The Capitol Buzz is a daily summary of online news clips from across the state, discussing policies and politics affecting Washington state.
AGRICULTURE & WATER
BORDER STATES
- Oregon driver’s license holders get reprieve as state moves toward Real ID compliance (The Oregonian)
- Right 2 Dream Too, homeless ‘rest stop,’ opens to public at new spot (The Oregonian)
- 27,000 gallons of sewage spill into Portland creek (AP/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
- OPINION: Oregon’s environment is counting on us to work together (Andrea Durbin, executive director of Oregon Environmental Council/The Oregonian)
- EDITORIAL: Bipartisan success from the past; partisan bias in the present (The Oregonian)
BUDGET & TAXES
- COLUMN: GOP property-tax plan will only widen the urban-rural divide (Jonathan Martin/The Seattle Times)
- EDITORIAL: Budget wins outweigh the wait (Kitsap Sun)
BUSINESS, LABOR & ECONOMY
- Microsoft proposing $10B program to bring broadband internet to rural America (The Seattle Times)
- Microsoft posts more than 300 sales jobs after reorganization’s layoffs (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- B-21 bomber maker Northrop Grumman seeks aerospace suppliers in Puget Sound region (Puget Sound Business Journal)
COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES
CONGRESS & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
- Cantwell to hold Wenatchee town hall (The Wenatchee World)
- Congress unnerved by energy grid hack (CQ-Roll Call/The Daily World)
- EDITORIAL: State right to join suit on EPA pesticide approval (The Everett Herald)
COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Investigation begins into shooting by state trooper on I-5 in Lacey (The News Tribune)
- Child sex sting in Tri-Cities nets 26 arrests over five days (Tri-City Herald)
- Olympia man charged in mailing of severed finger, fake bomb to IRS (AP/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
- College Place police ramp up code enforcement (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
ENERGY & UTILITIES
- Solar incentives bill has industry seeing sunny days (The Seattle Times)
- Edmonds takes clean-energy pledge, but is that achievable? (The Everett Herald)
- Final study released for Tesoro refinery xylene project (Skagit Valley Herald)
ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES
- Skagit Wildlife Area’s Leque Island to close for restoration work (Skagit Valley Herald)
- Snipes Mountain Dairy cited in Outlook flood incident; no penalty issued (Yakima Herald)
FISH
HEALTH CARE
HIGHER EDUCATION
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Seattle City Council approves income tax on the rich, but quick legal challenge likely (The Seattle Times)
- Seattle passes income tax. Next: lawsuits? (Crosscut)
- Seattle City Council passes income tax on wealthy residents (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn proposes new and increased business taxes (Puget Sound Business Journal)
MARIJUANA
MEDIA
MILITARY
POLITICS
BALLOT MEASURES
LOCAL
Olympia could join other cities asking for investigation, impeachment of Trump (The Olympian)
COLUMN: Offensive tweets damaged his port commission campaign. Voters should finish the job. (Matt Driscoll/The News Tribune)
TRANSPORTATION
- Blasting to delay I-90 traffic (Columbia Basin Herald)
- King County officials hope to reopen flawed bridge (Columbia Basin Herald)
- Southbound I-5 will get local/express division in Tacoma (The News Tribune)
TRIBES
WILDFIRES
- Investigation into recent fires continues (Yakima Herald)
- Several fires near Soap Lake stomped out safely (Columbia Basin Herald)
- Fire chars areas of Columbia National Wildlife Refuge (Columbia Basin Herald)
- Wildfire threat raises Umatilla National Forest restrictions (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
- Rare plant, found only near Tri-Cities, damaged in wildfire (Tri-City Herald)