Daniel J. Evans, Washington state governor turned senator, dies at 98; Seattle armed carjackings this year have almost tripled 2023’s total

AGRICULTURE

• Climate change impacts apple quality, ripening times across US (KOMO TV)
• Why this year’s pear crop in WA, OR will be the smallest in 40 years (The Seattle Times)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• AI boom is driving a surprise resurgence of U.S. gas-fired power (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• L&I proposes 3.8% hike in workers’ compensation rates for 2025 (The Center Square)
• Strike by Boeing factory workers shows no signs of ending after its first week (AP)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Historic numbers of Americans live by themselves as they age (KFF Health News/Washington State Standard)
• EDITORIAL: Yakima’s NAACP chapter has a lot to celebrate after 80 years (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CONGRESS

• Spending deal averts a possible federal shutdown and funds the government into December (AP)
• U.S. House votes to repeal Biden auto emissions rule (States Newsroom/Washington State Standard)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• A death chamber goes dark in Washington state (KUOW Radio)
• Seattle announces deal with county to use more jail beds for misdemeanors (The Seattle Times)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Court ruling lets union reps attack Freedom Foundation in unionization pitch (The Center Square)

COURTS (STATE)

• Appeals court hears lawsuit between Love Overwhelming, Longview over homeless records (The Daily News)
• Trial for Brandon O’Neel, accused of shooting a state trooper, delayed to December (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• Climate Pledge Arena to pay over $477K to settle hidden fees case (Cascade PBS)
• How much did AG Ferguson pay to prosecute the Manny Ellis case? Here’s what records show (The News Tribune)
• Marysville mother completes felony diversion over death of son, 12 (The Everett Herald)
• Federal Way staff allows sex assault of mom with dementia, lawsuit says (The Charlotte Observer/The Seattle Times)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Seattle armed carjackings this year have almost tripled 2023’s total (The Seattle Times)
• Underage and under arrest: Why violent juvenile crime is up across western Washington (KING TV)
• OPINION: King County cities need a unified, better approach to juvenile crime (Armondo Pavone, mayor of Renton, Dana Ralph, mayor of Kent, Nancy Backus, mayor of Auburn, and Jim Ferrell, mayor of Federal Way/The Seattle Times)

DRUG CRISIS

• Drug crisis in Spokane prompts high need for resources (KHQ TV)
• Local projects to be funded by national opioid settlement money (NCW Life Channel)
• COLUMN: It was shockingly easy for me to get taxpayer funded drug kits with pipes, cookers, more (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

EDUCATION

• How a tool built in Washington is helping schools fight absenteeism (Washington State Standard)
• Learning curve: WA schools grapple with new cell phone policies (Cascade PBS)
• Parents file complaint against Marysville superintendent (FOX 13)
• Pasco launches 1st of a kind Tri-Cities teaching program to fill growing special ed need (Tri-City Herald)
• COLUMN: The way out of this crisis for Seattle schools? Retreat (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: Renton family deserves compensation for land taken for school (Carlton Winfrey/The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Fixing what ails Seattle schools hinges on listening to families (The Seattle Times)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• After Inslee’s push for bigger Tri-Cities wind farm, lawmaker wants to limit his authority (Tri-City Herald)
• Chehalis awarded nearly $1 million federal grant for hydrogen project at airport (The Chronicle)
• EDITORIAL: Inslee’s push on Horse Heaven Hills wind farm is as divisive as ever (Tri-City Herald)

ENVIRONMENT

• ‘ A gentle wilderness’: How a bear hunt led to the push to protect the Salmo-Priest Wilderness (The Spokesman-Review)

FISH

• The ‘gray ghost’ of WA’s rivers struggling to survive (The Seattle Times)
• ‘Give them a chance’: The fight to bring salmon back to Edmonds stream (The Everett Herald)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• WSU Tri-Cities sees biggest first-year class ever this fall (KNDO/KNDU)
• Upcoming layoffs at WWU as university president seeks to fix budget issues (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)
• OPINION: UW needs to put students’ food needs first (Charles Michaud, recent graduate of the University of Washington/The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: UW president must be much clearer on standards for protest and safety (The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• WA county to replicate Texas’ huge solution to homelessness (The Seattle Times)
• Change is coming to the Olympia homeless encampment known as the Jungle. Here’s the plan (The Olympian)
• BLOG: State’s highest court last stop for challenge to homeless camping law (Jim Camden/The Spokesman-Review)

