Jonathan Kaminsky, a reporter who has covered state government and breaking news in Washington state, and who has also worked in Florida, Minnesota and the South Pacific, will help The Associated Press cover the 2013 Washington state Legislature.

Kaminsky, 34, joined AP's Olympia staff on Monday. He is a graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., where he majored in international studies. He also earned a master's degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

He has worked at the Tampa Tribune, City Pages in Minneapolis, the Seattle Weekly, as a stringer for The AP in Palau, and as a temporary reporter for AP covering the 2012 Washington Legislature. He has also worked as a freelance reporter for Reuters, as well as an investigator for the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, probing misconduct allegations filed against police officers.