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Wednesday, August 14

‘I really don’t know where we go from here’: Analysis highlights Washington child care crisis
A statewide research analysis published in July revealed the lack of access to child care has resulted in a $6 billion loss to Washington’s economy. Despite state investments that kept child care businesses afloat during the pandemic, the child care crisis remains severe, according to the study by Child Care Aware of Washington. The study found challenges such as disruptions, turnover, absenteeism and lost income due to child care issues amounted to $6.9 billion in 2023 in Washington. Continue reading at The Columbian. (Amanda Cowan)

WA Supreme Court ruling in Amazon case sets ‘precedent’ on price gouging
Washington’s Supreme Court ruled last week in favor of consumers who say they were victims of price gouging on Amazon’s digital store at the start of COVID-19 lockdowns. That’s significant because, unlike most states, Washington does not have a statute preventing excessive price increases in times of emergency, like the aftermath of a natural disaster or a global pandemic. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Brandon Garcia)

Rising costs for Washington school districts outpace state funding, report finds
In recent years, districts are spending a lot more money to keep Washington’s schools running — but state funding isn’t keeping up. That’s according to a new report from the League of Education Voters, which found school districts have increased spending on staff by 19.7% between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years. Districts are spending well above state-funded levels for operating staff, especially for office support and custodians — 40% of whom are hired using more funds than allocated by state lawmakers. Districts are also spending about 5% more on teachers and 11% more on teachers’ aides, or paraeducators, than they’re funded for by the state. Continue reading at The WA State Standard. (Getty Images)

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Axios
Inflation drops below 3% for the first time since 2021
What to watch when Medicare releases first negotiated drug prices
What a “no taxes on tips” policy could mean for U.S. tipping culture
Climate change-worsened wildfires drastically increased odds, severity of 2023 wildfires

Capital Press
WDFW removes wolf in Dominion pack
Washington cap-and-trade rebates start Aug. 26
Washington Fish and Wildlife chair: Let’s look at moving wolves

Columbian
Biden grants UW-led team $21M to develop cancer surgery technology
‘I really don’t know where we go from here’: Analysis highlights Washington child care crisis

Everett Herald
New artwork will greet Lynnwood light rail riders
Snohomish County set to launch $1.4M mobile opioid treatment program

News Tribune
State seeks comment on plan to demolish the old General Administration building
Hundreds of trees are coming to one Tacoma neighborhood. But will the city water them?

New York Times
A California Bill to Regulate A.I. Causes Alarm in Silicon Valley
Live Updates: Inflation Falls Below 3% for First Time Since 2021
How Extreme Heat Is Threatening Education Progress Worldwide
U.S. Said to Consider a Breakup of Google to Address Search Monopoly

Port Townsend Leader
$35M to boost peninsula economy
State finds first case of wasting disease in deer

Puget Sound Business Journal
Apartment renters seeing price relief as landlords sweeten deals
Day care facility breaks ground in Seattle after nearly 4-year delay
King County exec responds to businesses’ beefs about jail operations

Seattle Times
Marysville schools in ‘alarming’ financial condition, WA auditor says
WA Supreme Court ruling in Amazon case sets ‘precedent’ on price gouging

The Skanner
Pacific Northwest Tribes Battle for Funds Meant to Help them Adapt to Climate Change

Spokesman Review
‘The stakes are really high here’: Spokane Public Schools bans cellphone use in class
Sen. Maria Cantwell tours health facilities in rural northeast Washington to highlight need for services

Washington Post
Record-setting heat waves are baking the Arctic region
Inflation hits lowest level since spring 2021, most likely teeing up rate cuts

WA State Standard
Rising costs for Washington school districts outpace state funding, report finds

Broadcast

KING 5 TV (NBC)
Olympia City Council effectively decriminalizes psychedelic plants, mushrooms
Frustrated neighbors say campers are leaving an ‘unprecedented amount of litter’ behind
‘They failed the families’: Amazon missed multiple chances to stop selling chemical used in suicides

KIRO 7 TV (CBS)
Bigg’s Killer Whale population growing
Puddles the dog sniffs out invasive mussels
Lynnwood City Transit Center opening soon
FDA approves first auto-injector to reverse opioid overdose
Seattle first city to glide on Lime’s new seated electric vehicle
Yelm community raises enough money to save high school sports programs
Seattle City Council approves $12.5M for student mental health services amid public plea for more
Starbucks CEO replaced by Brian Niccol, a fixer who revived Chipotle when the chain was in distress

