TAKE THE CAPITOL BUZZ SURVEY
AGRICULTURE
- NW wheat harvest: Yields and exports up, prices down (Capital Press)
- Oregon cherry crop strong; Washington crop sustains weather damage (Capital Press)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
- Dow drops 860 points, and Japanese stocks suffer worst crash since 1987 amid U.S. economy worries (AP)
- New normal for pay raises takes hold as companies budget for 2025 (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- Dollar Tree required to reform testing process after WA finds toxic children’s products (Washington State Standard)
- Chevron to quit California for Texas after warning on rules (Bloomberg/The Spokesman-Review)
CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM
- Latest fight over farm fuel exemptions dismissed in court (Washington State Standard)
- Washington judge tosses Farm Bureau’s suit against cap-and-trade (Capital Press)
COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES
CORRECTIONS & JAILS
- DCYF loses court battle amid crisis, residents return to local facility (FOX 13)
- Medicine garden at Washington Corrections Center brings healing and connection for Indigenous inmates (KING TV)
- Possible new jail site ID’d in update of King County’s civic campus plan (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- OPINION: No good answers: Why I moved 43 men from youth lockup to prison (Ross Hunter, secretary of the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families/The Seattle Times)
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
- WA teen still waiting for justice after being trafficked via Tinder (Cascade PBS)
- Are more license plate readers coming to Pierce County? Here’s where they would be (The News Tribune)
- Federal Way HOA deploys license plate reading cameras to deter criminals (KOMO TV)
- COLUMN: King County Public Defender director aims to stop many prosecutions, pay criminals instead (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
CYBERSECURITY
DAMS
EDUCATION
- Here’s what SPS will look at in deciding which schools to close (The Seattle Times)
- How closures would affect demographics of Seattle schools (The Seattle Times)
- Declining enrollment: What it means for NCW schools and communities (The Wenatchee World)
- ‘Open and accepted’: Delta Garage helps youth through motorcycles (The Everett Herald)
- OPINION: WA’s charter schools can be a game-changer for special needs students (Ashley Jochim, education researcher and mom to a child with a disability in a Washington public school/The Seattle Times)
ENERGY & UTILITIES
- NorthWestern to acquire more of Colstrip while other utilities unload coal (Washington State Standard)
- Inslee likens EV rebate program to signing of Declaration of Independence (The Center Square)
- Snohomish County PUD to start distributing bill credits this month (The Everett Herald)
- Energy production focus of Newhouse visit (Columbia Basin Herald)
- BLOG: As state studies ‘modular’ nuke plants, history worth remembering (Jim Camden/The Spokesman-Review)
ENVIRONMENT
- Washington’s bag ban, meant to reduce waste, hasn’t made much of a dent in discarded plastic (The Columbian)
- WSU training to teach locals about what is truly recyclable (The Everett Herald)
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE
HANFORD
- Record funding. $3.3B budget proposed for Hanford site radioactive cleanup next year (Tri-City Herald)
- EDITORIAL: Hanford’s solar, battery project carries eastern Washington’s energy legacy forward (Tri-City Herald)
HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS
HIGHER EDUCATION
HOMELESSNESS
- They have jobs, but no homes. Inside America’s unseen homelessness crisis (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)
- Tacoma daycare parents concerned for child safety due to nearby encampment (KIRO TV)
HOUSING
- How new real estate industry rules around brokers’ commissions will impact home buyers and sellers (AP)
- Thurston County to help save affordable housing units on Olympia’s west side (The Olympian)
LAW ENFORCEMENT
LEGISLATURE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Hollingsworth withdraws bill that would have slowed minimum wage increases (MyNorthwest)
- Pierce County executive says funds better spent on housing, not ‘a tent city’ (The Center Square)
- Medical Lake’s Pine Lodge building won’t become a homeless shelter, mayors assure (The Spokesman-Review)
- Franklin County lost 2 administrators in 2 years. Now they want to cut the job (Tri-City Herald)
MENTAL HEALTH
MILITARY & VETERANS
OTHER STATES
SCHOOL SAFETY
STATE GOVERNMENT
- ESD: One quarter of WA Cares revenue goes to administrative costs (The Center Square)
- Paid Family and Medical Leave milestones celebrated as program faces deficit (The Center Square)
- EDITORIAL: Keeping kids safe requires working across government silos (The Seattle Times)
TAXES
- Data centers got a huge tax break to create WA jobs. Is it paying off? (The Seattle Times)
- Are we on the brink of a tax revolt in Washington state? (KUOW Radio)
TECHNOLOGY
TRANSPORTATION
- Tacoma could soon make big changes to parking rules. What will it mean for drivers? (The News Tribune)
- Take a look: Updated plans for new Washington State Ferries hybrid-electric boats (KING TV)
- Kitsap passenger-only ferry service at risk after part failure (The Seattle Times)
TRIBAL ISSUES
WATER
WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE
- State mobilizes National Guard to combat escalating wildfire dangers and fuel issues (KOMO TV)
- Fire Report: Triple-digit temperatures blaze through Washington (Columbia Basin Herald)
- North Cascades Highway stretch closes again due to wildfire (The Seattle Times)
- Swawilla Fire 85% contained as leadership for wildfire shifts (KHQ TV)
- EDITORIAL: Fire marshal’s burn ban is a no-brainer (Yakima Herald-Republic)
WILDLIFE
