I'm Tracci Dial, your new host for the new NWPB Weekly News Now series in the new year.

I serve as the multimedia news director here at Northwest Public Broadcasting As we embrace the new year.

It's also a time to reflect.

The powerhouse team of journalists we have worked so hard to dig into the heart of what's happening in our communities.

I'll share some of their stories right here every weekend.

For now, let's take a look back at some of the most impactful pieces of 2023.

One of them, this multimedia collaboration on the search for possible Yakama Nation remains, both ancient and more recent, at Fort Simcoe Historical State Park in central Washington.

I think that we, myself and others that work on this are exactly who our ancestors prayed for.

To one day help solve and bring to light some of the atrocities and horrible things that happened.

Also, Dayton, a microcosm of a larger debate across the country.

The eastern Washington small town library was at the center of a court case and almost made it onto the ballot on a decision to close it over challenged books.

And a year after the Dobbs decision, women in Idaho suing the state over controversies surrounding abortion laws.

Over on the west side of the Northwest... an industrious town loses a paper mill.

Did it end the so-called Tacoma aroma?

I think the original saying was that it smells like jobs.

And I don't think Tacoma at its core is going to let that slip away.

We are a gritty, blue collar town that prides itself on local labor and invention and creation.

And more than a year has passed since the deaths of four University of Idaho students.

This special page commemorates the Forever Vandals and has updates on the case still going through the Moscow courts.

Also, we work hard to bring you information in both English and Spanish.

My colleague Johanna Bejarano Will have your weekly news in Spanish.

She filed this story back in the spring.

The pride of Pasco, a young man bringing his soccer talents to the national pitch.

To read more about all of these stories, watch video, see timelines and pictures, go to our social media pages, YouTube and our website for Northwest Public Broadcasting.

That's NWPB.org.