KNKX Public Radio
Music therapy uses sounds, lyrics and emotions to help patients

KUOW Public Radio
Seattle City Council considers ‘prostitution loitering’ law amid intense debate
Seattle City Council votes against restoring student mental health funds back to $20 million again

KXLY (ABC)
Spokane prepares to move to scattered homeless shelter model
How the Idaho library law might affect your child’s school libraries
Spokane Schools board of trustees will discuss restrictive new cell phone policy

Web

Cascadia Daily News
WWU draws heat for sale of two properties, records show one was never to be sold

Crosscut
50 years later, WA still feels the cultural reverberations of 1974

MyNorthwest
Why didn’t Washington make the top 20 in best states to live?
2 women rescued from human trafficking at Bellingham massage parlor

Tuesday, August 13

WA state accuses physician assistant of failing to properly treat Eastern WA inmates
A physician assistant has permanently surrendered his license to practice in the state of Washington after being accused of failing to provide adequate care to prisoners at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Richard T. Oliver was accused of failing to evaluate and treat potentially life-threatening illnesses, such as malignant melanoma. He also failed to completely assess or follow up on the management of chronic medical illnesses, such as diabetes, according to allegations in state documents. Continue reading at The Olympian. (Bob Brawdy)

Washington’s fentanyl-sniffing dogs: The newest tool in the fight against opioids
In a prison north of Olympia, a deaf, all-white pit bull mix named Ghost searches visitors for drugs. Ghost is one of just a handful of working K-9s in Washington who can sniff out fentanyl. Like many of these dogs in the state, he was trained by the Department of Corrections. The agency only keeps eight dogs for its prisons but trains around 12 a year, many of whom go to local courts, jails and law enforcement agencies. Usually, only K-9s assigned to prisons are trained to detect fentanyl, but that’s about to change due to bipartisan state legislation passed this year that will allow Washington to create a model program for training and certifying dogs to detect fentanyl. Continue reading at The WA State Standard. (Grace Deng)

Facts vs. Perception: Nationally and in Spokane, violent crime is down
Across the U.S., major cities are seeing a 6% decrease in violent crime compared to last year as the ‘COVID-era’ crime-wave subsides. Locally, Spokane’s preliminary citywide crime report, also known as a Compstat report, showed violent crime is down over 6% and property crime is down over 16% so far this year. According to the crime report, ‘violent’ crime includes: criminal homicide, rape, robbery, and assault. Continue reading at KXLY. (Pexels)

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Auburn Reporter
KC Sheriff’s Office needs to modify use-of-force notifications, report says

Axios
Seattle sees higher unemployment, fewer tech jobs
Banner year for Bigg’s killer whales in Puget Sound

Capital Press
Washington Fish and Wildlife targets second wolf pack
‘Cheese trail’ promotes Washington artisan cheesemakers
East Low Canal resumes service to 100,000 acres after break
Pear, grape and apple harvests expected to be down for 2024

Columbian
Clark County residents up in arms over planned timber sale on state land in historic Yacolt Burn

Everett Herald
Marysville schools face ‘rare and alarming’ audit
Boeing’s manufacturing woes long preceded door-panel blowout
Everett Community College eases hurdles in medical assistant program
Comment: 988 helpline is saving lives, helping people

High Country News
Washington solar project paused amid concern about Indigenous sites

News Tribune
$20 million-plus will build the missing mile of this popular Pierce County trail
CNN called Rainier the US volcano troubling scientists the most. How would Tacoma fare?
This small western Washington town has seen a 46% increase in population. See where it is
Tacoma church might become shared youth housing. But no one’s happy with city’s decision

New York Times
U.S. Officials to Visit China for Economic Talks as Trade Tensions Rise

Olympian
WA state accuses physician assistant of failing to properly treat Eastern WA inmates
55k dump trucks of sediment and how much money? Details emerge on estuary restoration

Peninsula Daily News
Clallam County to receive $3.75M for Olympic Discovery Trail planning

Puget Sound Business Journal
How much office space have Seattle’s top employers shed since 2023?
Companies are spending billions for an employee benefit not being used
The National Observer: Watchers warn of vicious circle in U.S. economy

Seattle Times
Hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of every American. How to protect yourself
Pacific Northwest tribes are battered by climate change but fight to get money meant to help them

Spokesman Review
Washington will try to kill wolves in pack near Canadian border
Spokane City Council delays vote on homeless anti-discrimination law amid outrage
Getting There: One-way to two-way? City officials want public to weigh in on future of Spokane Falls Boulevard

