly Clarkson Show. You can watch his full performance now on YouTube. Speaking ..read more

(The Center Square) – The Spokane County Board of Commissioners has voted to renew funding for an organization that relocates homeless individuals to other communities. The Tuesday decision follows similar allocations dating back to 2022, when Spokane County made its first contribution of $20,000. It was matched again in 2023 to help “continue building momentum on the program’s success,” according to a Spokane County news release. This year’s allocation to the Volunteers of America’s Homeward Bound Program was $30,000, totaling $70,000 over the past three years. “This investment means people e ..read more

Jon Bon Jovi has given fans some hope that a new Bon Jovi tour may be happening in the near future. The rocker previously revealed that he is still recovering from surgery for atrophied vocal cords and that he wouldn’t tour again unless his voice was back 100%. In a new interview with Planet Rock, he seems to suggest he’s close to getting there. Jon’s surgery and recovery are detailed in the recently released Hulu docuseries Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Story, but Jon says what fans see in the series covers things that happened up to two years ago. “It’s been a slog,” he ..read more

Billy Idol is opening up to People about his path to sobriety, revealing that he’s currently “California sober.”  The rocker says he decided “not be a drug addict anymore” after he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in 1990, but his sobriety didn’t happen overnight.  “It took a long time, but gradually I did achieve some sort of discipline where I’m not really the same kind of guy I was in the ’80s,” he says. “I’m not the same drug addicted person.” “I mean, AA would say, ‘You’re always a drug addict.’ And that may be true, but I don’t do anything that much anymore ..read more

Airbnb is already known for providing a home away from home for millions of travelers around the world, but its new Icons listings are for more than resting your head.  After all, what fan wouldn’t want to stay in the X-Men ’97 mansion? Or stay in the home owned by Prince as seen in Purple Rain?  Or maybe you’d like to sleep in that balloon-festooned floating house from Disney/Pixar’s UP?  All those and more will now be available to the public — along with once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like hanging with Kevin Hart or sitting in on a living room performance with Doja ..read more

(The Center Square) – Farmers in the central and eastern portions of Washington state are hoping recent developments related to the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program will mean the eventual completion of canal systems to supply water from the Grand Coulee Dam. In the meantime, farmers have been relying on deep wells they’ve been given permission to drill as a temporary measure. The Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program is a regional effort building infrastructure for farmers to exchange groundwater rights for promised Columbia Basin Project water. Part of region’s irrigation water is supp ..read more