WA nears a plan to remove key culverts for salmon – after spending $4B; New evacuations ordered as 10 large wildfires burn across Washington

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• US economic growth increased last quarter to a healthy 2.8% annual rate (AP)
• It has now been 15 years since the federal minimum rose to $7.25 (KUOW Radio)
• Washington small business program threatened by budget cuts (KING TV)
• Boeing execs prioritized production over quality, DOJ says (The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: After crime crisis cost him his insurance, business owner vows to stop paying taxes in protest (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
• EDITORIAL: Hi-School Pharmacy closure shows local businesses’ plight (The Columbian)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• Man’s suicide in basement cell prompts renewed calls for more jail oversight in WA (Washington State Standard)
• Woman, 43, dies inside Snohomish County Jail, sixth death since September (The Everett Herald)
• Senate Republican ‘blindsided’ by removal and ordered return of Green Hill School inmates (The Chronicle)
• WA youth detention worker arrested for inappropriate relationship with former resident (FOX 13)
• King County Council committee remains deadlocked on youth jail’s future (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle jail faces capacity problem as frustration mounts in downtown (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Seattle mayor’s proposed jail pilot program would cost up to $3M a year (The Center Square)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Appeals judges rule against fund used to provide phone services for rural and low-income people (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• Judge gives Mabton mayor, council members a week to find attorneys in recall case (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Deadly gun violence impacts rising number of youth in King County (FOX 13)
• 7-year-old among group of juveniles wanted for robbery in North Seattle (MyNorthwest)

DRUG CRISIS

• WA researchers eye B.C. safe drug supply experiment (Cascade PBS)
• Yakima County on track to break record: 96 overdoses 2023 (KIT Radio)

EDUCATION

• Three Spokane high schools are now equipped with on-campus medical centers for day-to-day health services (The Inlander)
• Cowlitz County schools struggle despite WA special education funding increase (The Daily News)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• ‘On the edge of an energy crisis’: Forecasting the future of electricity in the Pacific Northwest (KREM TV)
• King County awarded $50 million EPA grant to implement clean energy efforts (The Center Square)

ENVIRONMENT

• Is this finally the beginning of the end for Capitol Lake? (The News Tribune)
• Washington restoring Capitol Lake in Olympia to its natural state (KING TV)
• DNR and Squaxin Island Tribe partner to conserve last major kelp bed in South Sound (The Olympian)

FISH

• WA nears a plan to remove key culverts for salmon — after spending $4B (The Seattle Times)
• Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visits Yakima Basin to celebrate fish and water projects (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Washington leaders unveil innovative fish passage to revive Yakima River Basin salmon (KAPP/KVEW)
• Officials meet for opening of salmon, steelhead habitat above Cle Elum Dam (KNDO/KNDU)

GUN RIGHTS

• Spokane gun control measure tweaked just weeks after forgoing legal review (The Center Square)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Providence to cut six family medicine resident spots and end sports fellowship (The Spokesman-Review)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• With $50M infusion, UW to launch security center to fight research theft (The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• Pierce County at odds over how to allocate $2.5M in funding to combat homelessness (KOMO TV)

HOUSING

• Can your landlord renovate your apartment while you’re under lease? What WA state law says (The News Tribune)
• Spokane Valley relocates tenants to demolish home for affordable housing project (The Center Square)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• Washougal’s port, wildlife refuge swap land to smooth property access (The Columbian)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Scoop: State law doesn’t block police from questioning teens, Seattle chief says (Axios – Seattle)
• W. Richland said chief did nothing wrong. Officers claim retaliation began immediately (Tri-City Herald)

LEGISLATURE

• Adding up Olympia’s lobbying industrial complex (The Washington Observer)

OTHER STATES

• Judge seeks input from 5,000 Oregon foster children as lawsuit presses state to improve care (The Oregonian)
• Female athletes, University of Oregon fail to reach settlement in Title IX discrimination suit (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Kentwood, Kentlake high schools losing SROs due to sheriff’s office staffing shortage (The Center Square)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Judge orders University of Oregon not to delete prof’s social media posts even if they’re offensive (The Oregonian)

SPORTS

• Here are the WA athletes to watch in the Paris Summer Olympics (The Seattle Times)
• NBA and Amazon ink $76B deal, paving way for Sonics’ return to Seattle (KOMO TV)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• WA to pay $15 million to 3 sisters who were sexually abused in foster home (MyNorthwest)

TRANSPORTATION

• $18.9M project to close busy Pierce County thoroughfare. Here’s why and for how long (The News Tribune)
• Year-long road closure for fish passage project in NW Olympia area started this week (The Olympian)
• WA ferry workers face escalating ‘abuse’ from angry riders (FOX 13)
• The cost of replacing the Lummi Island ferry just spiked. Here’s the new price tag (The Bellingham Herald)

WATER

• Local projects underway to assist and restore aquatic habitat (KXRO Radio)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• New evacuations ordered as 10 large wildfires burn across Washington (KING TV)
• Washington National Guard helicopter crew mobilized to help fight wildfires (KREM TV)
• Evacuation level raised for growing Swawilla Fire on Colville Reservation (The Spokesman-Review)
• Update: I-84 shut down as wildfires burn in OR, WA. Travelers told to find another route (Tri-City Herald)
• Air quality continues to be ruined by raging fires across Washington and Oregon (KNDO/KNDU)
• Oregon fire is the largest burning in the US. Thunderstorms and high winds are exacerbating it (AP)