Washington

No. 18 Washington State goes into the final stretch with hopes for a rare Pac-12 title still alive

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2024

No. 18 Washington State goes into the final stretch with hopes for a rare Pac-12 title still alive

The list of regular-season basketball champions in the Pac-12 record book has plenty of mentions of teams like UCLA and Arizona.

For 83 years, however, Washington State has been absent.

This year’s Cougars — ranked No. 18 in this week’s AP Top 25 — need some help, but they will go into Thursday night’s regular-season finale against Washington with a chance to end that long drought and claim the title in the final year of the Pac-12 with its current membership.

“To finish this thing with Washington on our home floor; there’s always something at stake,” Washington State coach Kyle Smith said. “It’s a rivalry but then, you know, we’re still in the hunt to win the league, which is just incredible.”

There are plenty of storylines this week for the Cougars. It’s the last time they will face the Huskies in a regular-season game while both are members of the same conference. There’s also the broader NCAA Tournament implications, where one more win could help Washington State craft a resume that could help the Cougars land in nearby Spokane for the NCAAs.

Then there’s the Pac-12 title. The last time the Cougars won a conference regular-season title was 1941 — the year they reached the national championship game before losing to Wisconsin. They have finished second six times since 1941, the last coming in 2007.

The scenario for getting over the hump this year is straightforward. A win over Washington, plus one Arizona loss to either UCLA or Southern California, would hand the Cougars the long-elusive title. Washington State beat Arizona twice in the regular season, giving it the tiebreaker if the schools finish tied.

“It’ll be loud. It’ll be exciting. And I told our guys that I’ve been in coaching 31 years, not many, maybe a handful of times we’ve been in a game like this,” Smith said. “It’ll be exciting.”

Virtually every other long-time historical member of the West Coast’s top conference has been able to claim the regular-season title in men’s basketball during the Cougars’ drought.

UCLA has done it, of course — 32 times to be exact. So have USC (seven), California (15), Stanford (11), Washington (12), Oregon State (12) and Oregon (eight). Arizona’s won 17 regular-season titles since joining the league in 1978.

Arizona State, which also joined in 1978, doesn’t have a regular-season title. Neither do Utah or Colorado, who both came on board when the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011.

But Washington State’s drought is unmatched. The Cougars’ two regular-season titles – in 1917 and 1941 — are the same as the number of championships won by Idaho when it was a member of the conference.

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Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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Washington

Police finish DoorDash delivery after arresting driver in New Jersey

Published

8 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Police finish DoorDash delivery after arresting driver in New Jersey

WASHINGTON TWP., N.J. — Officers in Washington Township, said they finished a DoorDash food delivery after arresting the driver who had warrants out for his arrest.

Body camera video shows officers stepping in to deliver the food themselves, a move the department in southern New Jersey later shared on its Facebook page.

“I thought something happened. Oh my God, I got so scared,” said the customer when she answered the door.

The DoorDash customer, seen on police body cam video, was instantly relieved and appreciative upon learning why officers were at her door.

“Arrested your driver, but, yeah, we delivered your food,” one of the officers said.

It turns out a Washington Township police officer stopped the DoorDash driver during routine patrols in front of a high school over the weekend.

“He made a stop on it for a violation,” said Washington Township Police Chief Patrick Gurcsik.

But then, Chief Gurcsik said the officer learned the driver had warrants out for his arrest in another county.

“He made the officers aware that he had two DoorDash meals in the car that he was in the middle of delivering,” Gurcsik said.

The officers went from cuffing the driver to ringing a doorbell to finish his delivery.

“I never heard of anything like that in the South Jersey area. It’s sort of a first for us here in Washington Township, definitely,” Gurcsik said.

Police finish DoorDash delivery after arresting driver in New Jersey

It’s happened in other places, too, including in New Mexico last summer, when a motorcycle cop delivered someone’s Chick-fil-A order after arresting the driver.

“Hello, sir, got your DoorDash. Oh, thank you,” the officer said. “He’s a good kid, give him five stars. He just didn’t take care of a simple insurance ticket.”

And officers over in Arizona made a similar arrest during a traffic stop and were seen on body camera finishing the delivery.

“Your GrubHub, still delivered your pizza,” the officer said.

“We definitely serve the community in more ways than one,” Gurcsik said.

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Washington

Holdout Democrats leave WA House support for income tax in doubt

Published

20 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Holdout Democrats leave WA House support for income tax in doubt

The votes weren’t there yet late Wednesday for Democrats’ income tax bill in the Washington state House.Democratic members are withholding support for the proposed income tax on millionaires, saying they want to see if a new version of the controversial legislation, possibly due out Thursday, will satisfy their concerns.

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Washington

Bill strengthening Washington child sex abuse material laws focuses on consciousness, AI

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Bill strengthening Washington child sex abuse material laws focuses on consciousness, AI

SEATTLE — A bill aimed at tightening Washington’s laws on child sex abuse material is headed to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk after clearing the Legislature unanimously.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said 2ESSB 5105 passed the House unanimously Tuesday night after the Senate unanimously approved it on Jan. 28, 2026.

SEE ALSO | Washington exempts clergy from reporting abuse learned in confession after settlement

Manion called the measure one of her public safety legislative priorities.

“People who peddle in the misery of sexually abused children must be held accountable,” Manion said. “I am grateful for the work of Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Laura Harmon – both in prosecuting these cases and advocating for these legal fixes – and Senators Tina Orwall and Manka Dhingra for championing this legislation.”

Manion’s office said the current state law has gaps that can prevent prosecutors from holding offenders accountable in some cases.

Under current law, prosecutors cannot charge defendants for creating images of child sex abuse unless the child victim was conscious or knew they were being recorded.

The office also said that possessing sexually explicit fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors is not considered child sex abuse material under Washington law.

The bill would update RCW 9.68A.040 to remove the requirement that a child be aware of an abusive recording. It would also update the definition of child sex abuse material to include fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors.

The legislation would also increase the statute of limitations to 10 years for depiction crimes. Manion’s office said the current statute of limitations is three years, and argued that because the images can remain online indefinitely, victims can be re-traumatized for decades.

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