Capitol  Buzz

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Gov. Inslee celebrates expansion of Pasco Process Water Reuse Facility (The Center Square)
• Inslee says this Tri-Cities project will ‘lead the world’ in agriculture water treatment (Tri-City Herald)
• WA mushroom farm ordered to pay $3.4 million for discriminating against female workers (KUOW Radio)
• Moses Lake water demand to outstrip supply by 2034 (Columbia Basin Herald)
• OPINION: Jay Inslee’s legacy is a dim future for Washington’s family farms (Larry Stap is a Whatcom County dairy farmer and president of Save Family Farming/The Spokesman-Review)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Bezos’ Blue Origins wins NASA bid to build lunar lander for astronauts (MyNorthwest)
• More than $220 Million in disaster relief coming to crabbers, salmon fishers (MyNorthwest)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• OPINION: Swimming against inequity: All children deserve water-safety education (Rep. April Berg/The Seattle Times)

CORONAVIRUS

• COVID emergency orders are among ‘greatest intrusions on civil liberties,’ Justice Gorsuch says (AP)
• Everett shelter got $3M in COVID relief despite complaints (Crosscut)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• ‘See the humanity.’ Eastern WA’s first federal appeals court judge sworn in (Tri-City Herald)

CRIME

• Violent crime is down in King County — but a troubling trend persists (The Seattle Times)
• Washington clergy still not required to report child abuse (Crosscut)

EDUCATION

• Staff layoffs, reductions in hours approved by Bellingham School Board (The Bellingham Herald)
• ‘Not being heard’: NKSD parents protest over response to racial discrimination claims (Kitsap Sun)

ELECTIONS

• The ‘presumptive right’ to vote in Washington state (The Center Square)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Big money rushes into carbon capture. Can it deliver this time? (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)

ENVIRONMENT

• UW students chain themselves to power plant, seeking climate action (The Seattle Times)
• Fish and Wildlife to deploy drones in battle against invasive plants (Washington State Standard)
• Spokane Riverkeeper, Rockford grain elevator operator agree to plan to clean up Latah Creek (The Spokesman-Review)
• OPINION:Sorry, Northwest, you won’t be a climate ‘winner’ (Wire Service/Everett Herald)

FISH

• A dam fine project: Columbia Springs’ replacement of  West Biddle Dam key to its mission, fish preservation (The Columbian)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• More options to pay for medical care, but some may be costly (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• Nursing homes get short-term 14% funding increase for Medicaid patients (The Everett Herald)
• COLUMN: Why hasn’t Pierce County’s rogue tuberculosis patient been arrested? No more excuses (Matt Driscoll/The News Tribune)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Cowlitz Tribe donates $1M to Washington State University Vancouver to support life sciences (The Columbian)
• Renton starts pilot program providing free college tuition (MyNorthwest)

HOMELESSNESS

• ‘From surviving to thriving.’ Spokane center could shape Tri-Cities homeless solutions (Tri-City Herald)
• Seattle region’s plan to reduce homelessness takes big step forward (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Little-known housing program exceeds expectations as funding dwindles (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• COLUMN: What’s the point of the Regional Homelessness Authority? (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)

HOUSING

• Building industry calls for halt to Washington cities’ natural gas ban in wake of ruling (The Center Square)
• Seattle must legalize more quadplexes and sixplexes under new law (Axios – Seattle)
• A hard-to-build type of housing gets a state funding boost (Washington State Standard)

IMMIGRATION

• How TikTok and other social media have reshaped the way people migrate to the US: ‘Their only lifeline’ (Los Angeles Times/The Seattle Times)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Police fatally shoot man accused of firing at deputies in Washington state (MyNorthwest)

LEGISLATURE

• Inslee continues to sign 2023 legislation into law, but it’s his vetoes drawing anger (The News Tribune)
• WA lawmaker rejoins Republican caucus after ‘issues’ with leadership caused her to leave (The News Tribune)
• Here’s how the new drug possession law in Washington is different that what was on the books (The Spokesman-Review)
• Officials: Washington’s new drug policy not a perfect solution (The Columbian)
• Washington state now has the nation’s strongest law against toxic cosmetics (KNKX Radio)
• BLOG: Opponents of ‘war on drugs’ didn’t let drug possession crisis go to waste (Jim Camden/The Spokesman-Review)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Seattle city attorney wants to prosecute drug cases after state law passes (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle official refuses to resign after defending convicted pedophile’s nomination for board seat (KOMO TV)
• Spokane $50 million short of legal obligation in general fund (The Center Square)
• EDITORIAL: Seattle’s proposed tree ordinance is the legislative equivalent of a chain saw (The Seattle Times)

LONG-TERM CARE

• BLOG: Long-Term Care expert Mike Anderson: “It seems highly likely that the tax rates will get raised very soon” (Shift)

MEDIA

• COLUMN: WA newsrooms thin but court access partnership continues (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Spokane VA director warns budget trouble caused by computer system is forcing staff cuts (The Spokesman-Review)

OPEN GOVERNMENT

• EDITORIAL: Seattle officials’ deleted texts cost taxpayers more than dollars (The Seattle Times)

OTHER STATES

• End of an era? GOP walkout shows political chasm where ‘The Oregon Way’ once meant bipartisan trust (AP)
• More Oregonians move into top tax bracket, helping fill state coffers tax brackets (The Oregonian)
• Oregon governor roils public defense overhaul with last-minute legislative changes (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• OPINION: Teens and social media: How to nurture good digital citizens (Lucía Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington where she specializes in social media and mental health in adolescence/The Seattle Times)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• WA judge orders AG’s office, DSHS to pay more for withholding evidence (The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: Silence as Jay Inslee sided with violent Washington sex offenders (Jason Rantz/My Northwest)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• Fentanyl has devastated King County’s homeless population, and the toll is getting worse (The Seattle Times)
• Grant County Health Leaders sounding alarm on dangerous new drug being seen in Washington (KEPR TV)
• OPINION: Accountability and compassion at the heart of the Blake ‘fix’ bill (Rep. Peter Abbarno/The Chronicle)
• OPINION: Republican resolve leads to better drug possession law (Sen. John Braun/The Chronicle)
• EDITORIAL: Drug law good first step, but there’s more to do (The Columbian)

TECHNOLOGY

• ChatGPT’s impact is already showing up in job postings —with six-figure implications (Puget Sound Business Journal)

TRANSPORTATION

• The price of a ferry ride is going up, again. (Washington State Standard)
• Oregon Interstate 5 Bridge bills face delay (The Columbian)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• United Nations watchdogs raise concerns about Nooksack evictions, again (The Seattle Times)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Wildfire burning near center of Hanford nuclear reservation in Eastern Washington (Tri-City Herald)
• Getting ready — DNR firefighters drill in preparation for fire season (Daily Record)
• Kennewick Firefighters battling large fire threatening multiple homes near Zintel Canyon (KEPR TV)