HOUSING

• For home shoppers, the Fed’s big rate cut is likely just a small step towards affording a home (AP/The Oregonian)
• WA homebuying any easier after Federal Reserve rate cuts? (FOX 13)
• A Seattle home for under $300,000? Yes, but with some strings attached (The Seattle Times)
• State Commerce projections: 17k more homes needed in Chelan and Douglas counties by 2044 (KOZI Radio)
• Clark County could see home prices go up as more buyers tempted by lower mortgage rates, experts say (The Columbian)

INSURANCE

• Wildfires continue to make homeowner insurance expensive, hard to get (Capital Press)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• Washington court scuttles King County’s law on wineries (Capital Press)
• Why was that large land parcel cleared along southbound I-5 near Olympia? Here’s the answer (The Olympian)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• ‘One more stop’: WSP to do emphasis patrols in honor of fallen trooper (KIRO TV)
• Whatcom County law enforcement dogs have fetched an uncommon fentanyl certification (The Bellingham Herald)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• King County’s head of public defense resigns (The Seattle Times)
• Spokane Valley looks to settle with contractors over sinking city hall lawsuit (The Center Square)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Spokane child psychiatrists are in short supply as the nation’s youth mental health crisis persists (The Spokesman-Review)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Puget Sound Honor Flight connects Washington veterans to the memorials that honor them (KIRO TV)
• Will a Richland farm circle be Washington’s 3rd military cemetery for 46,000+ veterans? (Tri-City Herald)

OTHER STATES

• Plan would make 1M acres of federal land in Oregon available for solar energy projects (Oregon Capital Chronicle/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores (AP/The Oregonian)

POLITICS

STATE

• Daniel J. Evans, Washington state governor turned senator, dies at 98 (The New York Times/The Spokesman-Review)
• Former WA Gov. Dan Evans dies at 98 (The Seattle Times)
• Dan Evans, three-term Washington governor, dies at age 98 (KUOW Radio)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• More than a dozen Western WA schools increase security after threat (The Seattle Times)
• Pierce County warns of false school threats circulating online, urges public to report (KIRO TV)
• Law enforcement, school districts across the region dealing with rumors & threats of violence (KAPP/KVEW)
• Roof caves in after second fire at Hanford High School facility building (KAPP/KVEW)
• OPINION: How Yakima schools are protecting students (Sara Cordova, safety and security director for the Yakima School District/Yakima Herald-Republic)

SPORTS

• Boys to Men program aims to redefine masculinity among young athletes (FOX 13)

TRANSPORTATION

• Replacing I-5 bridge will aid drivers, displace some homeowners in WA and Oregon (Washington State Standard)
• Interstate Bridge report offers more insight on tolls, construction, travel times (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• More people are returning to the office. Is Seattle traffic about to get worse? (KUOW Radio)
• Hydrofoil ferry? Kitsap Transit’s vision to replace diesel ferries gets state funding (KIRO TV)

WATER

• After two years of drought in the Yakima Basin, could relief be on the way? (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Bellingham adds another 40 acres to the thousands purchased to protect its drinking water (The Bellingham Herald)

WEATHER & CLIMATE

• A La Niña winter is expected, what does that mean? (KING TV)

WILDLIFE

• ‘Devastating wildlife disease’ strikes Eastern WA. Benton mass mortality event declared (Tri-City Herald)

WOLVES

• USFWS appeals to remove endangered species status for gray wolf (The Center Square)
• Sheriffs want a say in wolf management (The Lewiston Tribune)
• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife kills 2 Onion Creek pack wolves (The Wenatchee World)
• Couse Pack injures calf, prompts consideration of lethal removal (The Lewiston Tribune)