CAPITOL  BUZZ

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Farmers and growers seek leeway under new agriculture overtime law (Washington State Standard)
• Researchers get $4.2 million to study honeybee disease (Capital Press)
• Support of EIS urged to expand Columbia Basin Project irrigation (The Center Square)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• States take on election deepfakes that mislead voters (Pluribus News)
• COLUMN: Seattle is an artificial intelligence hub in a rapidly changing field (Jon Talton/The Seattle Times)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Here’s why fewer people are jumping back into the regional workforce (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Outdoor recreation’s economic impact continues to grow (The Spokesman-Review)
• How Kroger-Albertsons merger could affect Washington shoppers (The Center Square)
• Bankruptcy brinksmanship at Strategies 360 (The Washington Observer)
• COLUMN: Despite cooling inflation, many costs rising for Seattle residents (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times)

CENSUS

• Washington state population hits 8 million (Axios – Seattle)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Suspicious package reported at Seattle’s Temple de Hirsch Sinai (The Seattle Times)

CONGRESS

• Anthony Fauci will testify before Congress on COVID origins, US pandemic response (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• Trial of Tacoma police officers postponed again. This time one of the defendants is ill (The Olympian)
• Wendi Traynor’s family fighting to keep her killer behind bars following appeal, plea deal in Pierce Co. (FOX 13)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Seattle sets new record for most homicides in a single year (KUOW Radio)
• Seattle faces its most violent year in three decades, 70 homicides (FOX 13)
• EV chargers: New target for Washington copper thieves (KING TV)

DAMS

• GOP lawmakers ramp up pushback on Snake River dam deal still in the making (The Seattle Times)
• White House: Snake River dam mediation ‘still in active negotiations’ (Capital Press)
• Ag stakeholders: Secret plan threatens ag ‘in a way we’ve never seen before’ (Capital Press)
• EDITORIAL: Secret talks on Snake River dams bad policy (The Columbian)

ELECTIONS

• ‘Dismal turnout’: Washington set record low for voter participation in 2023 general election (KAPP/KVEW)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Washington lawmakers look at shielding people from surprise ambulance costs (Washington State Standard)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Washington’s war on gas heats up (The Washington Observer)

ENVIRONMENT

• OPINION: Take toxins out of tires to protect salmon, other wildlife (Glenn Spain, executive director of the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations/The Seattle Times)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Cities must replace harmful lead pipes within 10 years under new Biden administration plan (AP)

HANFORD

• Hanford managers and watchdogs hold first in-person cleanup dialogue meeting since before pandemic (NW News Network)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Nurses call system “broken” after violent attacks, assert pediatric patients not to blame (FOX 13)

HOMELESSNESS

• WSDOT clears infamous Seattle encampment near I-5 after months of public safety concerns (KOMO TV)
• Olympia could widen zone prohibiting people from sleeping on sidewalks (KOMO TV)

HOUSING

• New homes in Washington state will have to include energy efficient heating and cooling (KUOW Radio)
• State council updates energy efficient standards for new buildings (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Over $130M for affordable housing set to be approved by County Council (The Everett Herald)
• Tumwater mobile home tenants lobby against rent hikes (Crosscut)
• After a newly bought Bothell house exploded, experts urge caution (The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: Innovating the American Dream: How build-to-rents can help solve the housing crisis (Brian Hodges, attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, and Sam Spiegelman, Associate Counsel at Citizen Action Defense Fund and Principal at Spiegelman Law PLLC/The Center Square)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Seattle City Council committee shelves capital gains tax proposal (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Racial slurs in Tacoma, anti-Semitic outbursts in Lynnwood: Can city council members cut off offensive speech? (FOX 13)
• Clark County Council OKs voting precinct changes, adding 3 new precincts and amending 11 others (The Columbian)
• Moses Lake chamber talks water, education with governor (Columbia Basin Herald)

MEDIA

• Bellingham Herald to change print schedule as digital transition evolves (The Bellingham Herald)

OTHER STATES

• WA AG, others support blocking Idaho bathroom law (The Seattle Times)
• Democrat AGs push court to strike down Idaho bathroom protection law (The Center Square)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• 2 Shoreline schools closed Friday due to safety concerns (KOMO TV)
• Tacoma Public Schools teacher allegedly assaults student with autism (KIRO TV)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• How Washington and other states say Meta knowingly hurt kids (Axios – Seattle)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Former WSDOT economist accuses state leaders of retaliation for refusing to lie about gas prices (KING TV)

TRANSPORTATION

• Safety Commission to recommend lowering blood alcohol content level, return of DUI checkpoints (KING TV)
• Traffic exhaust could increase blood pressure, UW study finds (The Seattle Times)
• ‘The state of Washington is making this a highest priority’: Gov. Jay Inslee visits Interstate 5 Bridge (The Columbian)
• Yakima is No. 7 in the nation for pothole problems (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Ferry operators around the country to receive $200M in federal grants to modernize fleets (KOMO TV)
• Major disruption ahead for Sound Transit riders (MyNorthwest)
• COLUMN: A roundabout threatens this small Pierce County town. There’s 1 big mistake to blame (Matt Driscoll/The News Tribune)

WEATHER & CLIMATE

• Why is there so little snow in the western Washington mountains right now? (KING TV)
• Southwest Washington under flood watch, according to NWS Portland (The Columbian)

WILDLIFE

• Wolverines gain ESA protection based on 2100 climate projections (Capital Press)

WOLVES

• Groups ask Washington governor to order new wolf rules (The Spokesman-Review)