BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
- Labor wins and losses (The Washington Observer)
- Seattle nightclub says it will become first strip club in Washington to serve alcohol (KING TV)
- New details revealed from FAA audit of Boeing’s 737 MAX production. Dozens of issues found (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
- OPINION: Retiring WA congress members have been champions for the economy (Kris Johnson, Association of Washington Business/The Reflector)
CAPITAL BUDGET
- United Learning Center sees influx of additional state, federal funds (The Chronicle)
- District lawmakers secure funding for Battle Ground projects (The Reflector)
- Quincy rail project receives $4.5M in state funding (Columbia Basin Herald)
- Odessa groundwater project receives $5.5M in state funding (Columbia Basin Herald)
CONGRESS
- $19 million for Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest conservation included in Interior funding bill (KNDO/KNDU)
- More than $11M headed to NCW for land conservation, airport and body cameras (The Wenatchee World)
- House Republicans move ahead with TikTok vote even as Trump voices opposition to possible ban (AP)
COURTS (FEDERAL)
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
- Report: Car thefts down across Western Washington (KIRO TV)
- New funding will provide genetic genealogy testing for unidentified remains in Washington (KNDO/KNDU)
- OPINION: Big changes come to Washington state’s DUI law (Jakob McGhie, attorney and partner at Althauser Rayan Abbarno, LLP./TheChronicle)
CYBERSECURITY
DRUG CRISIS
- Spokane Councilmember Paul Dillon asks Governor Inslee to declare a state of emergency (KXLY TV)
- Sen. Cantwell secures $1 million to hire tribal police for Yakama Nation drug task force (KAPP/KVEW)
EDUCATION
- WA lawmakers ease burden for parents challenging school special ed (The Seattle Times)
- Mandatory financial literacy bill died as legislative session came to an end (The Center Square)
- Toppenish School District releases investigation report on John M. Cerna (Yakima Herald-Republic)
- No ‘right answer.’ Should Tri-Cities graduation ceremonies honor students who’ve died? (Tri-City Herald)
- Take a look. Pasco unveils new logo for its innovative high school opening fall 2025 (Tri-City Herald)
- EDITORIAL: Truancy problem starts long before students miss the first bell (Yakima Herald-Republic)
- EDITORIAL: Another chapter in book ban political debate (The Columbian)
ELECTIONS
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE
FISH
- Biden earmarks half a billion for salmon on upper Green River (The Seattle Times)
- ‘Like rooting for the Yankees’: Lawmaker’s move to study sea lion predation removed from state’s final budget (The Chronicle)
- Study shows short pesticide exposure harms fish (NW News Network)
- Pierce County bridge blocked critical salmon routes for nearly 80 years. The fix is $53M (The News Tribune)
GUN RIGHTS
HANFORD
- Biden admin proposes 2025 Hanford nuclear site budget, topping record set 2 days ago (Tri-City Herald)
- Over $3 billion for Hanford cleanup included in Biden’s 2025 budget proposal (KNDO/KNDU)
HIGHER EDUCATION
- How creating the new FAFSA unraveled (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)
- Legislature agrees to partial funding for WSU academic student worker pay hikes-budget includes 3 million dollars towards the 1 billion plus dollars needed for WSU to comply with climate commitment act (KQQQ Radio)
HOMELESSNESS
- King County sheriff seeks judgment from federal court on Burien’s recent amendment to camping ban (KING TV)
- Homeless, service providers protest impending clearing of Bellingham Walmart encampment (The Bellingham Herald)
- EDITORIAL: Burien’s anti-camping ordinance is not an answer to homelessness (The Seattle Times)
HOUSING
- ‘Modest at best’: The WA Legislature’s not-so-banner year on housing policy (Washington State Standard)
- WA approves more funds for tenant attorneys as evictions remain high (The Seattle Times)
IMMIGRATION
- Court blocks state inspections of federal immigration facility in Tacoma (Washington State Standard)
- Convicted killer from Caribbean is person who died at Tacoma immigration center, ICE says (The News Tribune)
LAW ENFORCEMENT
- The Spotlight: Washington pursuit laws change, criminals in for big surprise (FOX 13)
- Community to honor fallen WSP trooper Christopher Gadd in public procession, memorial (KOMO TV)
- Low salary limits police officer recruitment in Seattle despite bonus offers, report says (KOMO TV)
- Officers soon will be allowed to work part-time (Columbia Basin Herald)
LEGISLATURE
- Opioid prevention, new gun laws, and co-living. Here are bills passed the last week of session (The Olympian)
- 2024 WA Legislature passes bills on guns, environment, education (KXLY Radio)
- Oakville teen serves as a page in the Washington state Senate (The Chronicle)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
OTHER STATES
- Oregon bill to clear way for more addiction, mental health treatment centers passed both chambers, then died anyway (The Oregonian)
- What did Oregon lawmakers do to help young people in 2024? Here are 9 education bills you’ll want to know about (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
REDISTRICTING
STATE GOVERNMENT
- Chehalis youth detention center employee arrested for conspiring to commit a prison riot (FOX 13)
- $500,000 approved for DNA testing of unidentified bodies in Washington (KHQ TV)
- State initiative filing fee increased to $156 (The Columbian)
TECHNOLOGY
TRANSPORTATION
- Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek wants tolling plan on sections of Interstates 5, 205 scrapped (AP)
- Gov. Tina Kotek shelves plans for I-5, I-205 tolls in Portland area (The Oregonian)
- Higher tolls could be en route as Highway 520 costs surge (The Seattle Times)
- Drivers say new $15 toll has them avoiding SR 167 (KIRO TV)
- Two decades and $1 billion later, HOV lanes through Tacoma are filled with scofflaws (The News Tribune)
- Drivers to pay Tacoma Narrows Bridge tolls longer than expected to cover construction costs (The Seattle Times)
- Stakeholders seek task force for I-90/SR 18 projects (Snoqualmie Valley Record)
- Start of construction on the I-90 Vantage Bridge Friday creates traffic delays and restrictions (KAPP/KVEW)
- Bainbridge Island residents show new optimism and resolve to revive Washington’s ferries (KUOW Radio)
WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE