Washington state’s minimum wage set to increase Jan. 1. Here’s how much it will change
Washington state’s minimum wage will rise to $16.66 an hour next year, a 2.35 percent increase over 2024, the state Department of Labor & Industries announced. The new wage takes effect Jan. 1, 2025. The minimum wage for the coming year is calculated using the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. L&I compares the CPI-W in the year-over-year period ending in August. Continue reading at The Olympian. (Mykola Sosiukin)
Washington counties drop mental health lawsuit against state
Twenty-eight Washington counties have dropped a lawsuit they filed last year against the Department of Social and Health Services over the state’s handling of certain patients seeking admission to its psychiatric hospitals. The counties sued the state last August in Pierce County Superior Court, concerned about psychiatric patients being sent back to their communities because there wasn’t room at Western State Hospital and other state facilities. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Ellen M. Banner)
The cost to ride a Washington state ferry goes up Tuesday. Here’s how much
The cost to ride a Washington state ferry goes up Tuesday, as rate increases approved back in 2023 will officially take effect. The Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) approved an overall 4.25% rate hike that went into effect on Oct. 1, 2023, with a second overall 4.25% increase to go into effect Oct. 1, 2024. For popular routes like Edmonds-Kingston, Seattle-Bremerton and Seattle-Bainbridge Island, the regular passenger fare will rise 40 cents to $10.25. Continue reading at King5. (King5)
Bellingham Herald
Washington State Ferries to increase prices Oct. 1. Here’s how much it will cost you now
With winter weather looming, Whatcom County doesn’t have site for a severe weather shelter
Capital Press
State ag officials blast EPA’s ‘insecticide strategy’
Kotek kick-starts multistate, tribal plan to increase native fish in Columbia basin
Columbian
Salmon lawsuit ends in settlement but tensions over hatcheries simmer
43 residential units, 33 businesses in Washington and Oregon could be hit by I-5 Bridge replacement
Everett Herald
As Boeing cuts health care, WA offers options for striking workers
Kitsap Sun
Unemployment claims in Washington increased last week
News Tribune
Tacoma Public Utilities employ five watershed inspectors to patrol the Green River Valley
Olympian
Washington state’s minimum wage set to increase Jan. 1. Here’s how much it will change
Puget Sound Business Journal
Lumen Field lands FIFA Club World Cup 2025 matches
Seattle Times
Is wildfire season over for WA?
WA ferry fares increase to make up for passenger decline
Washington counties drop mental health lawsuit against state
Abortion clinics — and patients — are on the move, as state laws keep shifting
Spokesman Review
62 insurance companies sue Inland Power over Gray fire losses
A stone-fruitless summer at Green Bluff transitions to a bountiful fall
Tri-City Herald
What changes are needed at this wildlife area popular with Tri-Cities residents?
Board rules on disputed plan to replace program for ‘neediest’ Kennewick students
WA State Standard
Minimum wage is going up in Washington. Here’s how much
Thousands of state and community college workers in WA reject new contract
Yakima Herald-Republic
Even after 2 years of drought, Central WA’s Roza Irrigation District can point to several successes
Broadcast
KING 5 TV (NBC)
Striking Boeing machinists losing company-paid health care coverage
One injured in shooting that prompted lockdown at Skagit Valley College
The cost to ride a Washington State Ferry goes up Tuesday. Here’s how much
‘A few surprises’ found in study of solitary confinement in Washington prisons
KOMO 4 TV (ABC)
Are increased assaults on Sound Transit linked to better crime reporting?
Community rallies behind Shoreline stores after string of robberies, break-ins
Seattle parents push back against potential salary increase for superintendent
$12.1 million project aims to boost Pierce County internet connectivity by 2026
KNKX Public Radio
How city leaders want to patch Seattle’s $250 million budget deficit
KUOW Public Radio
The grim reason fentanyl deaths are falling in King County
Web
Crosscut
Over half of sexual assault cases in King County end in plea deals
MyNorthwest
Washington State Ferries first attempt at hybrid-electric conversion faces delay
The Urbanist
Sound Transit Board forges ahead on West Seattle Link despite cost jumps
Opinion: Recognizing nondrivers can spur a revolution in transportation and housing
Washington Observer
So about those mature legacy forests…