Annual WA crime report shows violent crimes down, hate crimes and vehicle thefts up; Auditors: Feds unlikely to claw back Washington’s $1.1 billion in mishandled funds

ABORTION

• WA abortion clinics scramble to care for out-of-state patients. How far are they traveling? (Tri-City Herald)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Heat rules for outdoor workers are in force, no such rules for indoor workers (KIRO TV)
• Kroger, Albertsons are selling 124 grocery stores in Washington (KUOW Radio)
• Families of 737 Max crash victims urge a judge to reject Boeing’s plea deal (KUOW Radio)
• NW french fry giant sued over ‘artificially inflated’ share prices. Stock drops 30% (Tri-City Herald)
• OPINION: Proposal to shut down public working forests threatens critical Washington state services and jobs (Nick Smith, public affairs director for the American Forest Resource Council/The Chronicle)

CENSUS

• ‘This is break glass in case of emergency stuff’: Analysts alarmed by threats to US data gathering (AP)

CONGRESS

• Key senators reach agreement on spending levels for next year, setting up clash with House (AP)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• DCYF explains decision to freeze inmate intake, prosecutors react (KIRO TV)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Democratic lawmakers seek criminal investigation of Justice Thomas (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

COURTS (STATE)

• ‘I’ve never met evil like this’: Washington State Patrol trooper shot by suspect speaks in court (KING TV)
• Drug trafficker sentenced to 65 years after intentionally shooting Spokane police officer (KHQ TV)
• Edmonds boy, 16, charged with murder in Alderwood Mall shooting (The Everett Herald)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Annual WA crime report shows violent crimes down, hate crimes and vehicle thefts up (KOMO TV)
• Violent crime down, vehicle theft up in latest Crime in Washington report (The Center Square)
• Crime fell in Washington state last year (Axios – Seattle)
• Statewide crime mostly down, still higher than 2019 (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Reported crime falls in Vancouver, Clark County, but public perception doesn’t reflect it police chief says (The Columbian)
• Crime down in Everett in 2023, new report says (The Everett Herald)
• Scammers are at work again, WA state officials say. Here’s what you need to know (The Olympian)

DRUG CRISIS

• COLUMN: Seattle’s fentanyl epidemic may have peaked. No one’s sure why (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)

EDUCATION

• Tacoma Public Schools leaders went on a $4,600 Suncadia retreat. Was it ‘frivolous’? (The News Tribune)
• Moses Lake School District lets 55 more staff go (Columbia Basin Herald)

ELECTIONS

• New Everett elections center aims to provide transparency, security (The Everett Herald)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Power utilities preparing for an increase in air conditioning use (KING TV)
• PNW data center boom could imperil power supply within 5 years (The Seattle Times)
• Washington state is ‘ground zero’ for EV charging port thefts (The Center Square)
• Company proposes to put batteries on farmland in Western Washington (Capital Press)
• Inslee energized from visit to Everett fusion firms (The Everett Herald)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Federal heat rule mulled to better protect workers (Capital Press)

GUN RIGHTS

• Milk, eggs and now bullets for sale in handful of US grocery stores with ammo vending machines (AP)
• Spokane passes gun control law despite constitutional concerns and no legal review (The Center Square)

HANFORD

• What’s being done now about radioactive water that threatens the Columbia River in WA? (Tri-City Herald)
• Last reactor fuel storage basin being drained at Hanford (KNDO/KNDU)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Teresa Rich selected as interim YVC president (Yakima Herald-Republic)

HOMELESSNESS

• With homelessness rising, KCRHA-backed nonprofits call for more housing, funding (The Center Square)
• OPINION: The Supreme Court is wrong on homelessness. You can’t criminalize people for existing (Rob Huff, member of the Tacoma Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness/The News Tribune)

HOUSING

• Seattle City Council greenlights office-to-housing conversions, eyeing up to 2K new units (KOMO TV)
• Housing inventory is slowly growing in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene (The Spokesman-Review)
• East Wenatchee to release preapproved ADU construction plans for homeowners (NCW Life Channel)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Wage standard for Seattle delivery drivers at an impasse (The Seattle Times)
• Spokane City Council: ‘There is no legal reason for us to not be enforcing Prop 1’ (The Center Square)
• EDITORIAL: Vancouver leads way on public records access (The Columbian)

MENTAL HEALTH

• State grants will help sustain behavioral health providers in Kitsap County (Washington State Standard)
• State grants will help address infrastructure needs for behavioral health in Kitsap (Kitsap Sun)

OTHER STATES

• Despite pushback, Oregon schools will require stand-alone classes on financial literacy, post-high school plans (The Oregonian)
• Oregon’s electric grid powers through record-breaking heat (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

PARKS

• Campfire ban going into effect for North Cascades National Park (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Bellingham elementary school has become the latest target for hate (KIRO TV)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Auditors: Feds unlikely to claw back Washington’s $1.1 billion in mishandled funds (The Center Square)

TRANSPORTATION

• Gas taxes can’t pay for roads much longer, but Amazon deliveries might (Stateline/Washington State Standard)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• State fire mobilization authorized for Kittitas, Yakima Counties to pre-position resources (KNDO/KNDU)
• New fire burning west of Lake Wenatchee (The Wenatchee World)

WOLVES

• Wolf killed in Asotin County after chasing cattle (The Lewiston Tribune)