Majority of Washingtonians feel the pain of high grocery prices, says survey; Hundreds rally for parental rights at Capitol: ‘We do not co-parent with the government’

Majority of Washingtonians feel the pain of high grocery prices, says survey

MyNorthwest — Washington State residents are increasingly feeling the strain of rising grocery prices, according to the latest Washington State Food Security Survey. Between August and October 2024, more than 5,500 individuals participated in the survey, with 55% reporting food insecurity — a significant jump from previous years (49% in 2023 and 45% in 2021).

Hundreds rally for parental rights at Capitol: ‘We do not co-parent with the government’

The Olympian — The parental-rights debate is heating up in Washington — as evidenced by the hundreds of people who braved gloom and rain to protest at the Capitol Campus in Olympia on Saturday. Conservative lawmakers and concerned residents rallied around a common theme: “We do not co-parent with the government,” as stated by Rep. Travis Couture, an Allyn Republican. $

THE CURRENT | A WASHINGTON HOUSE REPUBLICAN EMAIL UPDATE

• Housing and rent control | Feb. 15, 2025

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• OPINION: AI has the potential to upend my hopes and dreams. That doesn’t mean it should (Eva Friedman, a sophomore at Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences/The Seattle Times) $

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• WA bill would force REI co-op to reserve board seats for workers (Cascade PBS)
• Gobsmacked by groceries: Inflation inching higher for Washington consumers weary at the market (The Spokesman-Review) $
• UW, WSU study shows WA residents struggling to pay for one particular monthly expense (The News Tribune) $
• WA businesses scrambling as Trump tariffs raise costs, uncertainty (The Seattle Times) $

CHILD CARE

• EDITORIAL: More investment in child care needed locally and beyond (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) $

CONGRESS

• COLUMN: Sen. Murray, Rep. DelBene warn of ‘dangers we are facing’ (Kate Riley/The Seattle Times) $
• EDITORIAL: Rep. Dan Newhouse can honor his family’s legacy by standing up to Trump’s overreach (Tri-City Herald) $

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Judge refuses to immediately reinstate inspectors general fired by Trump (The New York Times/The Seattle Times) $
• Judge in Seattle blocks Trump order on youth gender-affirming care (The Seattle Times) $
• WA court allows sex trafficking lawsuit against hotel in Kent to move forward (KOMO TV)

COURTS (STATE)

• WA courts work to vacate hundreds of thousands of illegal drug convictions (Washington State Standard)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Cracking down on organized retail theft: Lawmaker hopes to lengthen perpetrators’ prison sentences (KING TV)
• Washington lawmakers consider bill to make patronizing a prostitute a felony (KOMO TV)
• Inside Seattle’s fight against graffiti: Millions of dollars and lots of paint (The Seattle Times) $
• OPINION: Violent crime affected us both. Our stance on prison may surprise you (Annie Nichol, advocate for survivor-centered justice, and Aswad Thomas, gun violence survivor and vice president of the Alliance for Safety and Justice/The Seattle Times) $

DRUG CRISIS

• Tri-Cities saw major shift in fentanyl overdose deaths in 2024. What’s behind it? (Tri-City Herald) $

EDUCATION

• WA Republicans protest amending ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’ (The Seattle Times) $
• Hundreds rally at Capitol to protect parental rights: ‘Enough is enough’ (The Center Square)
• Senate Democrats leave Ferguson’s universal school meals behind (The Washington Observer) $
• Legislation could make school bond approval easier in Washington state (The Center Square)
• Lawmakers look to lower voter approval threshold for school bond measures as many fail to pass (KIRO TV)
• Survey shows most parents lack confidence in Seattle Public Schools’ education (MyNorthwest)
• Seattle School Board split on superintendent’s contract extension (The Seattle Times) $
• More than 30 school positions and 100 paraeducator hours cut from Tumwater schools (The Olympian) $
• OPINION: Cellphones are distractions and not toys (Ellen Glickman, professor of exercise physiology at Kent State University/InsideSources.com/The Columbian) $

EMERGENCY POWERS

• With a phone call, WA governor keeps emergency powers bill alive (Washington State Standard)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Backers of WA natural gas initiative plan to refile lawsuit to force compliance (The Center Square)
• Washington state clean-energy funding re-frozen by Trump White House (KUOW Radio)
• Sen. Patty Murray slams federal layoffs affecting Hanford and Bonneville workers (KNDO/KNDU)
• Kennewick based Cascade Natural Gas may face $1 million penalty for alleged pipeline violations (KNDO/KNDU)

ENVIRONMENT

• WA scientists plan to publish report on nature that Trump canceled (The Seattle Times) $

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Federal workers across the Northwest are being fired by the Trump administration. They warn of impacts to wildfires, science and historic landmarks (The Spokesman-Review) $
• President’s Day rally in Seattle: federal workers stand against Trump administration (MyNorthwest)
• IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season (AP)

HANFORD

• Fed workers in Tri-Cities lose jobs in 1st round of federal layoffs. Nuclear site impacted (Tri-City Herald) $

