ABORTION
AGRICULTURE
- WA’s sweet cherry industry hit by natural disasters, sour market (The Seattle Times)
- EPA, DOJ sue 3 Lower Yakima Valley dairies over nitrate groundwater contamination (KAPP/KVEW)
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
- U.S. unemployment rate rises to 4.1% with 206,000 jobs added in June (FOX 13)
- Boeing accepts a plea deal to avoid a criminal trial over 737 Max crashes, Justice Department says (The Seattle Times)
- OPINION: Cross-border trade vital to Washington state’s economy (Kris Johnson, president of the Association of Washington Business/The Chronicle)
CANNABIS
CORONAVIRUS
CORRECTIONS & JAILS
- WA suspends taking in sentenced youth at two detention centers (The Seattle Times)
- Washington juvenile centers halt intakes at 2 locations due to overcrowding (KOMO TV)
COURTS (STATE)
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
- Despite what politicians say, crime rates are decreasing (Stateline.org/The Columbian)
- To curb gun violence, Tacoma offers teens a safe place to hang out (The Seattle Times)
- ‘My heart drops’: Hundreds honor Alderwood shooting victim, 13 (The Everett Herald)
DAMS
- New Northwest RiverPartners leader focuses on facts, science (Capital Press)
- Why ‘deadbeat dam’ removals are so difficult in WA, PNW (The Seattle Times)
DRUG CRISIS
EDUCATION
- Where do Oregon and Washington officials stand on cellphones in schools? (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
- Seattle Public Schools approves 2024-2025 school year budget; deficit cut to $94M (The Center Square)
- Amid nationwide struggle to rebound school attendance to pre-COVID numbers, one school district stands out (The Spokesman-Review)
- OSPI names committee members to monitor Marysville School District finances (The Center Square)
- ‘Try harder at what, being a boy?’: Kennewick School Board defends Title IX (The Center Square)
ENVIRONMENT
- Ecology poised to begin $160 million cleanup of Bellingham waterfront contamination site (The Bellingham Herald)
- Unhealthy air quality alerts issued for western Washington (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE
FISH
- WA Fish and Wildlife to use drones to monitor fish habitats (Pacific Northwest Ag Network)
- Project aims to restore fish habitat to the Pilchuck River (The Everett Herald)
FOOD SAFETY & SECURITY
HOMELESSNESS
- County emphasizes rapid rehousing as $17.6M doled out to homelessness service providers (The News Tribune)
- Supreme Court decision on homeless camping changes sweeps. What will that mean in Kitsap? (Kitsap Sun)
HOUSING
- Seattle courts conversion-minded developers to make offices into homes (The Seattle Times)
- Seattle apartments keep getting smaller (Axios – Seattle)
- In Wenatchee Valley, seniors in need of affordable housing face long waits and cultural barriers (The Wenatchee World/Washington State Standard)
LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Sue Rahr’s approach as Seattle police chief: Move in, clean up, move on (The Seattle Times)
- Seattle police second in command accused of asking deputy to lie on report (The Seattle Times)
- Bellingham Police Department bolsters staffing; city rejoins Whatcom County drug task force (The Bellingham Herald)
- EDITORIAL: Consider Vancouver policing budget increase (The Columbian)
- EDITORIAL: Murray’s led the Yakima Police Department to a positive path (Yakima Herald-Republic)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- WA counties to receive nearly $30M in payments for tax-exempt federal land (Washington State Standard)
- Pierce County Human Services awarding nearly $18M for homeless, housing services (The Center Square)
- SeaTac’s $40,000 Fourth of July fail: 55 drones drop into Angle Lake (The Seattle Times)
MENTAL HEALTH
OTHER STATES
- Gov. Tina Kotek declares statewide emergency as heat wave hits Oregon (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
- Oregon gets go ahead to offer free addiction services to incarcerated people nearing freedom (The Oregonian)
- EDITORIAL: The uncomfortable questions Oregon Gov. Kotek won’t answer (The Oregonian)
SCHOOL SAFETY
- Concerns are building about bullying in Peninsula schools. Parents started a nonprofit (The News Tribune)
- 18-year-old woman sentenced in Shadle Park High stabbing (The Spokesman-Review)
STATE GOVERNMENT
TAXES
TRANSPORTATION
- Gas tax or mileage tax? How to pay for Washington roads (KPQ Radio)
- More closures for Hood River Bridge start Monday (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
- ‘First-of-its-kind’ electric vehicle charger pilot program coming to Tumwater (The Olympian)
- OPINION: Repealing WWI-era truck tax will help green the heavy-duty fleet (Sheri Call, president and CEO of the Washington Trucking Associations/The Seattle Times)
WATER
- ‘Stay Out, Stay Alive!’: Warning people about the dangers of using canal system for recreation (KIRO TV)
- Washougal finds ‘slightly elevated’ levels of PFAS in all six of the city’s wells (The Columbian)
WEATHER & CLIMATE
- Heat Advisory extended for western Washington; Red Flag Warning in effect for the Cascades (KING TV)
WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE
- Use these interactive maps to track PNW wildfires and air quality (The Seattle Times)
- No injuries after fire started by pyrotechnics at Gorge concert (The Spokesman-Review)
- Billy Creek Fire grows to 3,169 acres along Idaho/Washington border (KREM TV)
WILDLIFE
- WDFW proposes rule to protect endangered foxes (The Wenatchee World)
- Mount Rainier’s chubby snowbird is now a threatened species (KUOW Radio)
- COLUMN: A cougar in my woods (Alan Liere/The Spokesman-Review)
WOLVES
