Judge sides with gun shop challenging WA’s ban on high-capacity ammo magazines; Washington’s Housing Trust Fund explained

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• ‘Gone for good.’ U.S. workers flee farms, leaving WA growers struggling under old rules (Tri-City Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Potatoes are not grains. Keep them rooted in the vegetable family (The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Central Washington braces for another hot, dry summer (Yakima Herald-Republic)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Boeing jets still under scrutiny as regulators launch probe into Southwest Airlines incident (Puget Sound Business Journal)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Can $500 a month make a dent in Seattle-area poverty? (KUOW Radio)

CONGRESS

• EDITORIAL: Adopt federal rules on data privacy and choice (The Everett Herald)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• ‘We believe in second chances’: Green Hill staff members focus on rehabilitation (The Chronicle)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• New state legislation fights catalytic converter theft (Snoqualmie Valley Record)
• Renton police sound alarm over rising juvenile crime rate (The Center Square)
• Renton juvenile crime suspect cut off four previous ankle bracelets (KVI Radio)
• Coeur d’Alene teen accused of planning attack on local churches in support of ISIS in plot FBI called ‘truly horrific’ (The Spokesman-Review)

CYBERSECURITY

• AT&T faces at least 10 class action lawsuits in Texas after data breach (The Dallas Morning News/The Spokesman-Review)

DRUG CRISIS

• The Spotlight: A new warning about Xylazine (FOX 13)

EDUCATION

• Paraeducators picket on first day of strike (Peninsula Daily News)
• Investigators claim former Toppenish superintendent cost the district over $1.9 million (KAPP/KVEW)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Puget Sound Energy facility has violated air permit over a dozen times (The Seattle Times)

ENVIRONMENT

• Bellingham receives notice its wastewater plant violated air quality standards this month (The Bellingham Herald)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• New WIC rules include more money for fruits and veggies. They also expand food choices (AP)

FISH

• WDFW approves seven days of coastal razor clam digs; additional tentative digs planned for April and May (The Chronicle)

GUN RIGHTS

• Judge sides with gun shop challenging WA’s ban on high-capacity ammo magazines (Washington State Standard)
• Judge rules WA ban on high-capacity magazines unconstitutional, but law stays in place for now (The News Tribune)
• WA’s ban on high-capacity gun magazines ruled unconstitutional (The Seattle Times)
• WA Supreme Court stops lower court from striking high capacity magazine ban (The Center Square)
• WA gun sales spike, then plummet as new laws take effect (The Seattle Times)

HANFORD

• New tool tracks contaminated groundwater at Hanford, other DOE sites (NW News Network)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• NAIA bans all transgender women from women’s sports (Washington Post/The Spokesman-Review)
• Whitman College receives nearly $40 million for new and renovated student housing (KAPP/KVEW)
• OPINION: Higher ed has role to play in climate change solutions (Darrin Magee, director of the Institute for Energy Studies at Western Washington University/The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• ‘Lost Patients’ podcast Episode 5: Out of the hospital, into homelessness (The Seattle Times)
• In Plain Sight: Criticisms, questions raised about controversial nonprofit We Heart Seattle (MyNorthwest)

HOUSING

• Washington’s Housing Trust Fund explained (Washington State Standard)
• Most WA voters think building more housing won’t cool prices, poll shows (The Seattle Times)
• Spokane landlords may soon be required to give six months notice when increasing rent (KREM TV)
• Kitsap County home listings asked for more money in March – see the current median price here (Kitsap Sun)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Federal Way mayor vows to make city safer, hire more officers in wake of multiple shootings (FOX 13)
• Backlash continues over Thurston County hiring/resignation of former Tacoma cop (The Center Square)

LEGISLATURE

• Ybarra sees wins, disappointments in 2024 legislative session (Columbia Basin Herald)
• 49th District lawmakers hold contentious town hall (The Columbian)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Seattle economic forecast offers little relief for City Hall (The Seattle Times)
• Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown’s first 100 days: How is she doing? (Crosscut)
• Spokane County to get millions of dollars from feds for bus upkeep (The Spokesman-Review)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek threatens to veto money for certain cities (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• One of Portland’s oldest homeless villages is running out of money (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Microsoft gets OK for 4th building near Pangborn Memorial Airport (The Wenatchee World)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Star Meridian High School athlete charged with raping teenager, lying to authorities (The Bellingham Herald)

TRANSPORTATION

• Seattle is among the best cities for clean transit (Axios – Seattle)
• Grant secured, emergency declared for collapsed road repairs in Tulalip (KING TV)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• EDITORIAL: State must provide region force for fighting fires (The Columbian)

WOLVES

• Groups sue feds for delisting wolves (The Lewiston Tribune)
• Environmental groups challenge decision not to federally protect wolves across the West (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Federal protection sought for wolves in lawsuit (Capital Press)