WA State Standard
Washington’s fentanyl-sniffing dogs: The newest tool in the fight against opioids
Demolition looms for building that has hulked over WA Capitol campus for decades

Broadcast

KING 5 TV (NBC)
Thousands of Burien voters sign petition to raise minimum wage even further
Protestors call for Seattle police officer who hit, killed Jaahnavi Kandula to be fired
Teen who allegedly killed Kent man during chase was on ankle monitor days before

KIRO 7 TV (CBS)
Mudslide forces the closure of SR 20 in Winthrop
Woodland Park Zoo workers reach tentative agreement on new contract
Southwest Airlines flight from Spokane has harrowing landing in Denver
Sound Transit considers charging light rail passengers for using its parking lots
Belltown Hellcat back in court Monday after disregarding social media content ban
Report outlines financial challenges facing single moms & policies that would help them

KXLY (ABC)
Facts vs. Perception: Nationally and in Spokane, violent crime is down

Web

Cascadia Daily News
Better raspberry plants with fewer pests? Skagit scientists are working on it

Crosscut
For some Idaho sexual assault survivors, there is no Plan B

MyNorthwest
Light rail to Lynnwood means big changes for Community Transit
Woodland Park Zoo, workers union come to tentative agreement; strike stalled

The Urbanist
Bellevue Council Tries to Salvage Pieces of Imperiled Bike Network
Seattle’s MLK Way Safety Project Takes Step Toward Fulfilling Longstanding Promise

Monday, August 12

Lawmakers want to expand drug endangerment law
In 2021, there were 25 Vancouver police reports involving children and fentanyl. In 2022, that number jumped to 46, an 84 percent increase year-over-year, according to Vancouver police Cpl. Gunnar Skollingsberg, who testified on the issue at a public hearing in March 2023. Proposals to change the drug endangerment law lost traction during the last two legislative sessions. The Legislature created the law in 2002 to address the issue of people cooking methamphetamine around children. But in recent years, law enforcement is seeing a troubling new trend: children being exposed to or overdosing on fentanyl. Continue reading at The Columbian. (DEA/TNS)

Dozens of pregnant women, some bleeding or in labor, being turned away from ERs despite federal law
More than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or negligently treated since 2022, an Associated Press analysis of federal hospital investigations has found. Even as the Biden administration publicly warned hospitals to treat pregnant patients in emergencies, facilities continue to violate the federal law. The issue became a focus for the administration following reports of women being improperly treated in emergency rooms after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion more than two years ago. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Eric Gay)

Admissions restart, crowding persists at WA juvenile detention facilities
Two state juvenile detention facilities in Washington are once again admitting youth sentenced for crimes, after a pause that began last month. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families said Friday it had reached an agreement with counties ending the freeze on admissions, which the agency said was a necessary safety measure due to overcrowding. The Washington Association of Counties sued in response to the pause. Continue reading at The Washington State Standard. (DCYF)

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Aberdeen Daily World
County firefighters sent forward to combat wildfires statewide
City staff and other organizations clean up unhoused encampment

Axios
July temperatures point to record hottest year
New data shows violent crime dropping sharply in major U.S. cities

Bellingham Herald
Invasive species with potential for $100 million in infrastructure damage detected in WA
Rules of the Road: There’s no law against drinking and mowing, but what if you hit the road?

Columbian
As teen employment rises in WA, so do youth labor violations
‘We can’t idly stand by and let children be harmed’: Lawmakers want to expand drug endangerment law (Goodman)
The victim in a Vancouver murder-suicide had a protection order but Clark County judges say the law doesn’t let them take guns from abusers

The Daily News
Longview needs more affordable housing. Residents say Highlands can’t fit any more.

Everett Herald
Washington prisons delayed nearly a third of release dates last year

Kitsap Sun
Poulsbo set to address the age-old question of parking downtown

News Tribune
People in mental health crisis have nowhere to go in parts of Pierce County. Here’s why

Peninsula Daily News
Coalition celebrates $35M federal grant award
Beaches in Jefferson County close to shellfish harvesting

Seattle Medium
Legislation To Combat Commercial Sexual Exploitation Linked To Gun Violence Proposed

Seattle Times
WA health department sues over denied entry to Tacoma ICE facility
Dozens of pregnant women, some bleeding or in labor, being turned away from ERs despite federal law

Skagit Valley Herald
Several people die in home fire near Rockport
Public input sought on State Wildlife Action Plan

