Capitol  Buzz

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Washington Farm Bureau asks lawmakers to settle ag fuel dispute (Pacific Northwest Ag Network)
• Hundreds of fruit packers in Washington and Oregon take union vote this week (Oregon Capital Chronicle/Washington State Standard)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• New rule would make it easier for millions of Americans to unionize, but businesses are pushing back (AP)
• Starbucks unionized baristas plan largest-ever strike for Red Cup Day (Bloomberg/The Spokesman-Review)
• Boeing kicks off Dubai Airshow with a major announcement (MyNorthwest)
• OPINION: Albertsons-Kroger merger could provide the competition we need (Chris Cargill, president, Mountain States Policy Center/Capital Press)

CANNABIS

• Marijuana tax revenue surpasses alcohol in 8 states (Pluribus News)

CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM

• Inslee appointees oppose merging Washington’s carbon market with California, Québec (Washington State Standard)

CENSUS

• Can’t think, can’t remember: More Americans say they’re in a cognitive fog (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Local midwife opens WA’s first Black-owned birth center (The Seattle Times)
• An ‘unsettling’ drop in life expectancy for men (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• Centralia Tragedy: After decades-long fight, IWW gets plaque for union victims (The Chronicle)

CONGRESS

• Plan to avert government shutdown could get bipartisan approval (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Senator’s political posturing threatens national defense (The Seattle Times)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Federal judge dismisses lawsuit against WA’s carbon-pricing law (The Seattle Times)
• Tulalip man sentenced to federal prison for having ‘explosive devices’ (The Everett Herald)

COURTS (STATE)

• Defense calls first witnesses in trial for the death of Manuel Ellis (KING TV)
• Court denies request for additional DNA testing in 1997 Selah murder (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Tacoma Police seek help in cold case of veteran’s 2020 murder (MyNorthwest)

DAMS

• Carnation leaders say dam breach system still problematic after city of Seattle’s fix (KOMO TV)

DRUG CRISIS

• ‘Super meth’ and other drugs push U.S. crisis beyond opioids (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• Study: Nearly half of people using opioids in rural areas were recently incarcerated (Oregon Capital Chronicle/Pluribus News)
• OPINION: Ricky’s Law could help address fentanyl crisis (Sophie Nichols, former SNCO County Council staffer/The Everett Herald)

EDUCATION

• Seattle school closures could hinge on new enrollment, capacity counts (The Seattle Times)

ELECTIONS

• Thurston County elections office is sixth in WA to receive suspicious envelope (The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Let cities make switch to even-year elections (The Everett Herald)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Seattle Public Utilities still wants residents to conserve water but not for much longer (KIRO TV)
• Avista restores service to 26,000 people affected by largest natural gas outage in its history (KHQ TV)
• EIA reports fossil fuel exports up, could go way up (Capital Press)

ENVIRONMENT

• How ‘forever chemicals’ got in the groundwater west of Spokane (KUOW Radio)
• EDITORIAL: Dressing up the West with wind turbines (Capital Press)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• The Biden administration is slow to act as millions are booted off Medicaid, advocates say (KIRO TV)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• More than 1,300 nurses from Snohomish Co.’s largest hospital set to strike for 5 days (FOX 13)
• Kaiser Permanente pharmacy techs, imaging specialists continue strike amid ongoing contract negotiations (The Columbian)
• Yakima healthcare workers plan informational picket, rally (KNDO/KNDU)
• Nearly two dozen toddlers sickened by lead linked to tainted applesauce pouches, CDC says (AP)

HOMELESSNESS

• Researchers team up with court staff to help WA homeless youth (Crosscut)
• Homeless camp near Vancouver City Hall to be removed to make way for development (The Columbian)

HOUSING

• Typical U.S. homebuyer earns $107K, is more likely to be a single woman (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)
• Chelan Valley Housing Trust hosts ribbon cutting ceremony with Rep. Mike Steele for new homes (NCW Life Channel)
• Bavarian Village weighs developer tax exemption (NCW Life Channel)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Proposed agreement to address SPD staffing issues; enforce new dispatch program (The Center Square)

LEGISLATURE

• Report recommends that unionization of Washington legislative staffs focus on partisan workers (The Spokesman-Review)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• King County Council will consider reparations over historic redlining (Snoqualmie Valley Record)
• Gunshot detection technology being debated again in Seattle (MyNorthwest)
• Everett council to consider $344K contract for new AquaSox stadium work (The Everett Herald)
• Kennewick mayor admitted paying for sexual services. Now special prosecutor will review (Tri-City Herald)
• City of Ellensburg responds after racist ‘Zoombombing’ takes over council meeting (KAPP/KVEW)
• OPINION: Port of Seattle puts tampons in men’s bathrooms, even before women’s (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

MENTAL HEALTH

• FAA to create new committee to support pilots’ mental health challenges, change stigma (KIRO TV)
• Seattle students demand $20M for mental health resources from proposed Amazon tax increase (KOMO TV)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Murray, McMorris Rodgers warn Fairchild housing soon ‘will not be fit for families living on base’ unless management company makes improvements (The Spokesman-Review)
• ‘Mothball fleet’ along Sinclair Inlet grows as decommissioned ships arrive at PSNS (Kitsap Sun)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon first in US to allow law students to become lawyers through apprenticeships, not bar exam (The Oregonian)
• Portland teachers contract could tackle disproportionate discipline against students of color (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Idaho Senate leader ousts colleague from committee role (The Lewiston Tribune)

POLITICS

BALLOT MEASURES

• Tacoma renter measure still narrowly ahead as final ballots are counted (The Seattle Times)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• New investigator hired by WA Attorney General for cold cases of missing Indigenous people (The News Tribune)
• Snohomish roofing company owes state $3.5 million in fines (The Everett Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Negligence of Inslee, Ferguson at Green Hill a breach of public trust (The Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION

• More trouble for Washington State Ferries: 38% of vessels are out of service (MyNorthwest)
• Washington state needs more parking spaces for drivers to keep on truckin’ (The Center Square)
• WSDOT crews begin setting girders for new Elwha River Bridge (KONP Radio)
• EDITORIAL: Government needs to focus eyes on the road (The Columbian)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Native American tribes fight US over a proposed $10 billion renewable energy transmission line (AP/Oregon Public Broadcasting)

WEATHER & CLIMATE

• Worsening warming is hurting people in all regions, US climate assessment shows (AP)
• Weatherman predicts warm, wet winter and spring for Pacific Northwest (Capital Press)

WILDLIFE

• Orca sightings around Washington break records (Axios – Seattle)
• Washington scientist brings new hope to dying coastal sea star (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Tribal leaders support bringing grizzly bears to the North Cascades (NW News Network)
• OPINION: Bring grizzlies back to the North Cascades (Chris Morgan, has spent over 30 years working as a wildlife researcher, wilderness guide and environmental educator/The Seattle Times)