WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Thursday, October 31

Green Hill School. (Department of Children Youth and Families)

Legislators, educators seek fixes for WA’s struggling system to educate incarcerated youth
Green Hill, along with Echo Glen, a juvenile detention center in Snoqualmie where students are 11 to 25 years old, are Washington’s two major schools for its state-run juvenile detention facilities. Outcomes at both are dismal. Despite all the challenges that come with institutional education, the field is woefully underfunded by the state. No state agency has a strong role overseeing the state’s 31 institutional education facilities, leaving a patchwork of school districts and educational service districts, which provide services to school districts, in charge of student outcomes. Continue reading at the WA State Standard. (DCYF)


Pat Haskins, a 72-year-old retired school teacher, poses for a portrait in the backyard of her home in Silver Spring, Md., on Oct. 22. She had struggled to keep up with repairs as her basement flooded, a bathroom floor sagged and her disabled partner needed a ramp.

Millions of low-cost homes are deteriorating, making the U.S. housing shortage worse
Millions of people across the U.S. live in places that are falling into disrepair, even becoming uninhabitable, making a massive shortage of affordable housing worse. They are disproportionately lower-income and Black or Hispanic, and many are seniors on fixed incomes. But a patchwork of repair programs — federal, state, local and nonprofit — are largely underfunded, with years-long waitlists. It’s a crisis that threatens people’s health and lives, yet can be invisible from the outside. Continue reading at KUOW. (NPR)


Potential defense workload changes could have ripple effects
A change is in the air for the state criminal justice system; whether it will be positive or negative is the topic of conversation for Clallam and Jefferson counties. The state Supreme Court is deliberating mandating reductions for indigent (public) defense workloads, to be phased in over a three-year period. Currently, full-time public defenders can handle either 150 felonies or between 300 and 400 misdemeanors, as well as limits for other types of cases, according to the state Office of Public Defense. Many argue those caseload standards lead to overworked public defenders and a lower quality of defense. Continue reading at the Daily News.


Print

Associated Press
Police say the man behind ballot box fires might plan more attacks

Axios
Washington home prices have soared in recent decades
How ballot boxes in Washington state protect your vote
What to know about ballot box fires in Washington and Oregon
With abortion on the ballot, reports show how bans lead to preventable deaths

Everett Herald
Boeing, union hold ‘productive’ talks in attempt to end strike

The Inlander
NEWS BRIEFS: Community Colleges of Spokane partner with Whitworth for admissions.
Spokane’s largest homeless shelter is closing. There aren’t enough places for its clients to go.

News Tribune
Immigration officials identify man who died at Tacoma facility as Mexican national
Tacoma teacher’s discrimination case settled for $3K. She claims attorney defrauded her

Peninsula Daily News
Port of Port Angeles awarded $9.4M in funds
Potential defense workload changes could have ripple effects

Puget Sound Business Journal
SBA Seattle District lending rate hits 15-year high
$1B regional workforce housing proposal advances from committee

Seattle Times
Parents, students rally against proposed Seattle school closure
Congress protests ‘revolving door’ to Boeing while rushing through it

Spokesman Review
Federal agency sets new standards for allowable PCB discharges into Spokane River
Spokane police officer who kicked handcuffed man in genitals is de-certified by state

Washington Post
Apple told TikTok it’s unfit for young teens, new lawsuit details allege
Gun death rates in some U.S. states comparable to conflict zones, study finds
Road rage has soared in an increasingly angry nation: ‘People are just overwhelmed’

WA State Standard
Police describe ballot box arson suspect
Legislators, educators seek fixes for WA’s struggling system to educate incarcerated youth (Callan)
Iowa AG leads two dozen other states backing Port of Tacoma appeal in Clean Water Act case

Broadcast

KING 5 TV (NBC)
Quileute Tribe has two totem poles stolen from building in Forks
Boeing, machinists union hold first meeting since last contract rejection
Pressure mounting for Boeing strike to end from Washington business leaders
‘What needs to be done?’: Community members mourn teen fatally shot in Seattle’s Central District

KIRO 7 TV (CBS)
Students, parents rally over planned closure of Seattle schools
Police investigate Halloween threat at Mount Si High, suspect identified
Former Seattle police chief Adrian Diaz files $10 million claim against the city
New rules require airlines to issue automatic refunds for delayed or canceled flights
Washington tested: Under scrutiny amid burned and missing ballots, voter confusion
Police say man behind ballot box arsons has metalworking experience and may be planning more attacks

KOMO 4 TV (ABC)
City of Ruston proposes new ordinance to cap alcohol sales past midnight
Sea-Tac airport likely to see record number of guns seized at TSA checkpoints
Lighthouse Mission’s innovative shelter in Bellingham combines housing with job training

KNKX Public Radio
ICE releases identity of latest death at Tacoma detention center

KUOW Public Radio
Why abortion referendums are also about the economy
Washington man dies at Tacoma ICE facility, days after human rights group visit
Caregiving can be a tough, lonely mission. One daughter found ways to reconnect
Vancouver couple recasts votes after ballots destroyed in Washington drop box arson
Millions of low-cost homes are deteriorating, making the U.S. housing shortage worse
Seattle Schools pays former student record $16 million to settle Garfield coach sex abuse lawsuit
‘Untruthful information’ cited as reason former Seattle Police Chief Diaz placed on leave, sources say

KXLY (ABC)
Spokane’s TRAC shelter officially shuts down
Meet MIKE, the new Pullman Police Department robot dog
Hundreds of voters in Whitman County still haven’t received ballots

Web

Cascadia Daily News
Bellingham’s 2025 budget is a ‘temporary bridge,’ mayor says
Proposed Port of Bellingham 2025 budget includes property tax increase

Washington Observer
Debts come due for the Department of Corrections