Tri-City Herald
1,100 workers at Tri-Cities’ largest hospital plan 8-day strike
Homeless camping bans vs. sit-lie laws in WA. What’s the difference?
Longtime Tri-Cities defense leader leaving. WA courts can’t handle what’s coming, he says

Washington Post
Which states get too much attention? Which ones are truly forgotten?
Insurance lobbyists block federal crackdown on costly retirement advice

WA State Standard
Admissions restart, crowding persists at WA juvenile detention facilities
High energy costs, delayed tax credit pose hurdles for PNW hydrogen hub

Wenatchee World
Pioneer Fire grows, high winds and lightning possible
Chelan, Douglas counties seek exemptions from new organic waste law as state mandate looms

Yakima Herald-Republic
Retreat Fire 68% contained as of Saturday morning

Broadcast

KING 5 TV (NBC)
Saving a species: UW scientists release first lab-grown sea stars
Federal Way HOA installs license plate reader cameras to deter crime

KIRO 7 TV (CBS)
‘Pure hell’: Residents stay back to guard homes from Pioneer Fire
‘We are hemorrhaging:’ Woodland Park Zoo workers prepare to strike
Island County closes beaches to shellfish harvesting amid biotoxin alert
Alaskan Way Safety Project ready for bids, protected bike lanes coming soon
Caught on Video: Thieves hit Redmond cannabis shop for the fourth time in less than a year
Suspect in alleged stolen vehicle takes police on three county chase with young son in car seat

KOMO 4 TV (ABC)
Shoreline to introduce first parking enforcement team amid city growth
PNW tribes are battered by climate change but fight to get money meant to help them
Grant Pass, heart of Supreme Court homelessness ruling, bans camping except in some areas

KUOW Public Radio
Seattle leaders fall short on promised $20 million for student mental health
Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe poised to help manage key Salish Sea wildlife refuges
Here’s what we know about the grocer buying Kroger and Albertsons stores in Washington state

KXLY (ABC)
Moses Lake community raises money to give students extracurriculars in the upcoming school year

NW Public Radio
Sniffing out invasive mussels to protect Washington’s waters
Land trusts are helping with land conservation on the Palouse

Web

Cascadia Daily News
Comment period open for DNR timber sale in Whatcom County

MyNorthwest
‘Prolific’ car thief evades police in three-county chase with girlfriend, 4-year-old son inside

West Seattle Blog
CRIME WATCH: Man shot at 15th/Roxbury

Friday, August 9

WA renters say unregulated ‘junk fees’ are being used to retaliate, discriminate
The Biden administration announced a national crackdown on rental housing “junk fees” last year, calling on states to take legislative action against fees for applications, online payments, trash collection and other mandatory services. While Washington law requires renters to follow all “reasonable” rules set by landlords and restricts certain tenant screening fees, most other fees…are not regulated at all by state law. Advocates and attorneys say that creates an opening for housing providers to use excessive fees to target certain renters…pressuring them to pay or move. Continue reading at KUOW. (Amanda Loman)

WA rolls out one of the nation’s most generous EV rebate programs
Washington’s new $45 million Electric Vehicle Instant Rebate Program for buying or leasing electric vehicles, announced at an Aug. 1 press conference in Seattle, appears to be second only to California’s as the most generous in the nation. Washington’s program is aimed at low- and moderate-income buyers, potentially increasing the number of EVs on the roads. The program expects to provide between 6,500 and 8,000 rebates during its first year. Prospective buyers have until June 2025 to apply for their rebates, which is when the $45 million appropriation – about 0.6% of the state’s general fund – expires. Continue reading at Crosscut. (Lizz Giordano)

Passenger in car pursued by WA State Patrol dies in crash
A woman in her 50s — a passenger in a vehicle pursued by the Washington State Patrol — was killed Thursday morning in Seattle when the pursuit ended in a crash. According to Seattle police, a state trooper tried to stop the driver of the vehicle, a woman in her 30s, near Boeing Access Road. The woman drove away. Another trooper who was nearby heard radio traffic about the driver fleeing and located the fleeing car, according to Seattle police. Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

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Aberdeen Daily World
Hoquiam police investigating suspicious death
Grays Harbor General Election ballots are mostly set
City staff and other organizations clean up unhoused encampment

Axios
Seattleites can vote for which park projects they want built

Capital Press
Chumrau, Henry appointed to national trade committee
July sets heat record in California, just misses in Oregon, Washington

Everett Herald
Snohomish River climate projects get $21M federal boost
NTSB chair: Boeing reassigning workers to Everett was retaliation
Whatcom County authorities arrest suspected Everett drug kingpin
Three Snohomish County hospitals recognized by American Heart Association

