Washington counties drop mental health lawsuit against state; GOP legislative staff OK contract as Democratic employees say no

AGRICULTURE

• State ag officials blast EPA’s ‘insecticide strategy’ (Capital Press)
• Northwest butterfly dropped from sweeping pesticide pilot program (Capital Press)
• Can Washington’s apple harvest be safer and quicker? This group is asking the pickers (Tri-City Herald)
• The craft brewery boom buoys nation’s only Latino-owned hop farm (Cascade PBS)
• French-fry giant closing Eastern WA plant, laying off almost 400 Mid-Columbia workers (Tri-City Herald)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• US job openings rise to 8 million as labor market remains sturdy (AP)
• Dockworkers may have the negotiating advantage in their strike against US ports (AP)
• What Seattle-area residents can expect during East Coast port strike (The Seattle Times)
• Grocery definitions to play key role in Kroger-Albertsons merger case (The Center Square)
• Minimum wage is going up in WA. Here’s how much (The Seattle Times)
• Median earnings hit $60,000 in Clark County as companies raise wages to attract good workers (The Columbian)
• NTSB slams Boeing on possible rudder failure. Here’s how the faulty parts ended up on planes (The Seattle Times)

CENSUS

• Recent census Washington figures show NCW is growing (KPQ Radio)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• 8 in 10 WA Muslims experienced discrimination in past year, report says (The Seattle Times)

CONGRESS

• Cantwell gains support for anti-fentanyl bill (Columbia Basin Herald)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• Detention Services makes $66.1M budget ask amid 40% overcapacity in Spokane jail (The Center Square)
• OPINION: Long prison sentences don’t keep Washington safe. Here’s how we can reduce crime (David Trieweiler, trial attorney, member of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and serves as the chair of its End Mass Incarceration Project/The News Tribune)
• COLUMN: Three quarters of Green Hill School juvenile detention facility houses adults, not teens (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

COURTS (STATE)

• Seattle judge releases accused killer day after 65-year-old veteran’s murder (FOX 13)
• Trial date set in WSDOT gas price whistleblower lawsuit (The Center Square)
• ACLU of Washington sues Yakima County to release inmates who can’t get public defenders (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Are increased assaults on Sound Transit linked to better crime reporting? (KOMO TV)

EDUCATION

• Seattle shrinks school closure plan (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle Schools’ proposed closures trimmed from 21 to just five schools after backlash (KUOW Radio)
• Seattle Public Schools approves nearly $25K pay raise for superintendent (KING TV)
• Principal on leave after swastika comment sparks outrage at Bellevue elementary school (KOMO TV)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Fourth earthquake in a week shakes up Western Washington (MyNorthwest)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Tacoma Public Utilities rates are going up again. Here’s what to expect on your bill (The News Tribune)

ENVIRONMENT

• State, fed plan to transport nuclear waste through Spokane meets more opposition (The Center Square)
• Benton-Franklin officials address health hazards post-Lineage Logistics fire (KNDO/KNDU)

FISH

• Salmon lawsuit ends in settlement but tensions over hatcheries simmer (Washington State Standard)
• Stillaguamish, Snohomish river salmon projects get state help (The Everett Herald)

GUN RIGHTS

• King County gives away lockboxes to keep guns from being stolen, accidentally fired (KUOW Radio)

HANFORD

• Nation’s new nuclear site cleanup boss talks of plans for Hanford, where 13,000 work (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• New grant will allow more Washington nurses to take Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner training (KING TV)
• First Response: The hospital working to cure the gun violence cycle (Cascade PBS)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• UW faces civil rights complaint over alleged antisemitic incidents during campus protests (KOMO TV)
• Former Washington State University professor sues university over free speech rights and job loss (KHQ TV)
• Eastern Washington University warns of ‘date rape drugs’ circulating through campus (The Spokesman-Review)
• $6 million renovations planned for CWU multicultural center (Daily Record)
• OPINION: The ethics of the marketplace are detrimental to our universities (Johnathan W. Warren, professor in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington/The Seatttle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• Spokane hosts second community roundtable on homelessness (KHQ TV)
• ‘We are struggling.’ Stubborn homeless camp impacts life near this Tacoma intersection (The News Tribune)
• Bellingham will purchase credit union land, eliminating key hurdle for tiny home project (The Bellingham Herald)

IMMIGRATION

• Asylum-seekers move from Kent encampment to Tacoma hotel amid housing efforts (KOMO TV)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Proposed Seattle police budget increases 16% with overtime funding adjusted (The Center Square)
• Horseback patrols for the Seattle Police Department will end in the coming months (MyNorthwest)
• Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies hospitalized after pursuit (The Seattle Times)
• 3 deputies injured after police chase closed US 2 in Snohomish County (MyNorthwest)

LEGISLATURE

• GOP legislative staff OK contract as Democratic employees say no (Washington State Standard)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Innovative bond project to finance Chelan County forest health (NCW Life Channel)

MEDIA

• Wenatchee World acquires NCWLIFE (The Wenatchee World)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Washington counties drop mental health lawsuit against state (The Seattle Times)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon’s roads, highway system so decrepit, state and counties struggle to keep up, lawmakers say (The Oregonian)
• Oregon counties say they’ll need extra $834 million annually for roads, bridges (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

RURAL BROADBAND

• Pierce County rural areas to see improved internet through $12M project (The Center Square)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Student arrested for bringing BB gun to Lewis and Clark High School (The Spokesman-Review)

SPORTS

• Former Zags applaud Gonzaga’s decision to leave WCC for reconstructed Pac-12 (The Spokesman-Review)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Litigation looms over latest round of Washington state timber sales (Washington State Standard)
• State patrol pays $1.3M to trucker it falsely accused of causing 2022 crash (KING TV)

TAXES

• Budgets in Washington are tightening as population growth slows (KUOW Radio)

TRANSPORTATION

• Washington, Oregon transportation commissions OK four tolling scenarios for Interstate 5 Bridge replacement (The Columbian)
• WA, OR considering tolls for Interstate Bridge that will connect the two states (The Center Square)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• WA tribes receive $800K for wildland fire training (Columbia Basin Herald)

WATER

• Water expert says awareness is key (The Lewiston Tribune)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Prescribed burns to be conducted across Central Washington (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Jack Wells Fire sparks Level 3 evacuations in Brewster area (KPQ Radio)

WOLVES

• Eastern Washington growers, ranchers not satisfied with gray wolf predation rules (The Center Square)
• WDFW considers killing 1 or more Onion Creek wolves, Couse wolf death unsuccessful so far (The Wenatchee World)