AGRICULTURE
- WA drought has already led some to shut off water to farmers (The Seattle Times)
- Federal funding for farmworker housing aims to keep grocery prices down (FOX 13)
- ‘Not enough beds’ A look at the farmworker housing crisis in eastern Washington (Tri-City Herald)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
- Unemployment jumps 4% from 2023 for new college graduates (KOMO TV)
- New protections for Washington warehouse workers take effect soon (The Center Square)
- Boeing whistleblower has waited a decade for change, now expects to leave (The Seattle Times)
- OPINION: Let’s sever the minimum wage from inflation in WA (Sean Beavers, co-founder of the Full Service Workers Alliance/The Seattle Times)
CHILD CARE
COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES
CONGRESS
- New law requires airfare refunds for delays and cancellations (KOMO TV)
- Fauci testifies before House panel on COVID origins, controversies (AP)
CORRECTIONS & JAILS
COURTS (STATE)
- Lawmakers look at allowing judges to resentence people serving long prison terms (Washington State Standard)
- Can smaller caseloads help Washington fill its public defender ranks? (Washington State Standard)
- How old is too old to sit on a jury in Washington? Here are the requirements for serving (The Bellingham Herald)
EDUCATION
- Washington’s absentee crisis: Experts alarmed, parents unconcerned (KIT Radio)
- Seattle and Spokane are slated to get 25 electric school buses each (KUOW Radio)
- Three schools face closure in Marysville School District in fall 2025 (The Everett Herald)
- Central Kitsap School District weighing policy changes amid rise in student misbehavior (Kitsap Sun)
- WA moves to revoke Montessori charter (The Lewiston Tribune)
- Washington educator wins $200,000 jackpot after Teacher Appreciation Week (FOX 13)
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES
ENERGY & UTILITIES
- 21 states join Biden administration in bid to modernize nation’s aging grid (States Newsroom/The Columbian)
- Report: U.S. copper supply won’t keep up with EV goals (FOX 13)
- Boehnke disagrees with Inslee’s decision on Horse Heaven Hills project (KWHT Radio)
ENVIRONMENT
- New statewide Styrofoam ban will ‘save Washingtonians a lot of money’ (MyNorthwest)
- This Tacoma waterway contains the most poop-polluted recreational waters in the PNW (The News Tribune)
FISH
- Skip the clam digging. Washington coastline off limits to shellfish harvest, for now (KUOW Radio)
- Oregon officials close coast to mussel harvesting due to shellfish poisoning; Washington also affected (The Columbian)
- OPINION: Washington fisheries managed using a conservation-first approach (Ed Johnstone, chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission based in Olympia /The Bellingham Herald))
HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS
- FSA vs. HSA: What to know about the accounts that pay medical costs (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
- Public Health warns of possible measles exposure at Sea-Tac Airport (The Seattle Times)
- Whooping cough is on the rise in Washington state (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)
- OPINION: Health insurance costs are out of control. Here’s why you’re overpaying for coverage (Dr. Roger Stark, visiting fellow with Mountain States Policy Center/Tri-City Herald)
HIGHER EDUCATION
- WWU issues apology to Arab students, agrees to some of war protesters’ demands (The Bellingham Herald)
- WWU engineering faculty, students push for change amid widespread culture, conduct concerns (The Bellingham Herald)
- Comprehensive Healthcare gift reestablishes CWU mental health program (Yakima Herald-Republic)
HOMELESSNESS
- Blowback to half-formed homeless project in Spokane portends murky path to a plan (The Spokesman-Review)
- Shelter for homeless veterans to close. Will they get the help they need elsewhere? (The News Tribune)
- Neighbors want city of Vancouver to close home for mentally ill, chronically homeless (The Columbian)
HOUSING
IMMIGRATION
INSURANCE
LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Police pursuits in WA resume June 6, deputies ready to enforce new law (FOX 13)
- SPD interim police chief discusses first days in office (FOX 13)
- In surprise move, new Seattle police chief reinstates assistant chief (KUOW Radio)
- Search for next Seattle police chief is underway (The Center Square)
- EDITORIAL: Despite challenges, leading the Seattle Police Department is a plum job (The Seattle Times)
LEGISLATURE
LGBTQ
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell shelves plans for ShotSpotter technology (The Seattle Times)
- Spokane’s elected officials might not receive raises next year after all (The Center Square)
- Spokane proposes shift to biennial budget (The Center Square)
- Is Thurston County’s racial equity council making progress? One issue is lack of members (The Olympian)
- Is a ‘juvenile grudge’ at root of alleged conspiracy, cover-up by three Franklin officials? (Tri-City Herald)
MEDIA
MENTAL HEALTH
- VA to offer no copays for mental health visits for veterans (KIRO TV)
- How West Sound networks are focused on crisis stabilization for individuals in need (Kitsap Sun)
- OPINION: Stop the mental health merry-go-round and keep my sister where she is safe and stable (Martha Monfried, former director of corporate communications at Puget Sound Energy/The Seattle Times)
OTHER STATES
- New focus on effort to restore voting rights to those convicted of felonies (AP)
- Record number of Oregonians disconnected from electric, gas service as rates climb (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
- Willamette Reservoirs in solid shape for ag irrigators (Capital Press)
- Reports: California exodus continues, southeastern states as primary destinations (The Center Square)
PARKS
- State may limit camping stays in parks (KONP Radio)
- Logging in Canada’s most famous national park to save it from wildfires (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
SCHOOL SAFETY
- Suspect arrested after graffitiing Lee Elementary, firing gunshots (The Wenatchee World)
- Redmond school counselor accused of sexual misconduct with minor (The Seattle Times)
SPORTS
STATE GOVERNMENT
- Lawyer for WSDOT whistleblower fires back in response to ‘motion to dismiss’ (The Center Square)
- After Oso slide, with old growth in peril, timber sales go under microscope (The Everett Herald)
- Green Hill inmate accused of attacking another inmate while a staff member ‘turned a blind eye’ charged (The Chronicle)
TRANSPORTATION
- Gas prices dropped by more than they have all year as after-holiday demand dips (FOX 13)
- A tale of two bridges: County finally moving on from wooden spans (The Everett Herald)
- A sneak peak at Washington’s planned hybrid electric ferries (KUOW Radio)
- Free Amtrak for kids, teens in Washington – funded by big polluters (KUOW Radio)
- Expect the cost of your airfare to continue to rise, an aviation trade group and industry heads warn (AP)
TRIBAL ISSUES
WATER
WEATHER & CLIMATE
WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE
- WA DNR predicting a tough fire season: How to minimize the fire danger surrounding your home (FOX 13)
- ‘Wildfire risk is growing in our area’: Fire agencies working now to protect Southwest Washington (The Columbian)
- ‘First concern is always people, homes’: American Red Cross prepares for wildfire season (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
WILDLIFE