At WA homes for sex crime rehabilitation, warnings go ignored; WA House OKs unemployment benefits for striking workers, but adds four-week limit

At WA homes for sex crime rehabilitation, warnings go ignored

The Seattle Times — This is a critical moment for one of Washington’s most isolated programs. Far more people are now released into the community each year than are committed to the island, changing how and where sexual rehabilitation occurs. Yet the program continues to operate largely unchecked. Years of proposed legislation, including this session, have only chipped away at the sweeping reforms lawmakers say are necessary to fix a broken system. While each person on conditional release has a “transition team,” including a corrections officer, social worker, sex offender therapist and often a community chaperone, the homes themselves have little such scrutiny. $

WA House OKs unemployment benefits for striking workers, but adds four-week limit

Washington State Standard — Republicans argued that providing benefits would be an incentive for union workers to strike. They tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to exclude public school teachers and hospital workers. “If you are paying people to strike, you will have more strikes,” said Rep. Jeremie Dufault, R-Selah.

THE CURRENT | A WASHINGTON HOUSE REPUBLICAN EMAIL UPDATE

• Transportation and capital budgets | April 12, 2025

AGRICULTURE

• Proposed port fees could have ‘devastating consequences,’ Washington wheat growers warn (The Spokesman-Review) $

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Washington State bill offers unemployment aid to striking workers, local lawmakers react (KHQ TV)
• How a missing detail in a WA press release turned into a tale of modern America (The Seattle Times) $
• Seattle construction industry sheds thousands of jobs as development slows (Puget Sound Business Journal) $

CAPITAL BUDGET

• Seattle’s World Cup plans face state budget roadblocks (Axios – Seattle)

CONGRESS

• EDITORIAL: GOP tax package could leave WA residents footing the bill (The Seattle Times) $

CORONAVIRUS

• COVID arrived 5 years ago. How WA is looking back — and forward (The Seattle Times) $

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• EDITORIAL: Lawmakers shouldn’t give up on statewide jail oversight board (Yakima Herald-Republic) $

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Seattle federal judge again orders Trump to allow refugees into U.S. (The Seattle Times) $

COURTS (STATE)

• Washington chief justice defends equity push, flags AI concerns (Washington State Standard)
• Washington’s Yakima County represents breaking point in state’s public defender crisis (Investigate West/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• ‘Probable ties to Tren de Aragua’: Two men accused of torturing, and shooting a Burien woman (MyNorthwest)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• 1997 WA cold case victim identified; Gary Ridgway not ruled out (FOX 13)
• Police offer new details in Tesla charging station vandalism (KIRO TV)

EDUCATION

• ‘Downright disastrous.’ Parents, teachers push back on new round of Richland school cuts (Tri-City Herald) $

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Washington state passes HB 1172 allowing fire districts to opt out of civil service rules (KHQ TV)

ENVIRONMENT

• State pollution board backs decision to deny Caton Landfill permit (Yakima Herald-Republic) $

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Trump team tries to project confidence and calm after his tariff moves rattled markets (AP)
• USDA removes more than 1,000 training courses – including bullying and harassment – for ‘gender ideology extremism’ and DEI (The Spokesman-Review) $
• OPINION: Libraries, which inspire, inform and welcome all, are now expendable (Tom Fay, executive director and chief librarian of The Seattle Public Library/The Seattle Times) $

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

• Breakdown of Washington bills signed on Friday (KIRO TV)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• OPINION: New health care price transparency legislation protects patients from overbilling (Pat Simmons, retired U.S. postal worker/The Spokesman-Review) $

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Longview program helps disabled students with job, community skills (The Daily News) $

HOUSING

• Tri-Cities lawmaker’s bill to make financing manufactured homes easier is now law (Tri-City Herald) $
• The cost of aging: How rent caps could affect Washington seniors (Cascade PBS)
• Pierce County one of a few selected for national housing program. What will it do? (The News Tribune) $
• Is boosting supply the only way to lower housing costs in Thurston? How about these ideas? (The Olympian) $
• Questions remain after Washington mobile home park landlord agrees to $5.5 million refund (Yakima Herald-Republic) $
• Q&A: What Washington mobile home park residents need to know about $5.5 million refund from Hurst & Son (Yakima Herald-Republic) $

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Seattle detective’s suicide recognized, years later, as line-of-duty death (The Seattle Times) $
• Drunken night caught on bodycam costs Mercer Island cop his rank (FOX 13)

LEGISLATURE

• Washington Legislature approves requirement for clergy to report child abuse (Washington State Standard)
• COLUMN: Washington Democrats effectively legalize infanticide and late term abortion, but call it compassion (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Cosmopolis on the brink: How a rural WA town illustrates an American crossroads (The Seattle Times) $
• Ellensburg weighs pros and cons of muting social media comments (Daily Record) $

MEDIA

• New Opinion Editor joins The News Tribune. Tacoma, let’s talk (The News Tribune) $
• COLUMN: Study sheds light on why local news is more trusted, for now (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times) $

OTHER STATES

• EDITORIAL: Oregon’s massive transportation tax plan needs better guardrails (The Oregonian) $

PARENTAL RIGHTS

• WA Senate passes bill that partly revises parents’ bill of rights initiative (The Center Square)

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• ‘It’s a three-way win’: City, school district and farmers unite in land deal for growth (The Spokesman-Review) $

SCHOOL SAFETY

• 13-year-old charged in Federal Way, WA shooting (FOX 13)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Meta faces historic antitrust trial that could force it to break off Instagram, WhatsApp (AP)

SPORTS

• COLUMN: The cold war that’s chilling a hot Seattle tradition (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times) $

STATE GOVERNMENT

• After 10 years and $31M, WA workers’ comp upgrade has little to show (The Seattle Times) $

TAXES

• OPINION: Proposed taxes in Olympia will hurt small businesses: A plea from the manufacturing front lines (Amelia Cook, owner Goodwinds Composites/The Olympian) $

TRANSPORTATION BUDGET

• Port and partners look to Washington transportation budget for US 12 funds (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) $

WILDLIFE

• Watch: Coyote gets ‘booped’ by its potential rodent dinner (FOX 13)

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