Capitol Buzz

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Washington delegation in Mexico this week for agriculture and industry trade mission (Yakima Herald)
• Gov. Inslee tours Samish Bay shellfish farm (Skagit Valley Herald)

BORDER STATES

• Critics question costs of Brown executive orders (AP/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

BUSINESS, LABOR & ECONOMY

• Skagit County taxable retail sales see major gains for end of 2016 (Skagit Valley Herald)
• Bellingham, Lynden NYP restaurants close after bankruptcy filing (The Bellingham Herald)

CONGRESS & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

• Letters of concern from Washington state to Trump administration piling up (The Seattle Times)

COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Inslee to sign distracted driving and DUI bills (NW News Network)
• Seattle’s police-accountability proposal is overly complex, say SPD chief, city attorney (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle police release dashcam video of officers’ response to Mayor Ed Murray’s home (The Seattle Times)
• East Yakima residents at forum say they don’t trust the police (Yakima Herald)
• Yakima police say they don’t have the money or manpower to stop gang violence (Yakima Herald)

EDUCATION (K-12) & SCHOOL SAFETY

• Report: Washington’s dropout rate is high for students with learning disabilities (The Seattle Times)
• New school building first of its kind in state (Skagit Valley Herald)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Facing cost overruns, City Light quietly pares smart-meter project (Crosscut)

FISH

• Updated Columbia spring chinook return less than half of expectation (The Seattle Times)

GUN RIGHTS

• EDITORIAL: Sensible gun laws make everyone safer (The Seattle Times)

HANFORD

• Waiting on the weather to cover Hanford waste tunnel (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE

• Ineffective medical treatment heaps costs on employers, says Dr. Mary Kay O’Neill (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• OPINION: Don’t deny the poor the opportunity for dental care (Sens. David Frockt and Mark Mullet/The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: Controlling the high cost of care (K.C. Mehaffey/The Wenatchee World)

HOMELESSNESS

• City of Spokane serves up eviction notice to Blessings Under the Bridge homeless feeding program (The Spokesman-Review)
• Local group meets with Low Income Housing Institute director to discuss possible Harbor project (The Daily World)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• Gov. Inslee signs bill that gives landlords new power to evict squatters faster (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Study: Federal program helps sage grouse (AP/Daily Record)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• For $585,000, county settles John Koster’s free-speech suit (The Everett Herald)
• Douglas County officials deny meeting in private over Confluence Health permit (The Wenatchee World)
• Former Puyallup Mayor Donald Malloy passes away (The News Tribune)

MENTAL HEALTH 

• Suicide attempts, depressive thoughts still on the rise in Yakima County teens (Yakima Herald)

POLITICS

ELECTIONS

• First wave of candidates file for fall election (Kitsap Sun)
• Tri-City races already heat up as 2017 election seasons kicks off (Tri-City Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Elections Can Help Cure Ills (The Columbian)

LEGISLATURE

• Special election could affect the balance of power at Capitol (AP/The Chronicle)

LOCAL

• Spokane City Council narrowly approves former U.S. Attorney Mike Ormsby as city attorney (The Spokesman-Review)

STATE

Manweller subs for Hutchison at GOP dinner (The Wenatchee World)

STATE GOVERNMENT  

• You have 30 days to complain about parking rates (The Olympian)

TRANSPORTATION 

• Did Sound Transit trick voters and lawmakers about Sound Transit 3? Senate panel wants to find out (The News Tribune)
• No getting dragged off an overbooked plane here if lawmaker gets his way (The News Tribune)
• Big paving project on I-5 begins Monday (The Olympian)
• North Cascades Highway to open, despite overnight snow (The Bellingham Herald)