Facing $10B in budget overspending, Washington considers $1.4B state worker pay hike; EFSEC overrules county, approves solar panels on farmland

In memory of Jackie

AGRICULTURE

• WSDA Compost Reimbursement Program to accept more applicants (The Wenatchee World)
• Josi to farmers: ‘You’ve got to be online showing your life’ (Capital Press)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• How AI is helping states declutter regulations (Pluribus News)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Average mortgage rate rises to highest level since July (AP)
• Sears closes its last store in Washington (MyNorthwest)
• Boeing CEO: ‘We are at a low point … We spend more time arguing amongst ourselves’ (MyNorthwest)

CHILD CARE

• Advocates want to change state law that makes it harder to remove kids from potentially dangerous homes (KING TV)

CONGRESS

• Democrats strike deal to get more Biden judges confirmed before Congress adjourns (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• Eastern Washington leaders: Public defender caseload plan brings high costs, but no state funding (KAPP/KVEW)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Jury finds Randy Razey guilty of killing his father at Naches home (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Washington named 3rd worst state for fall home burglary risk (KONA Radio)
• Man sentenced for gunning down teen on Puyallup basketball court (FOX 13)

DRUG CRISIS

• What’s behind the remarkable drop in U.S. overdose deaths (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• Couple who led drug trafficking group connected to Aryan prison gang plead guilty (MyNorthwest)

EDUCATION

• Seattle School Board cancels school closure hearings (The Seattle Times)
• Ferris High School to get the fourth CHAS-run clinic inside a Spokane school (The Spokesman-Review)

ELECTIONS

• EDITORIAL: Portland shows ranked choice voting no cure-all (The Columbian)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Seattle-area emergency departments see mix of storm-related injuries (The Seattle Times)
• ‘People are going to die.’ Why Tacoma firefighters are upset over city’s proposed budget (The News Tribune)
• Warming shelters, charging stations provide relief as WA power outages continue (FOX 13)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• EFSEC overrules county, approves solar panels on farmland (Capital Press)
• Deal signed for ‘largest clean energy project in WA history.’ Opponents race to stop it (Tri-City Herald)
• Despite years of local opposition, massive Tri Cities wind/solar project is a done deal (The Center Square)
• In the dark, waiting for light: WA bomb cyclone relief efforts continue (The Seattle Times)
• Local lawmakers urge changes to proposed federal hydrogen energy rules (The Everett Herald)
• Power being restored to some, PSE expects all customers to be out of the dark by Saturday afternoon (KING TV)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• What to know about Pam Bondi, Trump’s new pick for attorney general (AP)
• Oregon Republican in the running for labor secretary, national outlets report (The Oregonian)

FISH

• Seattle park’s record chum salmon run points to good conditions for sea life (KNKX Radio)

FOOD SAFETY & SECURITY

• Falafel bites recalled for E. coli in WA, 17 other states (KIRO TV)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Bird flu is racing through farms, but Northwest states are rarely testing workers (Investigate West/Oregon Public Broadcasting)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Parents criticize Bellevue College’s power outage response, citing lack of student support (KOMO TV)

HOMELESSNESS

• Pierce County homeless village groundbreaking celebration draws protest (The News Tribune)

HOUSING

• Washington auditor finds home ownership option not being used in tribal projects (The Center Square)
• Seattle mayor signs off bill to allow expansion of cheaper form of housing (The Center Square)
• Seattle budget scales back tenant hotlines, legal aid (The Seattle Times)
• Parkland mobile-home park was being sold. County ponied up $750K to help residents buy it (The News Tribune)
• This Pierce Co. city has only approved 5 ADUs since 2007. Soon they’ll be easier to build (The News Tribune)
• Bellingham mayor takes steps to advance range of new housing, including new tiny home village (The Bellingham Herald)
• OPINION: Seattle’s winter eviction moratorium is endangering affordable housing (Sharon Lee, executive director of the Low Income Housing Institute, and Emily Thompson, partner at GMD Development/The Seattle Times)

INVASIVE SPECIES

• Hundreds of destructive Japanese beetles found in Tri-Cities. WA officials are worried (Tri-City Herald)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Longview police officers failed to de-escalate confrontation with suicidal woman before killing her, family claims (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Walla Walla Police Guild, city agree on contract for 2025-2026 (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

LEGISLATURE

• Washington Farm Bureau honors four legislators, including Kretz and Wilcox (Capital Press)
• Three WA Senate Democrats are leaving their jobs. Here’s what happens next (Washington State Standard)
• WA Senate Democrats choose new committee chairs ahead of 2025 session (Washington State Standard)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• City plans to pause fee paid by downtown Olympia businesses for improvements. Here’s why (The Olympian)
• Yakima officials grapple with spending/revenue imbalance ahead of budget adoption (The Center Square)
• Seattle will loosen restrictions on spending its big business tax (Cascade PBS)

MEDIA

• Dave Ross, Colleen O’Brien retiring after co-hosting ‘Seattle’s Morning News’ for a decade (MyNorthwest)

OPERATING BUDGET

• Facing $10B in budget overspending, Washington considers $1.4B state worker pay hike (The Center Square)

OTHER STATES

• Number of women who are state lawmakers inches up to a record (AP)
• Oregon restocks 3-year supply of abortion drug mifepristone (The Oregonian)
• Oregon to reinstate ambitious climate program amid divided reactions from industries, environmentalists (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

POLITICS

STATE

• OPINION: A center-right Democrat’s view from Washington state (Jim Luce, retired Bonneville Power Administration attorney/Washington State Standard)
• COLUMN: WA shifted (slightly) right in 2024, though many counties moved left (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times)

RURAL BROADBAND

• Who spends the most on internet access? Washington state is number one. (KPQ Radio)

SPORTS

• Mariners plan to broadcast games on ROOT Sports in 2025, sources say (The Seattle Times)
• ‘Soccer heartbeat of the Inland Northwest’: Spokane selected as candidate to host World Cup team in 2026 (The Spokesman-Review)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Ferguson names policy veteran as his budget director (Washington State Standard)

TAXES

• Seattle capital gains tax proposal falls short again (The Seattle Times)

TRANSPORTATION

• Powerless Tesla drivers storm Seattle-area grocery store to recharge during outages (KUOW Radio)
• WSDOT: Massive project will disrupt traffic for 3 years as crews work to repair I-5 (MyNorthwest)
• Some Mercer Island residents under shelter-in-place order due to hazardous road conditions (KING TV)
• American Airlines expands ‘gate lice’ tech to more than 100 airports (KIRO TV)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Congressional lawmakers hear testimony on missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis (States Newsroom/Washington State Standard)
• Native American voter turnout significantly lower on tribal lands, new study finds (KOMO TV)
• EDITORIAL: As evictions loom, WA tribal program looks like another broken promise (The Seattle Times)

WEATHER & CLIMATE

• Cliff Mass: Second ‘strong’ windstorm will hit Washington today, with one key difference from ‘bomb cyclone’ (MyNorthwest)

WILDLIFE

• Dungeness crabbers sue WDFW over GPS boat monitoring program (Capital Press)
• Woodland Park Zoo mourns loss of orangutan baby after near-term pregnancy fails (KOMO TV)