The Capitol Buzz is a daily summary of online news clips from across the state, discussing policies and politics affecting Washington state.
ABORTION
- History of abortion laws and politics in the Evergreen State (MyNorthwest)
- COLUMN: Taking action on abortion (Sue Lani Madsen/The Spokesman-Review)
AGRICULTURE & WATER
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
- Consumer prices still climbing rapidly (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
- Some employers finding it hard to fill positions in Washington state despite relatively few job openings (KING TV)
- Microsoft signs deal with Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority (The Wenatchee World)
CANNABIS
COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES
CONGRESS
CORONAVIRUS
- COVID cases are up. Most mandates ended months ago. So where does WA stand? (The Seattle Times)
- With COVID case counts rising, some in Washington state report virus, testing fatigue (KOMO TV)
- COVID-19 cases in Clark County schools more than double (The Columbian)
- The pandemic made these seniors rethink the ‘years they have left’ (KUOW Radio)
- COLUMN: Should workers who refused to get vaccinated get their jobs back? I vote no (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)
- EDITORIAL: Americans have decided to live with COVID-19 (The Columbian)
COURTS (FEDERAL)
- Halt protests at Supreme Court justices’ homes, governors beg Justice Department (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)
- Court: California’s under-21 gun sales ban unconstitutional (AP/The Seattle Times)
CRIME
- Have a minor crime on your record? New WA website helps you figure out if it can be removed (The News Tribune)
- Spokane Police Department finds success with emphasis patrols on car break-ins (KREM TV)
- Pierce County community meets with law enforcement to address rise in crime (FOX 13)
- Darrington fire commissioner charged with theft from hardware store (The Everett Herald)
EDUCATION
- After 7 years, WA tribal history curriculum still not fully implemented (Crosscut)
- Evergreen Public Schools’ staff push back against cuts (The Columbian)
- Ridgefield School District’s dilemma: More students, same space (The Columbian)
- 35 teachers get layoff notices as Marysville braces for loss of levies (The Everett Herald)
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE
HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS
HOMELESSNESS
- Homeward Bound project aims to relocate homeless people to family and caretakers (KREM TV)
- OPINION: Housing alone won’t fix Washington’s homeless crisis. The state should follow Pierce County’s lead (Bill Bryant, former Republican nominee in Washington’s 2016 governor’s race and chairman of the company BCI/The News Tribune)
- EDITORIAL: Stay the course with regional homelessness response (The Seattle Times)
HOUSING
LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Owed DNA from registered sex offenders already producing ‘hits’ in Washington (KING TV)
- Seattle City Council floats hiring bonuses to bolster police staffing (Crosscut)
- Newly appointed King County Sheriff calls her department a ‘paramilitary organization’ (MyNorthwest)
- Every Pierce deputy to receive $10,000 bonus to stay, staving off unprecedented exodus (The News Tribune)
- Supported release, a Spokane County criminal justice reform proposal, turns a corner (The Spokesman-Review)
LEGISLATURE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Clark County Council’s new redistricting map comes with a lawsuit (The Columbian)
- Walla Walla Arts Commission votes to relocate Marcus Whitman statue (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
- Spokane Valley sets aside $700k as legal battle over sinking City Hall building continues (The Spokesman-Review)
- Spokane County poised to award $101M in federal stimulus funds (The Center Square)
- Lynnwood City Council member being investigated — but who is a mystery (The Everett Herald)
- Expanded use of electric fences, shipping containers in Tacoma to be decided in 2023 (The News Tribune)
MEDIA
MENTAL HEALTH
OTHER STATES
- Judge permanently blocks ban on homebuyer ‘love letters’ in Oregon (AP/The Seattle Times)
- Hazard pay helps recruit wildland firefighters in Idaho (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
SCHOOL SAFETY
STATE GOVERNMENT
- Case of missing Washington 5-year-old highlights secrecy around CPS cases (NW News Network)
- Massive backlog of appeals from Employment Security Department affecting about 22,000 Washingtonians (FOX 13)
- Gov. Inslee names Caitlin Robertson director of the Office of Corrections Ombuds (The Olympian)
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
TAXES
TRANSPORTATION
- Gas prices reach the highest recorded price in US and WA, how to still save (The Olympian)
- Lower speed limits move forward on dangerous stretch of Highway 99 (The Everett Herald)
TRIBAL ISSUES
- Federal report finds 500 Native American boarding school deaths so far (AP/Yakima Herald-Republic)
- Tulalip woman helped uncover dark history of Indian boarding schools (The Everett Herald)
- Duwamish Tribe sues again for federal recognition (AP/The Everett Herald)
WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE
