Washington senator calls for cap-and-trade changes; The puzzling rise of defendants too sick to stand trial in WA

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Statewide drought advisory issued for Washington. Here’s what that means (KING TV)
• Washington issues drought ‘advisory;’ something stronger may be on tap (Capital Press)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Study: Washington state 29th in the nation for increasing unemployment claims (The Center Square)
• Cantwell, space industry leaders aim to land Washington manufacturing institute (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Space summit hypes Washington’s out-of-this-world industry (KUOW Radio)
• Everett’s OceanGate suspends operations after implosion en route to Titanic (The Everett Herald)
• COLUMN: Seattle is still facing the reckoning from remote work (Jon Talton/The Seattle Times)

CANNABIS

• Another Tri-City community considers allowing retail pot sales. What happens next? (Tri-City Herald)

CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM

• Washington senator calls for cap-and-trade changes (Capital Press)

CHILD CARE

• Snohomish County to fund 360 new child care slots (The Everett Herald)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Seattle Attorney Davison appeals injunction on graffiti enforcement (MyNorthwest)
• Supreme Court wedding website ruling more complex, nuanced than it appears (MyNorthwest)
• Judge may have to grant bail to armed WA man accused of threats to Obama, U.S. Speaker (Tri-City Herald)

COURTS (STATE)

• Judge approves suit against UW over COVID-era tuition (Axios – Seattle)

CYBERSECURITY

• Details emerging about 2018 TPCHD database hack. Pierce records among those affected (The News Tribune)
• Ransomware criminals are dumping kids’ private files online after school hacks (AP)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Regional electricity demand projected to rise nearly 25% in next decade (Washington State Standard)
• CenturyLink fined $923,000 for illegally disconnecting service during pandemic (The News Tribune)
• When power is cheap, crypto moves in. The fallout in rural Washington is complex (KUOW Radio)
• OPINION: WA state council in charge of Tri-Cities wind project responds to legislators’ concerns (Kathleen Drew, Chair of the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council/Tri-City Herald)

ENVIRONMENT

• UW study shows Seattle’s historically redlined communities have worse air quality (The Seattle Times)
• Only Arizona has higher chance than Tri-Cities of being hotter than usual this summer (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Maternal mortality rates rise in Washington, especially for Indigenous communities (Washington State Standard)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• NAACP launches diversity pledge for colleges after SCOTUS bans affirmative action (KIRO TV)

HOMELESSNESS

• Mayor’s office says SoDo homeless clear outs not linked to All Star Game, but some remain skeptical (MyNorthwest)
• COLUMN: Mayor Harrell ok with homeless tool he threatened Seattle biz for using? (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

HOUSING

• WA Commerce Department announces $302 million in affordable housing funds (The Center Square)
• With prices flat, Seattle-area housing market settles into new normal (The Seattle Times)
• Mid-priced home market in Seattle region is ‘virtually sold out’ (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Seattle City Council passes affordable housing design review exemption package (The Center Square)
• Pierce County homeowners still among those seeing highest returns on sales in tight market (The News Tribune)
• Elevated mortgage rates are leading to sharply higher monthly payments even as home prices ease (KOMO TV)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• Maritime v. real estate: Seattle’s decades-long rezoning fight (Crosscut)

LEGISLATURE

• Town hall meetings scheduled with 13th Legislative District lawmakers (Yakima Herald-Republic)

LGBTQ

• EDITORIAL: In the Yakima Valley, some elected leaders come up short on Pride (Yakima Herald-Republic)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Retired Tacoma-Pierce health director gets $11K monthly fee as agency seeks replacement (The News Tribune)

MENTAL HEALTH

• The puzzling rise of defendants too sick to stand trial in WA (The Seattle Times)
• What actually happens in WA when someone’s not competent to stand trial (The Seattle Times)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Former staff sergeant sentenced to probation in Fairchild ammunition theft scheme (The Spokesman-Review)

OTHER STATES

• Labor unrest spreads in Oregon health care industry; some physicians seek to form union (The Oregonian)

PARKS

• Mount St. Helens Back Country Horsemen work to make happy trails for all (The Columbian)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• DSHS asks sheriff’s office to consider action against caretaker in case of abused disabled man (The Bellingham Herald)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• OPINION: Best minds on frontlines work toward tangible, attainable solutions to fentanyl crisis (U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse/The Wenatchee World)

TECHNOLOGY

• OPINION: Caregivers need help from Big Tech to keep elders with memory disorders safe online (Shannon Michael, caring for a loved one with a memory disorder/The Seattle Times)

TRANSPORTATION

• Transportation secretary stops in Port Orchard on tour of $130m in federal projects (Kitsap Sun)
• Buttigieg visits Mukilteo for plans to electrify Washington ferries (The Everett Herald)
• ‘Game changer’ $15 million Port Orchard breakwater project kicks off (The Center Square)
• U.S. truck makers reach deal to phase out polluting diesel big rigs (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)
• Yakima City Council approves contract to restore Sea-Tac flights (Yakima Herald-Republic)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Justice Department chooses Eastern Washington as focus of effort to solve cases of missing and slain Indigenous people (The Spokesman-Review)
• Families rack up hefty expenses as they search for info on their missing or murdered loved ones (Washington State Standard)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• WDFW restricts campfires, target shooting in eastern Washington due to wildfire risk (KAPP/KVEW)
• Red flag, dry conditions, multiple wildfires worry Northwest fire managers after July Fourth holiday (NW News Network)
• Nearly 100 firefighters are battling still-uncontained McEwan Fire near Shelton (The Olympian)
• ‘Absolutely terrifying’: Evacuations downgraded but could take weeks to quell McEwan Fire (KIRO TV)
• All evacuations lifted for brush fire burning in south Pierce County (KING TV)
• Residents thankful homes were spared as wildfire raged near Roy (FOX 13)
• Wildfire in WA near Columbia River Gorge grows slowly, still at 5% containment (AP)
• Tunnel 5 fire in Columbia River Gorge burns more than 550 acres (The Center Square)
• As wildfire seasons worsen, states turn to AI for help (Pluribus News)