The National Weather Service office providing forecasts and hazardous weather warnings for the greater Tri-Cities area will no longer be staffed at night because of the Trump administration's job cuts and a federal hiring freeze.

The office in Pendleton, Oregon serves one of the largest areas outside of Alaska. Its Washington state service area includes Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, Yakima, Columbia, Kittitas, and Klickitat counties. It also covers 11 counties in Eastern Oregon, including Umatilla and Morrow counties.

US Rep. Michael Baugmartner came to Walla Walla this morning, had four private meetings, and tried to avoid contact with the general public or voters.

Nonetheless, the Walla Walla Democrats and constituents were delighted to let Michael know what they thought of the job he's been doing as our Congressman for the last 126 days.

Here is Kari Isaacson’s report from the picket line.

A federal judge in Vermont ordered the Trump administration on Friday to release Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University student whose sudden arrest in March led to a public outcry.

The judge, William K. Sessions III, said Ms. Ozturk should be freed immediately. “Her continued detention cannot stand,” Judge Sessions said, adding that her continued detention “potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens.”

US Rep. Michael Baumgartner is visiting Walla Walla today, stopping at the Union-Bulletin, Walla Walla High School, the Jonathan Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. He is not attending any meetings to which the public is invited.

The Walla Walla Democrats invite their constituents and the public to gather at the US Army Corps of Engineers headquarters at 2:00 pm today to protest Baumgartner’s lock-step support of Trump’s undemocratic agenda and reckless policies.

Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, was breezing toward the office elevator in his signature trench coat in February when he passed a group of about 10 young prosecutors preparing to leave, framed diplomas and keepsakes in hand.

“Whoa, what’s going on here?” Mr. Martin asked with a chuckle, seemingly oblivious to who they were and where they were going, according to people with knowledge of the exchange.

Washington joined a coalition of states in suing the Trump administration Monday over the deep cuts and layoffs at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, which they say have torn the department apart, depriving it of the resources needed to do its job.

“Over the course of a few days in late March and early April, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismantled the Department in violation of Congress’s instructions, the U.S. Constitution, and the many statutes that govern the Department’s programs,” the lawsuit, filed in federal District Court in Rhode Island, says.

U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner is planning introductory meetings with staff at the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center and the Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District on Friday, May 9.

The meetings will not be public. Instead, they’re a chance for Baumgartner to get to know the leadership and staff of the agencies, spokesperson Andrew Rolwes said.

The Supreme Court decided Tuesday that the Trump administration may reinstate its ban on transgender people serving in the military, blocking a lower court order out of Washington state. 

The emergency ruling, which was unsigned and did not include a reason for allowing the ban to move forward, takes immediate effect and will remain in place while legal challenges proceed.