The Capitol Buzz is a daily summary of online news clips from across the state, discussing policies and politics affecting Washington state.
AGRICULTURE & WATER
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
- US trade deficit narrows in November (AP/The Columbian)
- Window, door maker Jeld-Wen announces plans to close Yakima plant; 180 jobs affected (Yakima Herald)
- T-Mobile promises to freeze prices and create 5,600 jobs in pleas for Sprint takeover approval (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- Boeing’s big investment in Aerion Supersonic could signal boom for the sector (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- EDITORIAL: Extend ‘right to repair’ to phones, other devices (The Everett Herald)
CONGRESS & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
- Text of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address (AP/The News Tribune)
- Trump urges America to ‘choose greatness’ in State of the Union address (AP/The Spokesman-Review)
- Washington lawmakers react to Trump’s State of the Union address (KING TV)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers responds to State of the Union address (KHQ TV)
- Newhouse and Murray react to President Trump’s State of the Union address (iFiberOne TV)
- Senator Murray blocks after-birth abortion bill (NCW Life Channel)
COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT
- New effort to abolish the death penalty in Washington state (KING TV)
- Washington death penalty slated for execution (The Chronicle)
- Inmates at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center on hunger strike over quality of breakfast food (The Spokesman-Review)
- Washington inmates go on hunger strike over breakfast food (AP/KCPQ TV)
- Report: Seattle police use low levels of force, but racial disparity remains (The Seattle Times)
CYBERSECURITY
EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY
- Proposed bill seeks to address special education funding crisis in Washington (KING TV)
- Students learn leadership, discipline in Everett NJROTC (The Everett Herald)
- Drug education night draws attention (The Wenatchee World)
- OPINION: Washington state needs to understand what constitutes basic education (Zachary DeWolf, citizen of the Chippewa Cree nation of Rocky Boy, Montana, District 5 Director on the Seattle School Board, and program manager with All Home, and Sharonne Navas, co-founder of the Equity in Education Coalition and member of the Board of Trustee of Green River College/Crosscut)
- EDITORIAL: Tacoma’s charter school experiment is evolving, not imploding, through trial and error (The News Tribune)
- EDITORIAL: Test all Washington schools for lead in water (The Seattle Tiems)
- EDITORIAL: Despite state increases, local school levies are still needed (Kitsap Sun)
ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES & PARKS
- What the death of WA’s carbon tax says about the future (Crosscut)
- Washington snowpack remains ho-hum (Washington Ag Network/KONA Radio)
- COLUMN: Politics has science on the run — and not just in the other Washington (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)
- COLUMN: Petition seeks upgrades to Puget Sound sewage treatment plants (Christopher Dunagan/Kitsap Sun)
GUN RIGHTS
- Training required for concealed gun owners with proposed bill in Washington (KOMO TV)
- Spokane County detectives investigating Facebook threats against Washington sheriffs (The Spokesman-Review)
- Man accused of making threats to Sheriff Knezovich about I-1639 identified (KHQ TV)
- Sheriffs threatened for not supporting gun measure (Columbia Basin Herald)
- Stevens county commissioners pass resolution formally opposing state’s new gun laws (KXLY)
- Cowlitz commissioners oppose new gun control law (The Reflector)
- EDITORIAL: Best if initiative’s fate resolved quickly (Daily Record)
- EDITORIAL: Gun-control initiative is the law even if we don’t like it (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
HEALTH CARE
- 49 measles cases now confirmed as local legislators hope to tighten exemption laws (The Reflector)
- Clark County report shows influenza on rise (The Columbian)
- COLUMN: Are measles a risk at your kid’s school? Explore vaccination-exemption data with our new tool (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times)
HIGHER EDUCATION
- COLUMN: UW tried to derail Republican group speech at last minute (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
- COLUMN: Gonzaga relents, permits Ben Shapiro to appear on campus after ban (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
HOMELESSNESS
- Study: Youth homelessness often follows mental health, addiction treatment (KNKX Radio)
- Homeless camp sites pitched for Kelso, Longview (The Daily News)
HOUSING
LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS
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- State transfers local forest into school trust (Skagit Valley Herald)
- Forgotten state park land in Packwood a haven for locals (The Chronicle)
LEGISLATURE
- Anacortes City Council member chosen to replace senator who stepped down amid harassment investigation (The Seattle Times)
- Lovelett appointed to replace Ranker (Skagit Valley Herald)
- Yakima area state reps to hold telephone town hall (KIT Radio)
- Research dogs and cats from UW, WSU and other institutions deserve second chance, advocates tell Washington Legislature (The Spokesman-Review)
- Apply to be a page for the House or Senate (The Wenatchee World)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Port finds a partner for major upgrade that would bring huge next-generation cargo ships to Terminal 5 (The Seattle Times)
- Veterans, homeless could be casualties of Benton-Franklin standoff (Tri-City Herald)
MARIJUANA
MEDIA
MENTAL HEALTH
OTHER STATES
- Want proof climate change is here? Look at Oregon in 2018, report says (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
- Oregon’s care for elderly and disabled needs improvement (AP/The Columbian)
STATE GOVERNMENT
TRANSPORTATION
- Over 22,000 trips taken through the SR 99 tunnel on opening day (KING TV)
- State seeks comments on deer collisions (The Wenatchee World)
- EDITORIAL: Emissions testing’s end shows regulations work (The Columbian)
WILDLIFE
WOLVES