Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell says police sexual assault staffing woes, case backlog ‘unacceptable’
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said Thursday the Seattle Police Department’s critically low staffing in its sexual assault unit was “unacceptable,” following an internal memo published by The Seattle Times and KUOW showing that it had stopped investigating most new sexual assault cases involving adults this year. Advocates and personnel within the department had raised concerns about these issues for months. In the wake of the story, advocates said they felt “gaslit” by public officials’ responses when they assured them they stood with survivors of sexual assault. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Daniel Kim/The Seattle Times)
Inslee: Feds need to increase nuclear waste cleanup funds
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who has recently criticized the slow pace of cleaning up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, toured the former nuclear weapons production site on Thursday and said more federal money is needed to finish the job. Hanford created more than two-thirds of the nation’s plutonium for nuclear weapons, including the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of World War II. Left behind was the most contaminated nuclear site in the nation. Continue reading at The Olympian. (AP/Ted S. Warren)
MultiCare set to pay $42M in wage-and-hours settlement; terms to be finalized in August
A Tacoma health system is set to pay millions in a class-action settlement over lost wages regarding meals and rest breaks in a lawsuit brought by two former workers. Tacoma-based MultiCare Health System has agreed to pay $42 million to settle the lawsuit brought by lead plaintiffs Tabitha Koshman and Jodi Schreiner. Thousands of health care workers are covered by the settlement. Continue reading at Tacoma News Tribune.
Associated Press
Inslee: Feds need to increase nuclear waste cleanup funds
Bellingham Herald
Rising interest rates usually cool a housing market. Here’s what’s happening in Whatcom
150 guns removed from home after this felony harassment arrest by Whatcom deputies
This environmentally friendly Bellingham business buys another firm, leading to further growth
Everett Herald
Everett council approves fare-free bus rides for youths
Workers at an Everett Starbucks vote to unionize
Everett Transit drivers, maintenance workers get pay bumps
Q&A: ‘Hard choices’ for new Marysville superintendent amid $13.5M in cuts
Letter: Few changes might reduce bloodshed
Letter: NRA, gun lobby barrier to stopping gun violence
Kitsap Sun
Nonprofit helps formerly incarcerated firefighters in California, Northwest get jobs
News Tribune
Man assaulted Josh Harris with SUV before the political candidate shot him, charges say
MultiCare set to pay $42M in wage-and-hours settlement; terms to be finalized in August
Voting, firearm rights are allowed for ex-felons in WA. Here’s what else the state allows
Josh Harris lost his right to own guns after 2003 felony. Here’s how he got it restored
Olympian
After recusals and anger, Lacey council votes 3-1 to approve Meridian Market and Gas
Thurston County Commissioners oppose DNR’s plans to cut trees near Summit Lake
Puget Sound Business Journal
Amazon retail CEO Dave Clark steps down
Microsoft president weighs in on rising popularity of unions
Return of downtown Seattle office workers expected to gain steam, DSA says
As Paine Field marks milestone, clearer picture of economic impact emerges
Seattle Times
In West Seattle, crusade saves old tree from city’s chain saw
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell says police sexual assault staffing woes, case backlog ‘unacceptable’
Elliott Bay Book Co. sold to longtime manager, Capitol Hill bar and business owners
WA rolls out emergency heat protections for outdoor workers: ‘These new rules are strong’
King County rolls out plan for free youth transit fares
Woman struck in eye with ‘rubber bullet’ during Seattle BLM protests files federal civil-rights lawsuit
Opinion: The fight for queer rights continues
Opinion: Inclusion means everyone deserves same opportunities and celebrations
Skagit Valley Herald
Threat from European green crab continues
Sol De Yakima
Yakima Humane Society busca familias de acogida para aliviar hacinamiento en refugio
Nueva directora ejecutiva de las Bibliotecas del Valle de Yakima tiene raíces en el valle de Yakima
Opinion: ¿Listo para disfrutar el verano con las bibliotecas?
South Seattle Emerald
Breaking: Texts Show Fmr. SPD Chief Best Involved in Plan to Abandon East Precinct
Spokesman Review
Washington’s Saharsh Vuppala places fourth in revamped National Spelling Bee that focuses on far more than memorization
Woodward vetoes yard watering ordinance: ‘That’s not the community I want to live in’
Grilling safety: With more use of barbecues and smokers, here’s how to prevent emergency calls
Washington Post
Young men, guns and the prefrontal cortex
Grim stretch of American shootings continues at a church and a funeral
Zelensky defiant as Ukraine marks 100 days of war, while Russia vows to continue ‘until all goals’ achieved
Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro charged with contempt of Congress
Unemployment rate stays steady at pandemic low of 3.6 percent
Pandemic disrupted learning for U.S. teens, but not evenly, poll shows
Broadcast
KING 5 TV (NBC)
Snohomish County residents, groups express what they still need for pandemic recovery
King County schools face mental and behavioral health crisis
Those displaced by Whatcom County floods facing mental health struggles as recovery drags on
‘I am almost numb’: Interfaith march, vigil in Seattle honors victims of recent mass shootings
Surgeon killed in Tulsa shooting formerly worked at Swedish Medical Center
For the first time, a Pride flag flies over Vancouver City Hall
KIRO 7 TV (CBS)
Groups, students calling for action on National Gun Violence Awareness Day
Concerns over housing purchased for Seattle homeless
Former patients remember Dr. Preston Phillips, one of the four victims of Tulsa mass shooting
Seattle buildings to light up orange to recognize Gun Violence Awareness Day
Man fatally shot by officers in Kent was wanted in California murder case
Man shot multiple times in Renton
Man arrested in connection with shooting of four teens in Tacoma last month
Preparing Washington for another wildfire season
City of Seattle to void parking tickets issued between September and April
KOMO 4 TV (ABC)
19-year-old man held in Tacoma drive-by shooting that left 4 injured, police say
‘It’s time to act’: President Biden makes plea for Congress to pass stricter gun laws
Washington state blood banks see urgent need for donors as supplies reach low levels
Washington group fined for meritless voter fraud lawsuit
KNKX Public Radio
Listen: Why Seattle police have stopped investigating new reports of adult sexual assaults
KXLY (ABC)
Mayor Woodward vetoes water restriction ordinance
Spokane City Council to consider overriding mayor’s veto of water restriction ordinance
Q13 TV (FOX)
Over 900 drivers failed to pull over for troopers since January, report says
Bird flu found in ducks, geese at Bellevue and Seattle parks
Seattle PD unveils plan to tackle sexual assault investigations backlog caused by staff shortage
Olympia students walk out in protest of gun violence
Seattle store manager taking matters into his own hands with constant crime
Seattle police: 2 suspects shot a man, leaving him blind in one eye, during attempted carjacking
Seattle cruise travel up 50% from 2019, COVID cases not deterring passengers
Some civilians take crime-solving into their own hands, but officials warn this is not the answer
Web
Axios
Stretched-thin cops failing to take reports from rape victims
More finger-pointing over deleted text messages, but no probe
Crosscut
Trans and queer youth in Central Washington build community
WA hired a climate epidemiologist — and not a moment too soon
Working with a doula can be life-changing for mothers of color
The Stranger
Did Our Last Mayor Commit a Felony?