Capitol  Buzz

ABORTION

• What’s the role of personhood in abortion debate? (AP)

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Washington farmers say extreme heat, heavy rainfall present challenges for crops (KING TV)
• Washington farm expenditures down In 2021 (Pacific Northwest Ag Network)
• Summer harvest delayed but robust in Walla Walla, Touchet valleys (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• NCBA releases farm bill priorities (Pacific Northwest Ag Network)
• Beef prices set to surge further as farmers sell off cattle herds (FOX 13)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Inflation is raging in the Seattle area. Here’s how you can face it (The Seattle Times)
• Some Starbucks employees believe crime, safety concerns aren’t real reason for closures (KOMO TV)
• FAA clears Boeing to resume delivery of 787 Dreamliners (KING TV)
• Car sharing becomes big business in Seattle, and the neighbors aren’t always happy (The Seattle Times)
• Clay Siegall built Seattle biotech firm Seagen into a $1.6B giant. Then the cops came calling (The Seattle Times)

CENSUS

• COLUMN: Seattle was a millennial magnet, new study shows (Gene Balk/The Seattle TImes)

CHILD CARE

• How do you pay for a $71M childcare center in Lacey? 3 partners are about to find out (The Olympian)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Toledo man, 20, drowns in Chehalis River on Friday evening (The Chronicle)
• COLUMN: Her son died in a Parkland crosswalk. Now she’s on a mission to increase bike safety (Matt Driscoll/The News Tribune)

CONGRESS

• Congress responds to ‘all-time high’ number of threats against representatives with increased personal security (MyNorthwest)
• The climate bill won’t stop global warming. But it will clean the air (The Washington Post/The Seattle TImes)
• House passes bill banning certain semi-automatic guns (AP)
• BLOG: Why does Congress struggle with passing an assault-weapons ban? Answer may be 1994 election (Jim Camden/The Spokesman-Review)
• OPINON: Millions of people have rare diseases, including my son. Here’s how Congress can help (Lindsey Topping-Schuetz, mother of rare disease patient and board member of NW Rare Disease Coalition/The News Tribune)

CORONAVIRUS

• US rules out summer COVID boosters to focus on fall campaign (AP)
• What to know about ‘rebound’ COVID after Biden tests positive again (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

COURTS (STATE)

• Washington judge overturns insurance rate credit scoring ban (AP)
• Stakeholders react to state Supreme Court decision on trust lands (Northwest Public Broadcasting)

CRIME

• ‘In plain sight every single day:’ Feds crackdown on human trafficking in King County (FOX 13)
• Former Spokane financial adviser indicted on wire, mail fraud charges in $2.9M case (The Spokesman-Review)
• ICE agent arrested for allegedly travelling to Othello to pay for sex with 13-year-old (The Spokesman-Review)

EDUCATION

• Student Voices: Why the educational system is flawed, and what to do about it (The Seattle Times)

ELECTIONS

• WA auditors feel tangled in the election integrity debate (Crosscut)
• Thurston Auditor’s Office will conduct a random audit of the Primary Election (The Olympian)
• Clark County can count auditor votes (The Columbian)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Inslee to rescind 12 emergency decrees related to COVID-19 (MyNorthwest)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Report boosts unified power authority for Western states (The Center Square)

ENVIRONMENT

• Heat wave serves WA a lesson in climate adaptation, mitigation (The Seattle Times)
• Renowned scientist returns to Mount St. Helens year after year. Here’s what she’s finding (The News Tribune)
• Tacoma’s uphill battle to grow its urban tree canopy by 2030 (KNKX Radio)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Doctor: Biden tests positive for COVID for 2nd day in a row (AP)
• Blinken, Russian top diplomat speak about Griner, Whelan (AP)

FISH

• Salmon fishing suspended near Port Angeles (KONP Radio)

FOOD SAFETY & SECURITY

• USDA proposes new rules on salmonella for food processors — or risk shutdowns (FOX 13)

