Inslee’s hiring and spending freeze ignites tax hike fears amid looming budget deficit; Costs remain high for WA affordable housing projects

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Amazon’s top execs see big role for AI in company’s future (Puget Sound Business Journal)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Adult entertainers to see safety and wage improvement starting in 2025 (KIRO TV)
• Washington state expands protections for adult entertainment workers in 2025 (KHQ TV)

CHILD CARE

• Advocates devise a plan to pay child care providers a living wage (The Seattle Times)

CONGRESS

• Democrats stick with Schumer as leader. Their strategy for countering Trump is far less certain (AP)
• Republicans will control Congress. But a slim House majority may trim their ambitions. (States Newsroom/Washington State Standard)
• Marie Gluesenkamp Perez condemns President Biden’s decision to pardon his son (The Columbian)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• Parents and youth advocates call out Inslee’s planned juvenile rehab facility (The Center Square)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Could surveillance cameras help curb violence in Seattle’s most crime-plagued areas? (KOMO TV)
• Downtown Spokane data shows few individuals responsible for majority of crimes (KXLY TV)
• ‘Truly sorry.’ Sumner man serving life for role in murder-for-hire plot will soon be free (The News Tribune)

DRUG CRISIS

• Watch: What a longtime advocate wants you to know about fentanyl and kids (The Seattle Times)
• WA suspends recovery clinic accused of misconduct and falsifying reports (The Seattle Times)
• Finding help with addiction, substance use at Salvation Army in Seattle (The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Decline in overdose deaths proves collaboration works (The Seattle Times)

EDUCATION

• U.S. Education Department pings states, schools to set policies on cellphone use (States Newsroom/Washington State Standard)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• King County urging people to report damages caused by November’s bomb cyclone (KING TV)
• Tacoma, WA facing $24M budget deficit, talks firefighter cuts (FOX 13)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Yakama Nation sues Inslee over Horse Heaven wind and solar project (Capital Press)
• Tri-Cities groups appeal massive Horse Heaven Hills wind farm (The Seattle Times)
• King County’s $160M battery averts power failure, protects Puget Sound during bomb cyclone (KOMO TV)

ENVIRONMENT

• Why you shouldn’t reuse single-use plastics (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)
• State secures $1M grant to increase flood resilience of Deschutes Estuary restoration project (The Olympian)
• Navy well drilling project near Keyport causes sewage spill into Liberty Bay (Kitsap Sun)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Trump considers DeSantis for defense secretary as his support for Hegseth falters (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

FOOD SAFETY & SECURITY

• Cucumbers behind widespread recall linked to five WA salmonella cases, 1 in Whatcom County (The Bellingham Herald)

HANFORD

• ‘We’re stealing from the taxpayers’: Whistleblower alleges timecard fraud scheme at Hanford (KING TV)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Departing WSU President Kirk Schulz reflects on nine years in Pullman (KXLY TV)
• Enrollment up at Yakima Valley College and Heritage University (Yakima Herald-Republic)

HOMELESSNESS

• Seattle offers places to shelter during cold nights ahead (KUOW Radio)
• Sleeping in a stairwell when Seattle shelters are full (KUOW Radio)
• With cold winter coming, Vancouver makes plans to open some city buildings as emergency shelters (The Columbian)
• I feel safe here’: Marysville shelter saves lives as temperatures drop (The Everett Herald)

HOUSING

• Costs remain high for WA affordable housing projects (Washington State Standard)

IMMIGRATION

• US can continue using Seattle airport for deportation flights, appeals court says (AP)
• Republican senator plans push to end state sanctuary law, faces opposition from immigrant advocates (KING TV)
• COLUMN: King County’s ban on ICE flights only hurt its pro-immigrant cause (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: Court smacks Constantine’s blocking violent criminals from deportations. He owes us money (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• Spokane attempts to delay land transfer as developer eyes 1K homes in Latah Valley (The Center Square)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Office to investigate cops is a work in progress in Washington (Axios – Seattle)
• Off-duty cop flashes gun during road rage incident in Edmonds (MyNorthwest)

LEGISLATURE

• State legislators hear about concerns, priorities from Clallam County officials (KONP Radio)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Minority members say progressive Spokane Council majority rules silence dissent (The Center Square)
• Incoming Pierce County executive says housing costs, homelessness top priorities (The Center Square)
• Chelan County clarifies homeless camp removal policy (The Wenatchee World)
• Commissioners ask Walla Walla County department heads for budget cut proposals (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Report from Children’s Alliance finds Washington ranks 48th nationally in youth mental health (The Columbian)

OPERATING BUDGET

• WA Gov. Inslee orders hiring and travel freeze for state agencies (Washington State Standard)
• Gov. Inslee imposes spending freeze to deal with $10B-$12B operating budget gap (The Center Square)
• WA Gov. Inslee imposes hiring, spending freeze amid budget deficit (FOX 13)
• Gov. Inslee calls for hiring freeze in light of ‘significant’ budget deficit (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)
• Inslee’s hiring and spending freeze ignites tax hike fears amid looming budget deficit (KOMO TV)

OTHER STATES

• Kotek budget proposal would fund fentanyl enforcement, labor bureau boost, anticipated clashes with Trump admin (The Oregonian)
• Oregon governor makes final plea to Biden to make Owyhee Canyonlands a national monument (Oregon Capital Chronicle/Washington State Standard)
• Portland Public Schools moves toward ‘off and away’ cellphone policy that would also prohibit phones at lunch (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• 2 school security bills filed ahead of WA 2025 legislative session (FOX 13)
• Child rape victim files claim against Federal Way Public Schools (FOX 13)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Gov.-elect Ferguson names Tim Lang new secretary of the WA Department of Corrections (The News Tribune)
• Washington State Productivity Board members question if, how the program works (The Center Square)
• Building code council resists emergency adoption related to natural gas initiative (The Center Square)

TAXES

• Washington lawmakers could renew debate over how much cities can collect in property taxes (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe selected by DOH for health equity initiative (Kitsap Sun)

WATER

• Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District faces $6M cost to repair canal damage from Retreat Fire (KAPP/KVEW)

WEATHER & CLIMATE

• It’s a La Niña winter – or is it? Why there’s uncertainty and how it will affect WA weather (The Olympian)