These 3 WA communities now need state approval for election rule changes
For the first time, three Washington state local governments will need the state’s OK before implementing new voting policies due to their histories of diluting the power of Latino voters. Yakima County and the cities of Yakima and Pasco won’t be able to change election and voting rules without approval from state Attorney General Nick Brown through a process called “preclearance” under the state Voting Rights Act. Continue reading at Washington State Standard. (Laurel Demokovich)
Century of fire suppression turned state forests into kindling; Washington is correcting course
The state is nearly halfway to the goal set out in its action plan to “treat” 1.25 million acres of forest using prescribed burns. The effort relies on the coordination of federal, tribal, state, local and private entities that own the total 2.9 million acres of forest in the state…But landscape-scale benefits of prescribed burns may not be realized for decades because of the enormous volume of untreated land. Continue reading at Cascadia Daily News. (Will Durbin)
Seattle mayor wants to ban rental ‘junk fees’
The bill lays out a specific list of fees that landlords are allowed to charge renters. Anything not explicitly mentioned would be banned. The most standard fees would still be permissible — for security, utility surcharges, late rent payments, key replacement, bounced checks and parking. But fees for things like pet rent, mail, in-unit appliances, use of checks or money orders to pay rent and use of the common area would be disallowed. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Ken Lambert)
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These 3 WA communities now need state approval for election rule changes
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