WA Democrats ditch bill repealing voter-backed cap on property tax hikes; Critics: Police deadly use of force bill will worsen Washington staffing crisis

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Is Washington’s farmworker overtime law working as intended? (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• At aerospace gathering in Lynnwood, Boeing urges workers to ‘speak up’ (The Everett Herald)
• COLUMN: Strippers, strip club owners deserve equity under state law (Travis Mayfield/MyNorthwest)
• COLUMN: Kitsap economic agency focused on impact over the coming five years (Joe Morrison, Executive Director Kitsap Economic Alliance/Kitsap Sun)
• EDITORIAL: Waterfront Gateway a vital link for Vancouver (The Columbian)

CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM

• Bill to pave way for linking Washington’s carbon market to CA-Quebec advances (The Center Square)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Detectives renew call for information on Oakville girl Oakley Carlson’s disappearance (The Chronicle)
• COLUMN: Students fight ‘period poverty’ for ‘menstruators’ in Gaza (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

CONGRESS

• Local politicians and leaders reflect on Rep. McMorris Rodgers’ surprise retirement announcement (The Spokesman-Review)
• Congress is looking at expanding the child tax credit again. Who would benefit? (States Newsroom/Washington State Standard)
• War in Gaza divides Seattle’s Jayapal, Smith on strategy, politics (The Seattle Times)
• Washington will participate in Medicaid-covered plan to reduce homelessness (KNDO/KNDU)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• EDITORIAL: The Boldt decision’s enduring legacy, 50 years on (The Seattle Times)

COURTS (STATE)

• Domestic violence victims and advocates press for family court system reform (The Center Square)
• OPINION: End ‘juvenile points’ sentencing that disproportionately harms Indigenous people (Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Colville Confederated Tribes/The Seattle Times)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Washington worst in the nation for retail theft per capita (KVI Radio)
• Kent mayor says Legislature needs to act as city struggles to address crime (KOMO TV)
• State patrol refers charges on five protesters who blocked I-5 in Seattle for hours (KING TV)
• COLUMN: WSP refers anti-Israel Seattle protesters for charges, hunts down others (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
• COLUMN: The ‘terrifying’ teen hit-and-run case shows: We still need locks (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)

DAMS

• Judge signs off on dams agreement (The Lewiston Tribune)
• Judge grants Snake River dam litigation stay through 2028 (Capital Press)

DRUG CRISIS

• Snohomish County Council weighs drug contamination testing in low-barrier housing (KING TV)
• Nehring proposes routine drug contamination testing for county shelters (The Everett Herald)

EDUCATION

• House unanimously adopts financial education as new high school graduation requirement (KLCK Radio)
• House resoundingly passes Rep. Skyler Rude’s bipartisan legislation to include financial education as a graduation requirement for high school students (KCLK Radio)
• Many Washington voters will decide fate of old schools in February election (KNKX Radio)
• Bainbridge school district stops process to potentially close schools (Kitsap Sun)
• North Kitsap SD superintendent on paid leave after allegedly stealing campaign signs (KIRO TV)
• Inslee visits Vancouver elementary school, talks special education challenges with teachers, staff, parents (The Columbian)
• COLUMN: New LGBTQ history mandate is latest legislative overreach (Brian Mittge/The Chronicle)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• House advances bill giving nuclear energy manufacturers more time for tax exemptions (The Center Square)
• Controversial energy project moves closer to breaking ground (NW News Network)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• EPA agrees to work with USDA on pesticide regulations (Capital Press)

FISH

• Waters’ fish barrier adoption plan passes House (KIHR Radio)
• Plan to restore salmon population in the Upper Columbia River Basin moves ahead (KHQ TV)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Controversial proposal to regulate hospital mergers advances in Legislature (Washington State Standard)
• Senate advances controversial hospital merger measure (The Washington Observer)
• Washington Senate passes bill limiting mergers between religious and secular hospitals (KHQ TV)

HOUSING

• Seattle region’s home prices up in January, with largest gain in Kitsap County (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Kit homes could be part of housing crisis remedy in Washington (The Center Square)

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• Torres’ human-trafficking training bill unanimously passed in Senate (KNDO/KNDU)

INSURANCE

• Washington sees sharp rise in auto insurance premiums (KING TV)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Critics: Police deadly use of force bill will worsen Washington staffing crisis (The Center Square)
• Dash camera video shows WA State Patrol trooper arresting woman suffering brain bleed (The News Tribune)
• Seattle Police is a ‘good old boys club’ where women struggle to get ahead, report says (KUOW Radio)
• Vancouver Police Department lauds year-old body cam program, but some critics still wary (The Columbian)

LEGISLATURE

• Passing bills, bills, bills: Highlights from week 5 in the WA Legislature (NW News Network)
• Clergy reporting, stripper safety and fake images ban. Here’s what passed in the WA Legislature this week (The Olympian)
• Cheers! Accelerated liquor license bill advances through the Washington Senate (The Spokesman-Review)
• 35th District lawmakers to host telephone town hall (The Chronicle)
• Washington State Senate pays tribute to former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll (KOMO TV)
• OPINION: Lawmakers dismiss concerns for well-being of boys, men (Philip W. Cook Global Initiative For Boys and Men/Everett Herald)

LGBTQ

• Personnel turmoil prompts temporary closure of center serving Tacoma’s LGBTQ community (The News Tribune)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Bellingham City Council suspends remote public comment periods after hate speech incidents (The Bellingham Herald)

MEDIA

• COLUMN: An ever bigger threat to local news and democracy (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Bill to require early registration period for military members passes House, heads to Senate (The Chronicle)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon’s college students call for more state funding to meet basic needs (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Idaho Senate narrowly passes bill that would allow residents a six-month supply of contraceptives (Spokane Public Radio)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Ingraham High students arrested for trying to rob classmate at gunpoint (MyNorthwest)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• State leader calls for investigation of Green Hill School after latest KING 5 report (KING TV)
• Sen. Braun again asks Gov. Inslee to investigate Green Hill School in new letter (The Chronicle)

TAXES

• WA Democrats ditch bill repealing voter-backed cap on property tax hikes (Washington State Standard)
• WA bill aimed at raising property taxes dies in Senate (FOX 13)
• Bill to raise cap on local property taxes to 3% from 1% dies in state Legislature (The Center Square)
• Washington lawmakers won’t move forward with proposal to raise property tax cap (KING TV)
• ‘Battle royal’ over Washington property tax hike that will raise rents and mortgages (KVI Radio)
• Wash. lawmakers abandon proposed statewide property tax hike (MyNorthwest)
• Update: Legislature will not move forward to raise cap on property tax increase (The Chronicle)
• King County pleaded for help from the Legislature. Olympia said no (The Seattle Times)
• Fiscal note: Washington initiative to repeal capital gains tax would cut nearly $6 billion in state education funding (The Chronicle)
• OPINION: Democrats’ continued crusade for higher property taxes proves they no longer respect will of the people (Sen. John Braun/The Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION

• Bill to study electric vehicle battery fires on fast track in Olympia (The Center Square)
• EDITORIAL: Boeing safety failures draw more eyes on its jets (The Everett Herald)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Virginia Beavert, influential Yakama linguist and elder, dies Thursday at 102 (Yakima Herald-Republic)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Elk residents recall terrifying moments as flames approached their home (KXLY TV)
• Cause of Oregon Road fire undetermined, DNR says (The Spokesman-Review)

WOLVES

• WDFW proposing to reclassify gray wolves from ‘state endangered’ to ‘sensitive’ (The Center Square)