Sarah Leibovitz

The Enchantments are on the up and up. Or at least, things are looking better than last year. The 18-mile stretch in the Cascades has long been a popular destination for hikers and backpackers in Washington. But federal cuts and staffing shortages last year made the Enchantments pretty disenchanting. In 2025, only one ranger was in charge of patrolling the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest - which spans 900 miles. That made trail maintenance really difficult.

Every week we talk about the most fascinating stories in the news and what they say about the Pacific Northwest. We call it Front Page. It’s our chance to talk about the latest news with a rotation of plugged-in journalists and guests, taking a look at the headlines from the weekend and the stories that we'll be following as the week moves forward.

For Sonia Raman, becoming head coach of a WNBA basketball team wasn’t originally in the plans. Sure, she grew up playing the sport. But when her college career ended, she went on to earn a JD/a degree from Boston College Law School. And then, she did what many of us do: she got a regular office job. So how do you go from working for the US Department of Labor, to starting this year as head coach for the Seattle Storm?