Indian Country Today
Youth and tradition unite at this year’s Canoe Journey

International Examiner
Little Saigon’s new park, Hoa Mai, blooms between Jackson and King Street

News Tribune
CA-based blood bank is moving into Pierce County. Will it send our blood out of state?
Neighbors want to buy public-access point on this Pierce County lake. Cue local firestorm
What’s up with that cartoon billboard on 6th Ave. in Tacoma warning of nuclear weapons?
How about sending homeless folks to live on McNeil Island? The TNT examines the question

New York Times
Why White Supremacists Are Trying to Attack Energy Grids
Where (and How) Americans Are Taking Advantage of Clean Energy Tax Credits

Puget Sound Business Journal
The Great Migration is largely over. Here’s what did it in.
A casual revolution is hitting the office. Gen Z is leading the way.
Amazon reports economic impacts by state with WA topping the list
Here’s when King County may seek developers for major campus overhaul

Seattle Times
Passenger in car pursued by WA State Patrol dies in crash
King County report proposes downtown redevelopment, new jail in Sodo
Op-Ed: Auburn officer’s trial shows how I-940 was designed to work

Spokesman Review
Does Uncle Sam want her? Veterans and politicians weigh idea of women in the draft
Construction workers are at a higher risk of suicide; a local man is making it his mission to intervene

Washington Post
The world’s priciest drug may save lives. Can kids get it in time?
When does DEI training discriminate against White people? Courts will decide.

WA State Standard
Washington prepares for more fires as dry season peaks
Telehealth abortion still on the rise, especially in states with shield laws, report shows

Broadcast

KING 5 TV (NBC)
Problematic parts discovered in several Boeing passenger planes
State fined $114,000 for ‘willful serious’ violations in workplace drowning
Redmond pot shop suffers 4th smash-and-grab, owner says city won’t allow bollards to be installed

KIRO 7 TV (CBS)
Boater fined after close call with orca
One dead after high-speed car chase next to Boeing Airfield
New federal proposal would require hotels, rentals to display fees
Invasive zebra mussels found in moss balls at Renton aquarium company
Whidbey Island bat tests positive for rabies, public health advisory issued
‘Very discouraging:’ Budget cuts in Pullman may mean final chapter for 96-year-old WSU Press
Report: Two bodies found decomposing while in custody of Whatcom County Medical Examiner
Boeing’s new CEO visits factory that makes the 737 Max, including jet that lost door plug in flight

KNKX Public Radio
NTSB wraps up ‘door plug’ hearing as new Boeing CEO takes over
Housing relief? Mortgage rates drop to their lowest level in over a year

KUOW Public Radio
WA renters say unregulated ‘junk fees’ are being used to retaliate, discriminate (Macri)

KXLY (ABC)
Spokane’s budget deficit could affect your pool time

Web

Cascadia Daily News
Whatcom County finds solution for Search & Rescue’s future home
Illegal campfire in North Cascades causes loss of culturally significant cedars
Whatcom County Auditor’s office conducts hand count to ensure election integrity

Crosscut
WA rolls out one of the nation’s most generous EV rebate programs

Thursday, August 8

As wildfire season becomes more threatening, experts are turning to AI
With climate change driving hotter, drier summers across the West, the intensity of recent fire seasons is outpacing workers’ ability to track and analyze fires with traditional methods. But government agencies and private sector companies are adapting artificial intelligence technologies in their wildfire monitoring and fighting strategies. Continue reading at WA State Standard. (NOAA)

‘We’re at a breaking point.’ Washington ferry workers demand 20% raise
Unionized ferry workers who keep Washington state’s ailing fleet afloat are calling for higher pay and better staffing. Last year, Washington State Ferries had to delay or cancel hundreds of sailings due to crew shortages. “They’re building new ferries, but who’s going to work on those ferries?” asked Brandi Bennett, chief engineer on the MV Tillikum that serves the San Juan Islands. Continue reading at KUOW. (Megan Farmer)

As teen employment rises in WA, so do youth labor violations
Between 2014 and 2022, complaints about working conditions for minors doubled — and one expert thinks this might be just the tip of the iceberg. More than a third of violations involved minors working too many hours, too late on a school night or when they were supposed to be in school, the data shows. The second-largest category of violations, 17%, resulted from workers missing meal or rest breaks. Violations for performing prohibitive tasks ranked fourth on the list of most common violations. Continue reading at Crosscut. (Lizz Giordano)