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• For many in Washington, Long COVID care remains out of reach (Cascade PBS)
• Astria Sunnyside and Toppenish hospitals see some financial rebound in 2024 (Yakima Herald-Republic) $
• COLUMN: An anti-trans agenda from Washington Republicans harms healthcare for all kids (Dr. Niran Al Agba/Kitsap Sun) $

HOMELESSNESS

• Washington lawmakers consider bill allowing people to sue cities over rules that restrict camping in public places (The Spokesman-Review) $
• Think tank survey: Majority of Seattle’s chronically homeless originate elsewhere (The Center Square)

HOUSING

• Seattle Chamber of Commerce: Voter-approved payroll tax won’t solve housing crisis (The Center Square)

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• Former Spokane strip club becoming a refuge for sex trafficking survivors (KXLY TV)

IMMIGRATION

• Targeted for deportation, WA immigrants with convictions seek pardons (The Seattle Times) $
• ‘This is not being paranoid’: Immigrants in Clark County fearful of mass deportation threats (The Columbian) $

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Ferguson wants to spend big on policing. Do all departments deserve it? (The Washington Observer) $
• Kent officer shoots, injures armed man in Des Moines following incident (The Seattle Times) $

LEGISLATURE

• Washington legislature introduce bill to redesign state flag (KIRO TV)
• WA legislative committee advances new standards on wood stoves (FOX 13)
• Clark County’s freshman lawmakers introduce bills that reflect campaign promises (The Columbian) $
• Proposed changes to Washington’s Death with Dignity law (KHQ TV)
• Washington Nonprofits seek legislative help for increasing fundraising limits (KEPR TV)
• BLOG: House panel considers renaming Presidents Day holiday (Jim Camden/The Spokesman-Review) $
• EDITORIAL: WA’s young people are struggling — and our leaders are failing them (The Seattle Times) $

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• City of Seattle workers allege wage theft in proposed class action (The Seattle Times) $
• Is burning trash worth the cash? Spokane to use $650,000 in grant funds to study incinerator as state cracks down on emissions (The Spokesman-Review) $
• Yakima County must provide attorney with text messages about Coroner Jim Curtice (Yakima Herald-Republic) $

MEDIA

• EDITORIAL: Pass Senate Bill 5400 to help save local journalism, strengthen democracy (The Seattle Times) $

OPERATING BUDGET

• Gov. Ferguson concerned Trump cuts will worsen WA budget woes (NW News Network)
• Federal cuts could spell doom for Washington’s budget (KNWN Radio)
• OPINION: Democrats claim they want to reduce spending, Republicans are showing the way (Sen. John Braun/The Chronicle)
• OPINION: Washington lawmakers can address revenue shortfall without cutting important services (Lacrecia “Lu” Hill, community engagement and strategy director at Empire Health Foundation)

OTHER STATES

• Proposal aims to overhaul citizen involvement in Oregon land use system (Capital Press) $
• Pressure builds on Army Corps to produce years-late reports on Willamette River Basin dams (Investigate West/The Spokesman-Review) $

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Police investigate potential threat of violence at Richland High School (Tri-City Herald) $

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Zuckerberg less popular than Trump in Washington, new survey reveals (Puget Sound Business Journal) $

SPORTS

• Here’s the latest buzz about the Sonics and NBA expansion from All-Star weekend (The Seattle Times) $

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Ferguson wades into WA Fish and Wildlife Commission turmoil (Washington State Standard)
• COLUMN: Red flags popped up everywhere, but now two children are dead (Claudia Rowe/The Seattle Times) $

TAXES

• COLUMN: Rep. Chris Corry calls Washington Democrats’ property tax hike ‘disingenuous fear mongering’ (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
• COLUMN: From Seattle to the Okanogan, ‘tax the rich’ is stirring (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times) $
• EDITORIAL: This is a bad time for legislators to raise taxes (The Columbian) $

TRANSPORTATION

• Pay-per-mile honor system could supplement WA gas tax (The Seattle Times) $
• New WA bill could charge cars based on how far they drive (NW News Network)
• Washington RUC bill receives deluge of opposition (The Center Square)
• Sound Transit CEO search heats up for a potential $675K position (The Seattle Times) $
• Return of the hydrofoil: Puget Sound passenger ferries in the works (The Seattle Times) $
• ‘Mosquito Fleet Act’ could bring small ferries to more Puget Sound communities (KUOW Radio)
• WA electric plane startup halts operations in blow to green aviation (The Seattle Times) $
• What’s the Olympia Regional Airport master plan update and why are so many concerned? (The Olympian) $
• OPINION: Far too many Washingtonians are dying from excessive speeding. This bill could help (Rep. Mari Leavitt/The News Tribune) $

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• EDITORIAL: Trump’s government purge threatens local firefighting efforts (Yakima Herald-Republic) $

WILDLIFE

• Unfortunate purple antler accessory on deer from ‘the little town of Pullman’ has united fans across the globe (The Spokesman-Review) $