GUN RIGHTS

• Black women who once hated guns are embracing them as crime soars (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• ‘Unsustainable’: Hospitals in Washington, nationwide struggle with finances despite ease in COVID-19 patients (The Spokesman-Review)
• OPINION: WA must act to help struggling hospitals (R. Guy Hudson, trained pediatric urologic surgeon, president and CEO of Swedish Health Services and chief executive for the North division of Providence/The Seattle Times)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Seattle Pacific University sues WA attorney general, saying probe into LGBTQ+ policies violates religious freedom (The Seattle Times)
• Financial aid filings are up in WA, though not in all school districts (The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• State Patrol tries out plan to reduce homeless camping at Washington’s highway rest stops (KOMO TV)
• State will not take action to remove Camp Hope cooling tent despite city’s notice (The Spokesman-Review)
• Illegally placed concrete blocks have taken over public parking in Seattle. Why are they there? (The Seattle Times)
• ‘The heat makes everything worse:’ Groups reach out to help those experiencing homelessness during heat wave (Yakima Herald-Republic)

HOUSING

• Spokane’s embrace of missing middle housing sets up competition with Seattle (KUOW Radio)
• A town’s housing crisis exposes a ‘house of cards’ (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

IMMIGRATION

• OPINION: The U.S. must provide Afghan refugees with the means to stay in their new country (Eskinder Negash, president and CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants/The Seattle Times)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Seattle police recruits share what they’ve learned from new ‘Before the Badge’ training (KIRO TV)
• Ferndale police officer allegedly propositioned woman for sex with 12-year-old child (The Bellingham Herald)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Seattle mayor’s executive order addresses sexual assault backlog; advocates say it’s a good first step (KING TV)
• Spokane City Council considers $27.8M in federal COVID-19 relief funds for college scholarships, community centers, small businesses and more (The Spokesman-Review)
• Turnover at Port of Olympia has cost nearly $150,000 in separation agreement pay (The Olympian)

MEDIA

• Columbia Basin Herald launches Studio Basin podcast (Columbia Basin Herald)
• COLUMN: Not all sides are equal, but we must still listen and understand (Luis Carrasco/The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: Q&A: U.S. Rep. David Cicilline on why Congress must help save local news (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times)

MENTAL HEALTH

• I was diagnosed with autism at 34. We need more research for adults | Mental Health Perspectives (The Seattle Times)
• What the 988 call line could mean for WA’s Black communities (Crosscut)
• EDITORIAL: Our support makes sure lifeline is there in crises (The Everett Herald)

OTHER STATES

• Suspected heat-related deaths rise to 9 in Oregon (The Oregonian)

PARKS

• Public invited to weigh in on Forest Service fee increases during meeting in Packwood (The Chronicle)

POLITICS

ELECTIONS

• OPINION: Don’t let dark money grow unchecked (Fred Jarrett, chairs the Washington state Public Disclosure Commission/The Seattle Times)

SPORTS

• NBA legend Bill Russell dies at 88 (AP/FOX 13)

TRANSPORTATION

• After the WA ferry crash, what’s ahead for passenger service and the investigations? (The Seattle Times)
• Cathlamet ferry crash at Fauntleroy terminal adds new stress to marine transportation (KOMO TV)
• Map-tracking system shows Cathlamet Ferry ‘off course’ around time of collision (FOX 13)
• Thor-Freya road construction beset by threats, thefts, vandalism, contractor claims (The Spokesman-Review)
• Can a motorcycle group block an intersection to stay together? Here’s what the law says (The News Tribune)
• 17,000 employees commute to this part of Pierce County. There’s no public transit (The News Tribune)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Tulalip lawyer: Native rights at risk in pending SCOTUS decision (The Everett Herald)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Firefighters responding to large fire north of Walla Walla (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• Neighbor makes life-saving call as Rochester fire burns two structures, threatens 35 more (The Chronicle)
• OPINION: 64 years of northeast Washington wildfires (Retired Spokane Fire Lt. Ray Kresek spent 35 years as a professional firefighter, including as Chelan fire warden with the Washington state Department of Natural Resources/The Spokesman-Review)

WILDLIFE

• Pacific Northwest’s ‘murder hornet’ gets a new name for reasons that may surprise (The Seattle Times)