The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
76°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now
Orion Donovan Smith

Orion Donovan Smith

Current Position: reporter

Orion Donovan Smith came to The Spokesman-Review in June 2020 through a grant received from the Report for America reporter program. He is the legislative reporter in our Washington, DC Bureau.

Email
orionds@spokesman.com
Phone
(202) 853-2524

All Stories

News >  Nation

Former news anchor and GOP chair helps Washington Republicans stay on message at RNC

MILWAUKEE – The Republican National Convention is teeming with journalists eager to interview the thousands of delegates and other party faithful in attendance. Unlike many other states, Washington’s delegation doesn’t include members of Congress or other statewide elected officials with experience talking to the news media, but it does have a secret weapon to help them deliver the message of GOP unity that has defined the convention.
News >  WA Government

Washington delegation arrives at Republican National Convention confident and fired up

MILWAUKEE – Over breakfast at their hotel on Monday, Washington state’s delegation began the first day of the Republican National Convention with a prayer acknowledging the shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania two days earlier that left one supporter of former President Donald Trump dead and two others wounded, while Trump himself seemingly escaped death by mere inches as a bulletpierced his ear.
News >  WA Government

Patty Murray urges Biden to ‘preserve his incredible legacy’ while Adam Smith tells him to drop out

WASHINGTON – Rep. Adam Smith on Monday called for President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid, becoming the first Washington state member of Congress to join a small but growing number of Democrats publicly advocating for their party to choose a different standard bearer in the wake of a debate performance that raised questions about Biden’s fitness to serve another term in office.
News >  WA Government

How could Trump’s conviction play into races in Washington?

Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in a New York City court prompted a flood of speculation about what the outcome means for the former president’s bid to return to the White House in the November election. But Thursday’s verdict seems likely to have ripple effects in races farther down Washington state’s ballot.
News >  Military

VA has approved 1 million claims under landmark toxic exposure law, but more veterans and survivors are eligible

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In less than two years since Congress passed a landmark bill to expand benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxins in the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs said last week that it passed a milestone of 1 million claims approved under the new law, including more than 22,500 in Washington state and nearly 6,500 in Idaho.
News >  Nation/World

Northwest lawmakers help Congress pass $95 billion package to aid Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan – and force the sale of TikTok

WASHINGTON – The Senate on Tuesday passed a sweeping $95 billion national security bill that includes long-delayed aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, along with humanitarian aid for Palestinians, sanctions on Iran and measures that could lead to a U.S. ban of TikTok if its Chinese parent company doesn’t sell the popular app.
News >  Sci/Tech

Cantwell, McMorris Rodgers strike bipartisan deal on landmark data privacy bill

WASHINGTON – Since the dawn of the internet age, tech companies have developed increasingly sophisticated ways to collect and use vast swaths of Americans' personal data, while Congress has repeatedly failed to regulate the practice. Now, two Washington state lawmakers have a bipartisan plan to break that impasse and set a national standard for data privacy.
News >  WA Government

Two years after Russian invasion, fate of U.S. aid for Ukraine lies with House Republicans

WASHINGTON – Saturday marked a grim anniversary for the people of Ukraine, two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country and a decade after the Kremlin invaded and eventually annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, kicking off a bloody imperial project founded on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s belief that Ukraine never should have become its own country.