‘I really don’t know where we go from here’: Analysis highlights Washington child care crisis; Rising costs for Washington school districts outpace state funding, report finds

AGRICULTURE

• Pear and apple harvests expected to be down for 2024 (Capital Press)
• Look inside a $15M expansion of a global vegetable seed company in Pasco (Tri-City Herald)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Wyoming reporter caught using artificial intelligence to create fake quotes and stories (AP)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• US inflation slowed again in July, clearing the way for the Fed to begin cutting rates (AP)
• Seattleites split on proposed bill to crack down on commercial prostitution (The Center Square)
• ‘They failed the families’: Amazon missed multiple chances to stop selling chemical used in suicides on its website (KING TV)

CANNABIS

• Lesser-known cannabinoid found to reduce anxiety without intoxicating side-effects (The Lewiston Tribune)

CHILD CARE

• ‘I really don’t know where we go from here’: Analysis highlights Washington child care crisis (The Columbian)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Migration drives population hike in Chelan and Douglas counties (KPQ Radio)

CONGRESS

• DelBene presents $960K check for Snohomish County work on Chinook Marsh (The Everett Herald)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• King County exec responds to businesses’ beefs about jail operations (Puget Sound Business Journal)

COURTS (STATE)

• Charges set to be dropped for protesters who blocked Sea-Tac Airport road (The Seattle Times)
• WA Supreme Court ruling in Amazon case sets ‘precedent’ on price gouging (The Seattle Times)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Proposed law to combat Aurora crime met with controversy: ‘Violence will escalate’ (MyNorthwest)
• Spokane prosecutors face staffing shortages amid declining crime rates (KHQ TV)

DRUG CRISIS

• FDA approves first auto-injector to reverse opioid overdose (KIRO TV)
• Snohomish County set to launch $1.4M mobile opioid treatment program (The Everett Herald)
• Whatcom County unveils first public-access naloxone dispenser box (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)
• COLUMN: ‘Where Kids Should Play, But Addicts Stay’: A Jason Rantz poem about a Seattle park in disarray (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

EDUCATION

• Rising costs for Washington school districts outpace state funding, report finds (Washington State Standard)
• ‘The stakes are really high here’: Spokane Public Schools bans cellphone use in class (The Spokesman-Review)
• Renton to review reparations case over school district’s 1968 land purchase (The Seattle Times)
• Yelm community raises enough money to save high school sports programs (KIRO TV)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Storms and wildfires swamp FEMA as disaster funds dry up (CQ-Roll Call/The Columbian)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• New $75M Eastern WA lab will fast track next-gen battery storage research (Tri-City Herald)
• New PNNL facility to enhance clean energy development and grid resilience (KEPR TV)

ENVIRONMENT

• Planned timber sale on state Department of Natural Resources lands in northeast Clark County riles residents (The Daily News)
• Researchers discover eelgrass superpower in Puget Sound (The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Managing state’s forests complex responsibility (The Columbian)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Hunter Biden sought State Department help for Ukrainian company (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Biden grants UW-led team $21M to develop cancer surgery technology (The Seattle Times)
• WSU sees second-best fundraising year in its history (The Lewiston Tribune)

HOMELESSNESS

• Program to clear homeless encampments around WA freeways running out of money (FOX 13)

HOUSING

• This Seattle-area ZIP code is most expensive in US outside of California, report says (KING TV)

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• Human trafficking victims rescued from Bellingham business near elementary school (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)

IMMIGRATION

• EDITORIAL: Feds should order health inspection of Tacoma ICE detention center (The Seattle Times)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Report suggests plain-clothes officers to notify next of kin after deadly use of force (The Center Square)
• Ellensburg police consider installing new surveillance technology (Daily Record)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Spokane Mayor denies rumors over pressuring council to defer housing vote (The Center Square)
• Olympia City Council effectively decriminalizes psychedelic plants, mushrooms (KING TV)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Seattle City Council approves additional funding for mental health supports for students (KOMO TV)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier arrives in Bremerton (Kitsap Sun)

OTHER STATES

• Environmental regulators say NW Natural misleading customers about state climate credit program (Oregon Capital Chronicle/Washington State Standard)
• Gun violence in Portland continues to decline, halfway through 2024 (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Bunker Hill Mine plans to reopen early next year (The Spokesman-Review)

PARKS

• Washington State Parks is raising its camping fees. Here’s how much it will cost in 2025 (Tri-City Herald)

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Sen. Maria Cantwell tours health facilities in rural northeast Washington to highlight need for services (The Spokesman-Review)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Seattle teens navigate social media’s impact with self-imposed limits, parental guidance (KOMO TV)

SPORTS

• Betting on kids sports: Little League World Series wagering rising in popularity (MyNorthwest)

TRANSPORTATION

• North Cascades Highway closure extended, conditions worse than expected (FOX 13)
• 24 Tesla Superchargers coming to North Bend (Snoqualmie Valley Record)
• New fares, station name and codes: What to know about the upcoming light rail changes (KOMO TV)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Puyallup Tribe launches construction company, with eye on ‘long-term’ jobs for members (Puget Sound Business Journal)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Pioneer Fire at nearly 38,500 acres, Stehekin still threatened (KPQ Radio)
• Fire on flank of Mount Adams in Gifford Pinchot National Forest grows to 10,000 acres (The Columbian)

WOLVES

• Washington Fish and Wildlife chair: Let’s look at moving wolves (Capital Press)
• WDFW to kill up to 2 Leadpoint wolves, kills 1 Dominion wolf (The Wenatchee World)