‘That’s insane!’: Washington could soon replace gas tax with controversial pay-per-mile program; Federal judge rebuffs gas industry on code requirements for electric heat pumps

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Drought returns to 51% of Washington state (Capital Press)
• Washington has highest percentage of drought land in West, faces high fire risk (The Center Square)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Recession worries are fading for many businesses. But one number isn’t budging. (The Business Journals/Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Washington state enacts new rules to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat (KUOW Radio)
• Seattle-area workers’ paychecks shrank in 2022. Why? Tech (The Seattle Times)
• ‘The only enemy is Amazon’: Chris Smalls talks Bezos, unions during WA visit (The Seattle Times)
• First came Amazon. Then Darigold. Now, 3 acres under glass take shape in Pasco (Tri-City Herald)
• OPINION: Back to the 80s? Reaganomics over Bidenomics (U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse/SourceOne)

CAPITAL BUDGET

• MLK, Jr Park pool included in new state grant funding (KNDO/KNDU)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• EDITORIAL: Yakima Domestic Violence Coalition has made a big difference in two short years (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CONGRESS

• House passes resolution to show support for Israel after Democrat’s comments about ‘racist’ state (The Seattle Times)
• Newhouse sets up workgroup to review Endangered Species Act (Columbia Basin Herald)

CORONAVIRUS

• Washington health experts agree COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere (Crosscut)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Federal judge rebuffs gas industry on code requirements for electric heat pumps (The Seattle Times)
• Federal judge refuses to block Washington’s new building code (The Center Square)

CRIME

• Belltown residents express frustration about crime, lack of open air drug law at safety forum (FOX 13)

DAMS

• Report: Not enough information on delayed mortality for fish, Snake River dams (Capital Press)

EDUCATION

• Seattle schools provide free gender affirming care through on-campus health centers (KOMO TV)

ELECTIONS

• Elections Director: Congress needs to act for election security (MyNorthwest)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Spokane EMTs reach deal with AMR, suspend plans to strike (KREM TV)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• New small nuclear reactor in Eastern WA to create energy, jobs by 2030 (Tri-City Herald)
• Tribes and dairy farmers made a model renewable energy program. It’s about to get even better (KNKX Radio)

ENVIRONMENT

• Longview commercial fire spreads smoke across SW Washington, making for unhealthy air in Clark County (The Columbian)
• A blossoming success: federal protections removed for a once-threatened NW prairie flower (NW News Network)

FISH

• Tribes celebrate as lamprey make a comeback (NW News Network)
• OPINION: Economic development for rural communities and recovery for imperiled salmon (Dan McDonald, president and board chairman of the Yakima Bait Company/The Spokesman-Review)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Healthcare workers at PeaceHealth move to unionize (KGMI Radio)
• Potentially lethal fungus detected in Pierce County man, local health officials say (The News Tribune)
• OPINION: Prior authorization, by any other name, threatens Washingtonians’ health (Dr. Barbara Jung is the president of the American Gastroenterological Association and is a gastroenterologist in Seattle/The Olympian)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• WSU president accused of intervening in ethics investigation over $15M contract (The Center Square)

HOMELESSNESS

• Youth homelessness in Washington is up, federal program aims to help (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
• WSDOT lays out plan, but no definitive timeline to clean up Myers Way encampment (KING TV)
• Burien to draft camping ban as search for encampment site continues (MyNorthwest)
• COLUMN: Homeless at encampment with pool explain why they won’t leave (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

HOUSING

• Only 1% of U.S. homes have changed hands so far this year, Redfin says (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)
• Panel: Housing crisis knows no bounds (The Lewiston Tribune)
• Inland Northwest housing crisis: What has changed? (KXLY TV)
• EDITORIAL: Government must lead on affordable housing (The Columbian)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Spokane Police Department opens thousands of cold sexual assault cases in statewide initiative (KHQ TV)
• Former Puyallup police officer was accused of rape. Here’s why he’s already out of jail (The News Tribune)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Seattle’s drug possession law proposal delayed amid rising local concerns, overdose deaths (KOMO TV)
• Seattle council passes zoning changes to protect industrial, port areas (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Seattle moves one step closer to protecting gig workers from abrupt termination (KUOW Radio)
• Lori Kinnear confirmed as first woman to serve as Spokane City Council president (The Center Square)
• Spokane City Council wants more data on radar camera effectiveness as police receive new equipment (The Spokesman-Review)
• Skagit County addresses possible shutdown of Guemes Island Ferry (MyNorthwest)

OTHER STATES

• State ethics watchdogs launch investigation into former Oregon Secretary of State Fagan (Oregon Capitol Chronicle/Oregon Public Broadcasting)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Trial rescheduled for 3 Bellingham school officials accused of failing to report assaults (The Bellingham Herald)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Local organizations get state funding to support community events (Skagit Valley Herald)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• Rising number of overdose deaths involve mix of opioids with cocaine, meth (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

TRANSPORTATION

• ‘That’s insane!’: Washington could soon replace gas tax with controversial pay-per-mile program (KIRO TV)
• Transportation officials discuss possibility of pay-per-mile tax in Washington (FOX 13)
• Seattle residents call for speed cameras amidst increased street racing (The Center Square)
• King County Metro consistently behind on capital projects, audit finds (The Seattle Times)
• Inslee, Woodward and others celebrate launch of City Line, Spokane’s first rapid bus route (The Spokesman-Review)
• Washington State Ferries rider approval rating recovering from historic lows (The Center Square)
• State panel exits with a final message: Washington needs a new airport (The Seattle Times)
• Everett’s Paine Field is now Seattle Paine Field International Airport (The Everett Herald)
• Yakima still hoping to be home of Washington’s new regional airport (KIT Radio)
• OPINION: Despite the most costly fuel, nationwide, Washington roads are now entering a ‘death spiral’ (Will Knedlik, immediate past president of the Washington State Good Roads and Transportation Association/The Spokesman-Review)
• EDITORIAL: Keep safety first while traveling WA roadways during the summer (The Seattle Times)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Fire season ramps up across Pacific Northwest (Capital Press)
• In much of U.S., workers lack protections from wildfire smoke (Stateline/Washington State Standard)