‘Sticker shock’: Despite past costs, Inslee seeks $100M to prevent homelessness; Washington Democrat proposes ban on small-gas engines

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Fruit growers discuss economic pressures and new technology at meeting in Kennewick (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Washington business groups sue EPA, calling water quality standards ‘impossible’ (The Spokesman-Review)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Borton and Sons fined $290K after two workers die in tractor rollovers last summer (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CHILD CARE

• EDITORIAL: Website good tool, but child care still needs help (The Columbian)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• For some, the symbols of Hanukkah bring extra concern this year (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• Community pushes back against playground near nude beach (MyNorthwest)

CONGRESS

• Defense bill agreement angers hard right, posing a threat to Johnson (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Hunter Biden is indicted on 9 tax charges, adding to gun charges in a special counsel investigation (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• Appellate court upholds decision on Spokane’s new anti-camping law, says initiative was legally put on ballots (The Spokesman-Review)
• Appellate court upholds Spokane initiative restricting homeless encampments (The Center Square)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Tri-Cities man charged with Organized Retail Theft. It’s a growing problem across the nation (KAPP/KVEW)
• Why convictions lag compared to sex trafficking reports in the PNW (InvestigateWest/Crosscut)

CYBERSECURITY

• Seattle cancer patients face blackmail threats after recent Fred Hutch data breach (KIRO TV)

DRUG CRISIS

• Ongoing investigation leads to multiple arrests, seizure of first known commercial pill press in eastern Washington (KHQ TV)
• Overdose deaths continue to rise in Yakima, even in the holidays (KIT Radio)

EDUCATION

• Cuts mean your child may not have a bus some days in this Pierce County school district (Gateway News/The News Tribune)
• ESD 105 gets $12.3 million grant to help underserved students in the Lower Yakima Valley (KAPP/KVEW)
• OPINION: Want a high-salary job at Boeing? A local high school is a pipeline for young people (Trisha Fry, a Core Plus Aerospace instructor at Sumner High School/The News Tribune)

ELECTIONS

• EDITORIAL: Low voter turnouts call for fresh strategies (Yakima Herald-Republic)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• PSE to build Montana wind farm as coal-fired energy winds down (The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: White House secrecy could drastically raise electric rates (Jason Bronec, CEO of Inland Power and Light/The Wenatchee World)

ENVIRONMENT

• COLUMN: Tacoma says trees are critical. So why do we let so many big, old ones get cut down? (Matt Driscoll/The News Tribune)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• EDITORIAL: The EPA tells the truth in court (Capital Press)

FISH

• New study finds high mercury levels in Snake River smallmouth bass in Idaho, Oregon (NW News Network)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Compass Health dedicates Everett block to housing and behavioral health services (The Everett Herald)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Universities face congressional inquiry and angry donors over handling of antisemitism (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• Protesters occupy outside UW’s president’s office, demanding all ties to Israel cut (KIRO TV)
• Unionized WSU students stage sit-in at Chancellor’s office, strike still possible (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
• Task force recommends budget cuts, other changes at Eastern Washington University (KHQ TV)

HOMELESSNESS

• ‘Sticker shock’: Despite past costs, Inslee seeks $100M to prevent homelessness (MyNorthwest)
• Inslee touts encampment clearing efforts, proposes more money for housing (The Seattle Times)
• Inslee proposes $100 million more to clear people from living in freeway rights-of-way (The Olympian)
• Inslee warns that state effort to move people out of encampments is getting short on cash (Washington State Standard)
• Gov. Inslee to request another $100 million to continue clearing encampments (KING TV)

HOUSING

• Seattle-area home sales plunge as mortgage rates still top 7% (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Tacoma says it can’t enforce new ordinance aimed at protecting renters (KIRO TV)

IMMIGRATION

• $3 million for hotel rooms could take pressure off Tukwila church’s refugee camp (KOMO TV)

INSURANCE

• Have flood insurance? What you need to know after heavy rain devastates North Sound homes (KIRO TV)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• New WA lab could mean quicker justice for DUI cases, safer roads (The Seattle Times)
• New toxicology lab aims to reduce state’s blood test backlog (KING TV)
• Seattle cop to get over $600K after wrongful firing, arbitrator orders (The Seattle Times)

LEGISLATURE

• Washington Democrat proposes ban on small-gas engines (Capital Press)
• New bill would end Washington’s twice-yearly time changes once and for all (KIRO TV)
• No auto insurance? 3 strikes could lead to vehicle impound (MyNorthwest)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Everett council president backs down from ban on holding 2 offices (The Everett Herald)
• Automated traffic speed cameras get the green light in Mukilteo (MyNorthwest)
• You can now talk to a Lacey council member about certain land-use cases in the city (The Olympian)

MENTAL HEALTH

• EDITORIAL: Focus on youth mental health or face unimaginable costs (The Seattle Times)

OTHER STATES

• When it comes to fixing Oregon’s drug crisis, nobody seems to want the status quo (Oregon Capital Chronicle/Washington State Standard)
• Portland Public students can miss days added during winter break without penalty (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Audit: SPS failed to efficiently check 12% of employees’ criminal backgrounds (The Center Square)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Victims of abuse at a boys’ home in northeastern Washington decades ago to receive nearly $17 million (KXLY TV)

TAXES

• IRS rejects thousands of Covid-19 relief applications as it ramps up fraud efforts (Puget Sound Business Journal)

TRANSPORTATION

• Lewis River Highway reopens in both directions, still closed to freight traffic (The Columbian)
• Sound Transit nears approval on flat $3 fare (The Seattle Times)
• Sound Transit debating installing a flat fare system for one-way rides (MyNorthwest)
• New ferry boats in Washington at least four years away (MyNorthwest)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Rattlesnake Mountain soon to be co-managed between feds and Tribes (NW News Network)

WEATHER & CLIMATE

• ‘As the water recedes,’ Snohomish County grapples with record flood (The Everett Herald)

WOLVES

• Petitioners appeal to governor after Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission denies gray wolf rulemaking (The Wenatchee World)