Twin crises hit Washington State Ferries as it tries to right the ship; Schools across WA are struggling to balance their budgets

AGRICULTURE

• Royal City beekeeper says honey farms are struggling to survive (Source One News)
• New nonprofit helps farmworker with idea for cherry picking harness (Yakima Herald-Republic)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• OpenAI forms safety committee as it starts training latest artificial intelligence model (AP)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• More people make ‘no-buy year’ pledges as overspending or climate worries catch up with them (AP)
• Spokane County’s tourism industry surpasses pre-pandemic numbers for first time (The Center Square)
• More unemployment in Yakima County than one year ago (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• What a 32-hour workweek looks like in San Juan County (The Seattle Times)
• T-Mobile to buy almost all of U.S Cellular in deal worth $4.4 billion with debt (AP)

CONGRESS

• Gluesenkamp Perez directs federal funds to Longview water, Ryderwood PUD upgrades (The Daily News)
• OPINION: Why Congress is a mess, and unlikely to get better soon (Todd Schaefer, Central Washington University political science professor/Daily Record)

COURTS (STATE)

• Segura guilty of murder in death of Vancouver police Officer Donald Sahota (The Columbian)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• The Spotlight: Innocent people targeted by criminals (FOX 13)

EDUCATION

• Schools across WA are struggling to balance their budgets (The Seattle Times)
• Here’s the 2024 average school teacher salary in Washington state (FOX 13)
• Any WA student can enroll in new virtual school. Why Pasco is offering online classes (Tri-City Herald)
• How did Moms for Liberty end up on WA’s approved list of groups training teachers? (Washington State Standard)
• Tacoma schools to lose ‘hugely impactful’ career-guidance specialists. Folks aren’t happy (The News Tribune)
• Struggling Marysville schools dropped from insurance pool (The Everett Herald)
• School funding shortfalls in Yakima Valley are part of a bigger statewide issue (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• School funding shortfalls like the one in Prescott are part of a bigger statewide issue (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

ENVIRONMENT

• Why no one knows exactly how much old-growth forest we have left (Columbia Insight/The Columbian)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Biden and Big Oil had a truce. Now, it’s collapsing (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

HANFORD

• Nuclear sites, including Hanford, feeling the heat as climate change stokes wildfires drought (AP)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• WA college students build campus harm-reduction support networks (Cascade PBS)
• Peninsula College, teachers agree on contract (Peninsula Daily News)
• OPINION: Digital college texts were meant to help students. Here’s why they didn’t (William Gao, student at University of Washington and volunteer with the Washington Public Interest Research Group/The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• Increase in number of homeless people? Annual count says yes, though results imperfect (The News Tribune)
• WA’s ‘one of a kind’ youth homelessness response shows big results (The Seattle Times)
• Future of KCRHA draws more scrutiny after latest homeless count (KVI Radio)
• Wenatchee to provide upgrades at site of homeless pallet shelters (KPQ Radio)
• EDITORIAL: Work together to confront homelessness (The Columbian)

HOUSING

• Thousands left in limbo as King County eviction cases pile up (FOX 13)
• Olympia School District may sell land to city for mixed-income housing developments (The Olympian)
• Bellingham sees declining trend in federal funding for affordable housing, services (The Bellingham Herald)
• Pullman considers short-term rental rules amid Airbnb boom (The Center Square)

IMMIGRATION

• Seattle isn’t claiming Tukwila’s migrant crisis. But it did start here (The Seattle Times)
• Two arrested in immigrant smuggling operation at Peace Arch crossing (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)

INVASIVE SPECIES

• Washington urges campers to buy firewood where they burn it (The Spokesman-Review)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• This well is so important to Lacey, the city may use eminent domain to take private property (The Olympian)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Seattle assistant police chief placed on paid administrative leave (The Center Square)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• King County councilmember seeks funding to address unlawful detainer case backlog (The Center Square)
• Will the minimum wage for delivery drivers in Seattle be lowered? (MyNorthwest)
• Teamsters union calls for resignation of Carnation city manager (Snoqualmie Valley Record)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Wait times decrease for WA mental health patients, but gains are ‘fragile’ (The Seattle Times)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Memorial Day remembrance (The Seattle Times)
• Thousands honor the fallen throughout western WA this Memorial Day (KOMO TV)
• Memorial for fallen Arlington soldiers started with sketch on a napkin (FOX 13)
• Navy program helping military families navigate Kitsap prenatal care services (Kitsap Sun)
• COLUMN: Honoring families of those making ultimate sacrifice (Don C. Brunell/The Wenatchee World)
• EDITORIAL: On Memorial Day, a time of reflection and remembrance (The Seattle Times)

OPEN GOVERNMENT

• OPINION: ‘Legislative privilege’ is bogus. Why won’t WA House speaker answer for it— in court? (Mike Fancher, Robert McClure and Colette Weeks of the Washington Coalition for Open Government/The News Tribune)

OTHER STATES

• Pew: Tax revenue underperformed in 18 states (The Center Square)
• Buying a mattress in Oregon? That could soon come with an extra fee (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Oregon wildfire victims face huge tax bills on PacifiCorp settlements; Congressional fix is stuck (The Oregonian)
• Idaho Power encourages customers to prepare for wildfire-related shutoffs (Capital Press)
• OPINION: Comprehensive statewide approach to wildfires needed (Jeff Stone, executive director and CEO, Oregon Association of Nurseries/Capital Press)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• More weapons showing up in Washington’s schools (Washington State Standard)

SPORTS

• Bill Walton, Hall of Fame player who became a star broadcaster, dies of cancer at 71 (AP)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Washington Saves fills gap for private-sector employees without a 401(k); plan set to launch in 2027 (The Columbian)

TRANSPORTATION

• Twin crises hit Washington State Ferries as it tries to right the ship (The Seattle Times)
• WSF to remove large vessel from fleet for the next 4 weeks. Here’s which routes will be impacted (KING TV)
• Why were Washington ferries out of service this weekend? (MyNorthwest)
• Gas prices falling in Clark County and nationally as travel increases for holiday weekend (The Columbian)
• Stuck in the likely path of a new I-5 bridge, Vancouver property owners struggle with uncertainty (KING TV)
• Here’s your chance to give feedback on the US 2 trestle and its future (The Everett Herald)
• Sound Transit light rail fare inspection to expand in Seattle (The Seattle Times)
• Sound Transit sticks with South Lake Union light rail plan over Amazon’s concerns (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• OPINION: Traffic safety in WA is dismal. We need to do more (Sen. Mike Padden/The Seattle Times)

WATER

• Spokane County Commissioner Al French proposes ambitious PFAS solution for new water source on the West Plains. Some remain skeptical (The Spokesman-Review)
• Yakama Nation leads charge as EPA sets limits on PFAS in Columbia River (The Wenatchee World)
• Roza irrigation system shuts down for at least 10 days to conserve water (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Mandatory KID watering restrictions possible this summer. What you can do now (Tri-City Herald)
• Kennewick Irrigation District implements voluntary watering schedule amid drought conditions (KAPP/KVEW)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Washington Lands Commissioner: Wildfire season is here, so be careful (The Spokesman-Review)
• As wildfires creep west of Cascades, county plans for next Bolt Creek (The Everett Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Wildfire west of the Cascades has changed and we must adapt (The Seattle Times)

WILDLIFE

• Fungus that causes deadly bat disease confirmed in Yakima County cave (The Spokesman-Review)
• ‘Fly, you die:’ Northwest bees that fly during mild winter weather less likely to survive till spring (MyNorthwest)