The Capitol Buzz is a daily summary of online news clips from across the state, discussing policies and politics affecting Washington state.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
- Engine maker under scrutiny after series of aircraft mishaps (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
- Boeing: 777s with engine that blew apart should be grounded (AP/The Columbian)
- Dramatic United 777 engine failure won’t have much impact on Boeing — here’s why (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- Boeing supplier XPO Logistics cuts 104 jobs in Everett after reporting record revenue (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- Apple goes on hiring spree for its Seattle Siri and AI teams (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- Seattle startup will leave Pioneer Square due to safety concerns (Puget Sound Business Journal)
COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES
CONGRESS
- GOP working to block Biden’s health care pick; Dems unfazed (AP/The Seattle Times)
- Newhouse: Rejoining Paris Climate Agreement will hurt rural America (Pacific Northwest Ag Network)
- Lawmakers urge end to COVID closure that ‘completely halted’ life along U.S.-Canada border (The Bellingham Herald)
CORONAVIRUS
- More vaccine on its way to Washington, but it still won’t meet demand (KNKX Radio)
- Some Washington state providers to get ‘double delivery’ of COVID-19 vaccine after last week’s storm delays (The Seattle Times)
- A few new glitches with Seattle’s pop-up vaccine clinic for Latinos (KUOW Radio)
- Vaccines, comorbidities, immunity: Answering your COVID questions (Crosscut)
- Vaccine tourism in Walla Walla? Local efficiency getting attention (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
- COVID hospitalizations declining statewide, locally (The Spokesman-Review)
- Seattle Children’s partners with 10 state school districts for rapid COVID testing program (KOMO TV)
- ‘One of the greatest men I ever met:’ 26-year-old Gig Harbor Navy sailor dies from COVID-19 complications (KCPQ TV)
COURTS (FEDERAL)
CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Long debate expected on Washington police reforms (KIRO TV)
- Clark County Prosecutor’s Office: Get body cameras (The Columbian)
- COVID-19 outbreak at Thurston County jail improves, status set to change (The Olympian)
EARLY LEARNING
EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY
- In-person school for young Seattle kids won’t begin until ‘at least’ March 8, district says (The Seattle Times)
- Seattle Public Schools delays reopening plans as teachers union agreement stalls (KUOW Radio)
- Edmonds, Mukilteo are reopening for some classes next month (The Everett Herald)
- Governor Jay Inslee to visit Spokane’s Stevens Elementary School (KREM TV)
- OPINION: Tri-City STEM partners needed (Matt Hammer is the President of the Board of the Washington State STEM Education Foundation/Tri-City Herald)
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES
ENERGY & UTILITIES
- Cap-and-trade bill gets overhaul (Lens)
- EDITORIAL: The simple lesson of the Texas blackouts (Bloomberg Opinion/Yakima Herald-Republic)
GUN RIGHTS
HEALTH CARE
- ‘I am worth it’: Why thousands of doctors in America can’t get a job (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
- Why we’re zooming in on barriers to health care in Washington (Crosscut)
- PeaceHealth St. John investigating potential COVID-19 exposure in hospital after patients test positive (The Daily News)
- Seattle Indian Health Board leader calls out state report (Puget Sound Business Journal)
HIGHER EDUCATION
HOMELESSNESS
HOUSING
LEGISLATURE
- New apprenticeship bill presented to the House of Representatives (KONA Radio)
- Senators approve shoreline armoring bill; Warnick votes against it (Columbia Basin Herald)
- Tax reform, tenant protection bills still alive in Olympia (KUOW Radio)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Seattle’s controversial ‘poverty defense’ proposal stalls out (Crosscut)
- After complaint forces ‘heartbreaking’ closure of business, Seattle aims to loosen land use rules (MyNorthwest)
- Clarkston council asks Inslee to rethink regional approach to reopening (The Lewiston Tribune)
- OPINION: Spokane city leaders must follow popular city law on transparency and reject violent union rhetoric (Chris Cargill and Jason Mercier, Washington Policy Center/The Spokesman-Review)
OTHER STATES
- Dallas Heard, far-right senator, elected chair of Republican Party in Oregon (The Oregonian)
- Public access to police discipline records gets hearing in Oregon Legislature (The Oregonian)
- Oregon legislative session will pick up steam, shift to more in-person work starting March 8 (The Oregonian)
SPORTS
STATE GOVERNMENT
- Security measures around state Capitol to remain (KPQ Radio)
- Q&A: What DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter is seeing amid the pandemic (Washington State Wire)
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
TAXES
- Sugary drinks latest target in Washington tax proposal (KING TV)
- Senate hearing on statewide soda tax (KONA Radio)
- COLUMN: A capital gains income tax is not needed and will hurt Washington’s economy (Matt McIlwain, managing director, Madrona Venture Group/The Seattle Times)
- EDITORIAL: Legislators must drop hasty, flawed capital-gains tax push (The Seattle Times)
- EDITORIAL: Latest capital gains tax plan is still an income tax (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
TRANSPORTATION
- House considering bill that would make learning the zipper merge part of drivers ed (KIRO TV)
- Snoqualmie, Stevens, White passes reopen – but they could all close again (The Spokesman-Review)
WILDLIFE
