What we know about where WA wildfires stand; 1 in 3 Seattle residents is considering leaving. Costs, crime are to blame

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Northwest drinking water concerns could get worse as the climate changes (NW News Network)
• Study says drinking water from nearly half of US faucets contains potentially harmful chemicals (AP)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• More Americans apply for jobless benefits, but layoffs are not rising significantly (AP)
• COLUMN: Mountains of government red tape shackling America’s manufacturers (Don Brunell/The Chronicle)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• 1 in 3 Seattle residents is considering leaving. Costs, crime are to blame (The Seattle Times)

CONGRESS

• Washington lawmakers sponsor bill creating smoke insurance for wine grape growers (The Center Square)
• Newhouse reintroduces bipartisan labor reform act (Columbia Basin Herald)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• 9th Circuit court declines to rehear ruling that upheld homeless right to sleep outside when no shelter space available (The Oregonian)
• 9th Circuit strikes down Oregon law prohibiting undercover recordings (oregonlive.com/The Seattle Times)

CRIME

• Crime in Seattle is increasing with downtown remaining most dangerous district (The Center Square)

EDUCATION

• PLU’s new ‘Seed Teachers Program’ aims for more diverse classrooms in Tacoma (KOMO TV)
• OPINION: I’m a high school teacher in Tacoma. Ending affirmative action is bad for my students (Megan Holyoke is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher at Lincoln High School in Tacoma/The News Tribune)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Busy July 4 for fire departments across western Washington (KING TV)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Can WA state utilities turn off your electricity in a heat wave? New law says they can’t (The News Tribune)

ENVIRONMENT

• Residents urged to prepare as unhealthy air quality expected to persist in Washington this summer (KOMO TV)
• Western Washington air quality takes a dive (KUOW Radio)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg coming to Washington state this week (The Center Square)

HANFORD

• Federal judge unseals decision to toss out winning $45B Hanford nuclear waste contract (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Study: Mothers are dying more often – especially if they’re Indigenous (Axios – Seattle)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Disappointed but optimistic: Washington student loan borrowers react to Supreme Court debt relief ruling (KNKX Radio)
• WSU Receives $740K in funding to upgrade its nuclear reactor (The Center Square)

HOMELESSNESS

• Where are King County’s homeless residents from? (The Seattle Times)
• ‘Leave or be towed’: City officials warn remaining RVs in SODO to leave as MLB All-Star Week looms (KOMO TV)
• Washington repurposes a Days Inn in Lacey for those living along highways (Crosscut)
• Gov. Inslee speaks at new Lacey homeless shelter as 16 residents settle in to new home (The Olympian)
• COLUMN: Seattle cleans up the city for MLB All-Star Week, not for us (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

HOUSING

• Seattle cuts a bit of red tape for affordable housing construction (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle City Council passes laws to increase volume of affordable housing (MyNorthwest)
• State sells land to Kitsap County for affordable housing (Washington State Standard)

IMMIGRATION

• COLUMN: This immigrant’s story has many layers, complexities (Sue Lani Madsen/The Spokesman-Review)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Sheriff: Inmate trying to escape Whatcom Co. Jail exposes aging jail infrastructure (FOX 13)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• King County sex ed evaluation costs $4.8 million; found program was ineffective (The Center Square)
• Nonprofit had ties to sex ed program it received $4.8 million to evaluate (The Center Square)
• Concerns raised to City Council regarding affordable housing, rent increases (Daily Record)
• EDITORIAL: Everett tax on guns, ammo would fund safety work (The Everett Herald)

LONG-TERM CARE

• Washington nursing homes getting more help with new Medicaid boost from the state (KING TV)
• Elderly at Tri-Cities care home allegedly left alone for days. Maggots found in a wound (Tri-City Herald)

SECURITY

• Grant County deputies to step up security at Gorge Amphitheatre after festival shooting (FOX 13)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Ruling puts social media at crossroads of disinformation and free speech (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• Threads, Instagram’s ‘Twitter killer,’ has arrived (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

SPORTS

• All-Star Game to be ‘most inclusive ever’ as festivities kick off headed into busy weekend (KIRO TV)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• Why Washington is taking a new approach to caring for newborns exposed to drugs (Washington State Standard)

TECHNOLOGY

• NASA chief, industry officials say Washington is a leader in space (The Spokesman-Review)

TRANSPORTATION

• Groundbreaking to be held for $150M road project in East Pierce County (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• WA ferries alert system down as some sailings are canceled (The Seattle Times)
• Sea-Tac Airport has billions in projects planned. Here’s where the money’s going. (Puget Sound Business Journal)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Sauk-Suiattle members urge feds to step in against leaders ‘abusing’ power (The Everett Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Signs of justice, hope for families of missing and murdered Indigenous people (Yakima Herald-Republic)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• What we know about where WA wildfires stand (Columbia Basin Herald/The Seattle Times)
• Firefighters work to contain McEwan Fire near Shelton, but evacuations downgraded (The Olympian)
• McEwan Fire burns 250 acres, 0% contained in Shelton (FOX 13)
• Help arrives to battle wildfire in WA near Columbia River Gorge (AP)
• WDFW looking for weather window to conduct prescribed burns in Thurston as soon as next week (The Olympian)