No Legal Pot Til Next Spring, WA Legislators Block Debate on Abortion Insurance – Northwest News Roundup April 17

Here is the latest breaking news from the Associated Press and Newstalk 870.

WA Liquor Control Board Delays State Pot Store Sales 'til Spring 2014

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state is delaying its timeline for granting marijuana growing and processing licenses — and that means legal marijuana sales likely won't begin before next spring. Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith says that rather than issue growing licenses this summer and processor licenses this fall, it will issue all licenses Dec. 1. Smith says the decision will help growers because they'll have a better picture of the business landscape before they begin growing.

WA GOP Delegation Blocks Discussion on Plan to Require Insurers to Cover Abortion

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Republican-dominated coalition in the Washington state Senate has blocked discussion on a plan to require insurers to cover abortion. Some Democrats in the Senate had made a motion this morning to take up an insurance bill ahead of a key cutoff, saying they planned to amend the measure to include the abortion rules.

Oregon Officials say Woman Killed by SUV Near Pendleton Was Trying to Exit Her Vehicle

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — State Police in northeast Oregon say a woman is dead after her SUV apparently ran over her. Lt. Greg Sherman says a woman who called 911 last night reported that a woman was trapped underneath a vehicle near Exit 193 off Interstate 84. The East Oregonian reports that first responders arrived to find the woman dead. The SUV had no apparent damage. Police say no one else was involved.

Authorities Still Waiting to Question Men Severely Injured in Homemade Bomb Explosion near Ontario OR.

ONTARIO, Ore. (AP) — Authorities hope two Eastern Oregon men who were severely injured by a homemade bomb can eventually explain what they were up to and why they were so close to the blast. The explosion occurred Sunday at a rural site in thinly populated Malheur County, where authorities found evidence of several devices made from plastic pipes, garden hose and cardboard tubes. The type of explosive used was not disclosed. The two were identified as 59-year-old Mark Brinton and 60-year-old Drex Brooks.