When it comes to high fuel prices, Washington tries harder; Washington state faces lawsuit over 2022 transportation revenue bill

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• New legislation introduced to protect wine grape growers from wildfire smoke damage (Source One News)
• Vancouver-based United Grain Corp. optimistic despite low wheat yields forecast (The Columbian)
• Where the rhubarb grows: Washington farmers grow traditional niche crop (Capital Press)
• There’s so much milk that U.S. farmers are dumping it in the sewer (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Why inflation is losing its punch — and why things could get even better (NPR/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Over 100 investors pour money into big Seattle opportunity zone project (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Lyft shortchanged thousands of drivers on pay, state investigators find (Washington State Standard)
• Space industry launches $4.6B into Washington state annually (The Center Square)

CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM

• EDITORIAL: When it comes to high fuel prices, Washington tries harder (Capital Press)

CONGRESS

• Vice President Kamala Harris makes history with tiebreaking votes in Senate (AP)
• FBI Director Chris Wray defends the ‘real FBI’ against criticism from House Republicans (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• State commission investigating complaints of turnover at Bremerton Municipal Court (Kitsap Sun)

CRIME

• Chelan County sheriff responds to report detailing statewide crime increase (KPQ Radio)
• Sheriff’s deputy fired and arrested on multiple charges including rape, extortion (KGMI Radio)

DAMS

• Dam study: More research required (The Lewiston Tribune)

ENVIRONMENT

• Tacoma paper mill agrees to monetary penalty, new rules after air pollution violation (The News Tribune)

FISH

• Biologists prepare for a possible northern pike invasion beyond Grand Coulee Dam (NW News Network)

HANFORD

• Feds to extend Hanford contract another 2 years after court rejects $45B award (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• A look into how hospitals are using fentanyl (KIRO TV)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Inslee names Sasha Mitchell to CWU Board of Trustees (Daily Record)
• EDITORIAL: Address tuition increases, bolster middle class (The Columbian)

HOMELESSNESS

• Regional Homelessness Authority delays shakeup of funds to nonprofits (The Seattle Times)
• ‘This is ludicrous’: Swimming pool installed at Seattle encampment angers neighbors (KOMO TV)
• Yakima County Commissioners approve policy to remove homeless encampments (Yakima Herald-Republic)

HOUSING

• Could Seattle be the key to legalizing rent control statewide? (KNKX Radio)
• State’s affordable housing fund could boost Clark County developments (The Columbian)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• New agency now accepting requests to review cases of police deadly force (Washington State Standard)
• Investigation opened into mock tombstone, Trump flag at Seattle police precinct (The Seattle Times)

LEGISLATURE

• Washington state faces lawsuit over 2022 transportation revenue bill (The Center Square)
• Dangerous beauty: Cosmetics marketed to minorities come with cancer risk (KING TV)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Aberdeen City Council approves new rules for vacant or dilapidated buildings (KXRO Radio)

MEDIA

• COLUMN: Free Press roundup: Sports pages in flux, Alden takes San Diego (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Journalism legislation supports democracy (The Columbian)

MENTAL HEALTH

• ER visits for teenage girls surged during the pandemic (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon agency approves more than $100 million to build affordable homes statewide (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• EDITORIAL: Rural Oregonians get a bigger voice in wildlife policy (Capital Press)

PARKS

• Seattle weighs where to expand off-leash dog parks (Axios – Seattle)

POLITICS

NATIONAL

• COLUMN: Keep a civil tongue in your head (Sue Lani Madsen/The Spokesman-Review)

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Microsoft’s Malaga campus: Port estimates $16.8 million for cooling water disposal site (The Wenatchee World)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Washington Lottery surpasses $1 billion in sales for first time in history (Tri-City Herald)
• Washington Department of Commerce seeks input on $5 million in federal grants (The Center Square)
• Counselor’s license suspended after accusations of sexual misconduct at embattled Daybreak Youth Services (The Spokesman-Review)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• Numbing the pain: Opioid crisis on the Olympic Peninsula (KUOW Radio)
• Cowlitz County drug overdose deaths increase as fentanyl use rises (The Daily News)

TAXES

• Department of Revenue officials grilled on capital gains tax rulemaking (The Center Square)

TRANSPORTATION

• Plan for ‘monster’ road closures in and around Seattle (The Seattle Times)
• Washington State Ferries work to keep up with mounting staffing issues (KING TV)
• International travel on the rebound as Sea-Tac Airport welcomes new routes (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• OPINION: Sustainable aviation fuels aren’t the answer; flying less is (Laura Gibbons, member of the 350 Seattle Aviation Team, and Brandon Bowersox-Johnson, member of the 350 Seattle Aviation Team/The Seattle Times)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Frustration mounts as Makah tribe waits for word on the whale hunt (KNKX Radio)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Fire danger upgraded to ‘extreme’ in Grant, Adams, and Franklin counties (Source One News)
• McEwan fire in Shelton now 85% contained, fire officials say (The Olympian)
• Baird Springs fire calming, others burn statewide (Columbia Basin Herald)
• West Pierce Fire has already put out as many brush fires as it did in all of 2022 (KUOW Radio)
• No more campfires this summer: Kitsap burn ban enacted due to dry conditions (Kitsap Sun)
• Can mushrooms prevent megafires? (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

WILDLIFE

• Elk overrun northeast Washington fields (Capital Press)
• Fish and Wildlife kills large cougar in North Kitsap following livestock depredations (Kitsap Sun)