From the ER to your house: Why hospitals are treating patients at home
The hospital-at-home movement has proliferated during the past decade, reshaping how acute care is delivered and health systems are financed. The federal government in 2020 eased regulations on home hospital programs to keep people out of facilities overwhelmed by covid cases. Now, health-care leaders are lobbying Congress for a five-year extension, a decision that could cement the rise of home hospital services — or make them a pandemic relic. Continue reading at The Washington Post. (Kieran Kesner)
State panel will begin review of building codes targeted by gas initiative
The state Building Code Council set out on a path Friday to ensure energy rules for new construction comply with provisions in the natural gas initiative Washington voters approved this month. Initiative 2066 takes aim at the state’s combination of regulations and laws to move swiftly away from natural gas toward technology like electric heat pumps. It was passing with 51.7% of the statewide vote on Friday. It would undo changes to the energy code approved by the state Building Code Council that went into effect in March. It also would repeal provisions in a state law, House Bill 1589, intended to accelerate Puget Sound Energy’s transition away from natural gas. Continue reading at The WA State Standard. (Bill Oxford)
Climate pollution surges in Washington state after pandemic lull
Though up-to-date information is hard to come by, energy use and climate-altering pollution appear to be on the rise again in Washington state. After sharply dropping 14% in 2020 with the reduced commuting and economic activity of the Covid-19 pandemic, the state’s carbon dioxide emissions have bounced back 7% since then, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The newly available data shows that impacts of the pandemic enabled Washington state to comply with its 2008 law mandating carbon dioxide emissions drop to 1990 levels by 2020. Continue reading at KUOW. (Megan Farmer)
Associated Press
New study shows voting for Native Americans is harder than ever
Aberdeen Daily World
Washington Farm Bureau honors Sen. Van De Wege
GOP Chair Walsh claims state turned ‘redder’ in General Election
Axios
What happened to the “Astra” tree
Seattle taps JumpStart tax to fill budget shortfall
Capital Press
Swinomish tribe seeks say in Skagit tide gate dispute
Everett Herald
Somers defends Snohomish County property tax hike amid criticism
Skykomish River project aims to create salmon habitat, reduce flooding
Thousands still without power in Snohomish County after bomb cyclone
Editorial: What saved climate act? Good sense and a Science Guy
Opinion: Lawmakers, wealthy should consider I-2109’s rejection
News Tribune
Plucking polluted pilings: 1,200 are being removed along Tacoma’s Ruston Way
Here’s who will be the next Gig Harbor mayor following Tracie Markley’s resignation
Man killed following high-speed pursuit in Spanaway. Driver hospitalized and in custody
Controversial homeless village breaks ground in Pierce County as picketers march nearby
Peninsula Daily News
Legislature to decide fate of miscalculation
Puget Sound Business Journal
Seattle’s new budget includes more funding for safety, housing
National company acquires Bellevue firm that specializes in data centers
Cornish College of the Arts sells Kerry Hall, its last building on Capitol Hill
Amazon pours another $4 billion into Anthropic, ramping up AI competition with Microsoft
Seattle Times
Seattle police accountability director resigns amid criticism
Seattle-area return-to-office mandates strain household budgets
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez wants to look at changing how we conduct elections
Spokesman Review
Medicare Advantage enrollees face declining coverage
Gov.-elect Ferguson names policy veteran as his budget director
Marcus Riccelli named to leadership post before first day in Senate (Riccelli, Randall, Pedersen)
Bird flu is racing through farms, but Northwest states are rarely testing workers
Idaho potato companies have been mashing consumers with price collusion, anti-trust suit alleges
Conservationist make last ditch effort to stop 1,000 homes being built on undeveloped Spokane woodland
Washington Post
‘A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’: The world’s fight to curb plastic waste
Climate talks reach finance deal blasted as inadequate by developing nations
Since the election, some disappointed in the results are tuning out the news entirely
Patients receiving at-home medical care may be forced back to hospitals with waiver expiring
WA State Standard
State panel will begin review of building codes targeted by gas initiative (Ramel)
Care providers for developmentally disabled people ask Legislature for more pay
WA agency seeks funding for new juvenile detention center as overcrowding persists
Broadcast
KING 5 TV (NBC)
Expect heavy traffic, increased patrols in Washington as holiday travel ramps up
Power restored to majority of Puget Sound Energy customers days after bomb cyclone
Enumclaw man describes ‘nightmare’ of stolen generator used to power ailing mother’s oxygen machine
KIRO 7 TV (CBS)
PSE restored 97% of customers power, thousands still in the dark
Suspect driver hospitalized after police chase leaves his passenger dead
Seattle deputy mayor: New SPD chief to be appointed before 2024 ends
Boeing awarded contract, tapped to build additional tankers for the Air Force
Dangerous roads: WSP patrol vehicles struck on three separate occasions in four hours
KNKX Public Radio
‘A perfect storm’: Inside Washington’s massive budget gap
KUOW Public Radio
Climate pollution surges in Washington state after pandemic lull
In Trump-leaning Yakima County, Latino voters express mixed feelings
Bird flu continues to spread in Washington state. What to know about the virus
KXLY (ABC)
‘Crucial steps’; Spokane group receives domestic violence prevention grant
Wet weather leads to parts of Spokane’s largest stormwater system to wash away
Web
Cascadia Daily News
Plan to kill thousands of barred owls raises question about removing one species to save another
MyNorthwest
Pierce County breaks ground on controversial new homeless village
One dead, two injured after police chase turned fatal on SR 7 in Spanaway
MultiCare Health Systems will overhaul procedures following investigation
The Urbanist
A First Look at Seattle Center Monorail Station’s Planned Access Upgrades
Washington Observer
Senate Democrats claim bigger share of Ways & Means (Van De Wege, Mullet, Pedersen, Bateman, Saldana, Frame, Keiser)
West Seattle Blog
DEVELOPMENT: How should Seattle’s Design Review program – once the main venue for public comment on projects – change?