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 employers add 528,000 jobs; unemployment falls to 3.5% (AP)
- How do we know when a recession has begun? (AP)
- What Equifax’s credit score errors mean for consumers (AP)
- Has Seattle lost its appeal? We asked three developers. (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- ‘Just leveling the playing field’: 3 Washington breweries sue Oregon over distribution laws (KING TV)
- State AG’s office cracking down on tow companies that preyed on service members (KIRO TV)
CONGRESS
- Democrats say they’ve reached agreement on economic package (AP)
- China halts climate, military ties over Pelosi Taiwan visit (AP)
- Rep. McMorris Rodgers readies for town hall, fights dam breaching (The Center Square)
CORONAVIRUS
- WA Department of Health: COVID fall booster doses could be ‘weeks away’ (MyNorthwest)
- Hazard pay is the latest casualty of the ‘waning pandemic phase’ (KUOW Radio)
CRIME
DAMS
- Lawmakers question White House’s ‘lack of transparency’ on Snake River dam draft reports (Capital Press)
- The undercurrents at play in the Columbia River dams debate (Crosscut)
- Salmon and dam talks get another year (The Lewiston Tribune)
EDUCATION
- Working WA high school students could have ‘more flexibility’ under new OSPI plan (The News Tribune)
- As new academic year looms, some local school districts still struggling to hire teachers (KOMO TV)
- Cleveland High’s former principal resigns, reaches settlement with Seattle Schools (The Seattle Times)
- Fired teacher charged with student sexual misconduct (AP/Daily Record)
ENERGY & UTILITIES
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE
- DOT proposes air travel vouchers for COVID cancellations (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)
- FAA directs UFO spotters to call Washington (The Center Square)
HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS
- Monkeypox cases doubling nearly every week in WA, as U.S. declares public health emergency (The Seattle Times)
- More monkeypox vaccines are coming to Washington, but not enough (Axios Seattle)
- Washington ranked 10th-best state in nation for health care quality (The Center Square)
- Nurses at Seattle Children’s Hospital plan informational pickets amid concerns over pay (KOMO TV)
- Why is insulin so expensive and difficult to cap? (AP)
- Whatcom County nursing assistant sanctioned for trying to kill elderly woman (KGMI Radio)
HIGHER EDUCATION
- UW to break ground on $90M Boeing-backed engineering building this fall (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- Armed police return to patrols at UW dorms after dispute with union (MyNorthwest)
HOMELESSNESS
HOUSING
- Seattle-area home prices dip as market cools (The Seattle Times)
- Longtime King County Housing Authority leader accused of racial, gender-based discrimination (The Seattle Times)
- Pierce County real estate market is cooling. July home sales report shows by how much (The News Tribune)
- City of Port Orchard gets state grant to study housing needs (Kitsap Sun)
LAW ENFORCEMENT
MENTAL HEALTH
OTHER STATES
PARKS
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Meta mum on election misinformation efforts as midterms loom (AP)
- Musk countersuit accuses Twitter of fraud (AP)
STATE GOVERNMENT
- Liquor control to utilize ‘social equity’ with pot store permits? (KONA Radio)
- EDITORIAL: Future Fund offers promising dividends for all of us (Yakima Herald-Republic)
TRIBAL ISSUES
- Seattle’s Duwamish Tribe ‘on the outside looking in’ as city names new Indigenous Advisory Council (KUOW Radio)
- Yakama Reservation’s 40+ missing person cases could be solved by forming WA cold case unit (KAPP/KVEW)
WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE
- Three wildfires across Eastern Washington burn 22,000 acres (MyNorthwest)
- ‘Until you live through it, you have no idea’: Small town of Lind grieves after fast-moving wildfire levels six homes (The Spokesman-Review)
- Vantage wildfire grows to 17,000 acres with better conditions expected Thursday (Yakima Herald-Republic)
- Cow Canyon fire is still at zero percent containment, fire officials working on a plan (KOMO TV)
- Washington state fire assistance mobilizing for 3,000 acre wildfire in Whitman County (KREM TV)
WILDLIFE
- Wildlife officers kill black bear after it attacks jogger on North Lake Whatcom trail (KGMI Radio)
- Vets urge vaccination as deadly rabbit disease shows up in Thurston County (The News Tribune)
WOLVES
