Inslee expected to sign bill that paves way for natural gas ban in WA; Housing and homelessness in Washington, by the numbers

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Why WA’s farmworkers are disappearing (The Seattle Times)
• USDA gives organic product grants to nine Northwest firms (Capital Press)
• Shell shocked: Egg producers carry on despite avian flu, cage-free regulations (Capital Press)
• Northwest honey production, prices drop in 2023 (Capital Press)
• Return to Quincy: Waste-derived products in agriculture impact Yakima County too (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• EDITORIAL: WOTUS legal sideshow keeps going (Capital Press)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Washington state Supreme Court justice says she sees value of AI in legal realm (The Lewiston Tribune)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• A new Washington program will automatically start retirement accounts for workers who don’t already have access (The Inlander)
• Interesting wrinkles in the strippers’ rights bill (The Washington Observer)
• Despite All-Star summer, recovery is elusive for Seattle’s tourism industry (The Seattle Times)
• Experts keep close eye on Yakima Valley economy as 2024 begins with layoffs (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM

• Utility: Washington’s cap-and-trade unfair to other states (Capital Press)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Washington adults are among the nation’s least religious (Axios – Seattle)

CONGRESS

• EDITORIAL: Beware the Corporate Transparency Act (Capital Press)

CORONAVIRUS

• COLUMN: Speaking freely has a high cost for former local doctor (Sue Lani Madsen/The Spokesman-Review)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• King County’s plan to close youth detention center met with fierce backlash (MyNorthwest)

COURTS (STATE)

• NCW public defenders want to be optimistic about new caseload limits (The Wenatchee World)
• Woman rode train home to Puyallup but didn’t get off. What happened aboard the Sounder? (The News Tribune)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• 4-year-old Everett boy missing, police worried he’s in danger (MyNorthwest)

DAMS

• Carnation residents, officials frustrated after another false alarm from Tolt River Dam emergency system (KING TV)

DRUG CRISIS

• Whatcom Council approves resolution to declare state of emergency for county’s fentanyl crisis (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)
• EDITORIAL: Abatement council crucial against opioid crisis (The Columbian)

EDUCATION

• ‘It’s about time’: Much anticipated new Pierce County high school finally breaks ground (The News Tribune)
• Evergreen school district approves $18.7 million in budget reductions (The Columbian)
• OPINION: WA schools don’t have ‘bad kids.’ They lack enough tools to help them (Justin Hendrickson, principal at South Shore PreK-8 in Seattle Public Schools/The Seattle Times)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Inslee expected to sign bill that paves way for natural gas ban in WA (The Center Square)
• WA governor urged to veto $25M for nuclear power project (Washington State Standard)
• Harris semiconductor bill signed by Inslee (KIHR Radio)

ENVIRONMENT

• Climate protesters block Amazon’s Seattle HQ to oppose fossil fuel plans (KUOW Radio)
• Vancouver officials developing new green building policy (The Columbian)
• OPINION: What’s ‘climate-smart’ wood? Hopefully, a big part of Pierce County’s future (Robyn Denson, Pierce County Council/The News Tribune)

FISH

• Salmon are struggling, as former foes turned allies call for action (FOX 13)

GUN RIGHTS

• Inslee signs legislation expanding places where guns are banned (The Center Square)
• Gun owners have 24 hours to report theft or face up to $1K fine, new law says (KOMO TV)

HANFORD

• 300-ton Eastern WA melter reaches peak temperature to turn radioactive waste into glass (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• In rural Washington, patients travel hours for basic healthcare (Crosscut)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• College enrollment rose in 2023, but Washington state ranks low nationally in new students (The Olympian)
• No one hurt after officer fires shot on WSU campus (The Lewiston Tribune)

HOMELESSNESS

• Housing and homelessness in Washington, by the numbers (Washington State Standard)

HOUSING

• New housing law passed to promote co-living development in Washington State (KXLY TV)
• Luxury tiny homes creating a stir in Washington home market (MyNorthwest)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Olympia police the latest in South Sound to buy car-tracking cameras (KNKX Radio)
• Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft (The Everett Herald)

LEGISLATURE

• WA passes bill to protect libraries, as other states target them (The Seattle Times)
• Washington bans sale of cosmetics newly tested on animals (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
• New WA law caps cost of inhalers, EpiPens (Columbia Basin Herald)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Here’s how much of a budget deficit the Seattle City Council could be navigating by next year (KING TV)
• State Auditor: One bookkeeper misused thousands of taxpayer dollars across 7 Yakima Co. special purpose districts (KAPP/KVEW)

MEDIA

• COLUMN: Black Press sale closes, plus Australia’s ‘must carry’ idea (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• EDITORIAL: Navy smart to invest in Everett for new class of ships (The Seattle Times)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon prison watchdog says Tina Kotek’s top aides and corrections department stonewall him (The Oregonian)
• Inequity, mismanagement beleaguer Oregon’s early learning agency, employees say (Investigate West/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Influence sought by Oregon first lady isn’t unique nationally, but has caused trouble for Kotek (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Oregon becomes fourth state with a right-to-repair law for technology (Pluribus News)

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Grant County Economic Development Council receives $200,000 for carbon-transformation project (NCW Life Channel)

TAXES

• Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free (The Everett Herald)

TRANSPORTATION

• WSDOT talks local bridge safety, improvements (FOX 13)
• Could fatal collapse of Interstate 5 Bridge happen? (The Columbian)
• High-speed auto crashes all too common in Washington state (The Center Square)
• Suspect was driving 107 mph when he hit, killed a Washington State Patrol trooper, documents say (KREM TV)
• As deaths on our roads continue to rise, a local stay-at-home dad is on an ambitious quest to make Spokane’s streets the safest in the U.S. (The Inlander)
• Electric vehicles keep charging ahead in Washington state (KUOW Radio)

WILDLIFE

• Washington works towards cougar conservation (KHQ TV)
• Animal advocacy, wildlife groups oppose plan to shoot barred owls (The Seattle Times)
• New report separates species of killer whales found in North Pacific Ocean (KING TV)

WOLVES

• Inslee inks final Kretz bill on tribal cooperation (NCW Life Channel)