Thousands of Washington drivers fled from cops after law limited pursuits; Child care costs are now rising at twice the rate of inflation, report finds

ABORTION

• More women from other states seeking abortions in Washington (The Center Square)

AGRICULTURE

• Court orders changes in wage survey for Washington farmworkers (Capital Press)
• Pesticides a necessary but increasing expense in ag (Columbia Basin Herald)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Majority of middle-class Americans say they struggle financially (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)
• Canadian, U.S. post-pandemic travel trends are skipping the Point (Salish Current/Cascade PBS)
• Washington leads as top state economy; See where your state falls on the list (KOMO TV)
• Washington employers: Are you prepared for new wildfire smoke protection rules? (Pacific Northwest Ag Network)
• New report ranks WA top state for women-owned small businesses (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Local economy on growth spurt: Clark County’s gross domestic product hit $24.5 billion in 2022 (The Columbian)

CHILD CARE

• Child care costs are now rising at twice the rate of inflation, report finds (FOX 13)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Washington’s latest attempt at graffiti cleanup: drones (Cascade PBS)

CONGRESS

• Fauci pushes back partisan attacks in fiery House hearing over COVID origins and controversies (AP)
• Gluesenkamp Perez backs new ‘right to repair’ legislation (The Reflector)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• A grant program for Black women business owners is discriminatory, appeals court rules (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• WA family sues butcher who slaughtered pet pigs when he went to wrong house (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• COLUMN: Seattle business owners turn to private security as crime rises, police staffing dwindles (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

DRUG CRISIS

• WA health officials turn to emergency rooms in fight against opioid epidemic (Washington State Standard)

ELECTIONS

• Trump’s felony conviction may not bar him from WA ballot, says secretary of state (The Seattle Times)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• EDITORIAL: Update electrical grid to keep up with demand (The Columbian)

ENVIRONMENT

• Kitsap Lake no-contact advisory issued after sewage spill (Kitsap Sun)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Biden prepares an order that would shut down asylum if a daily average of 2,500 migrants arrive (AP)

FOOD SAFETY & SECURITY

• Home-raised livestock in West Plains is unsafe to consume due to PFAS contamination (KXLY TV)

HANFORD

• Hanford site national park B Reactor tours extended before closure. Seats could go fast (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Rural pharmacies fill a health care gap in the US. Owners say it’s getting harder to stay open (KIRO TV)
• Pharmacists prove effective, less costly care option for minor illnesses (Columbia Basin Herald)
• New paralysis treatment restores use of hands, UW study finds (Axios – Seattle)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Murray visits Center for Native American Health (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Cornish College of the Arts students protest sale of Kerry Hall (The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• King County Regional Homelessness Authority chooses new CEO (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle Housing Authority program helps foster youth avoid homelessness (The Seattle Times)

HOUSING

• Homebuyers are starting to revolt over steep prices across U.S. (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)
• Trees, former golf facility cleared as work begins on major Central Kitsap housing project (Kitsap Sun)

IMMIGRATION

• Asylum-seeking refugees relocated once more to spot off Highway 167 in Kent (MyNorthwest)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Thousands of Washington drivers fled from cops after law limited pursuits (KING TV)
• The Spotlight: Police pursuits to resume in WA (FOX 13)
• Seattle assistant police chief back at work while investigation continues (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle scraps ShotSpotter plans; advances surveillance, license plate readers (MyNorthwest)

LGBTQ

• Poulsbo police investigating after nearly all downtown LGBTQ+ pride banners were vandalized (KING TV)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Making the case for Washington’s counties (Washington State Standard)

MEDIA

• With its top editor abruptly gone, The Washington Post grapples with a hastily announced restructure (AP)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Soldiers stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord killed by wrong-way drunk driver, authorities say (AP)

OTHER STATES

• High student-counselor ratios in Oregon impair student access to mental health supports (The Oregonian)
• PacifiCorp will pay $178M to Oregon wildfire victims in latest settlement over deadly 2020 blazes (AP)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• State workers, you can win up to $10,000 for your ideas to save Washington state money (The Olympian)
• Washington DNR accepting applications to turn properties into habitats (The Center Square)
• June 5 is last day to claim WA’s $50 or $120 tuna and chicken rebate (The Seattle Times)
• Attorney General’s office visits Yakima Valley for community forum (KNDO/KNDU)

TAXES

• Seattle’s once controversial soda tax may be paying off (KUOW Radio)

TRANSPORTATION

• Can you get pulled over for driving with expired tabs in Washington state? Here’s the law (The News Tribune)
• Rockslide work on I-90 will close lane near Snoqualmie Pass all summer (The Seattle Times)
• ‘I don’t want to see anybody grieve’: Kent woman launches traffic safety campaign (KING TV)
• WA shows off new design for its ferries — now it needs a shipbuilder (The Seattle Times)
• Calmer waters ahead for Washington State Ferries? (MyNorthwest)
• Can someone fly a drone over your yard in Bellingham? Here’s the law, FAA airspace map (The Bellingham Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Money well spent on switch to electric school buses (The Everett Herald)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• A WA tribe will get paid by a railroad that trespassed. The question is how much (The Seattle Times)

WEATHER & CLIMATE

• Cliff Mass: El Nino is to blame for lower snowpack, not climate change (MyNorthwest)