Capitol  Buzz

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Public meetings to show vision for completing Columbia Basin Project (Capital Press)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• No guarantee of ‘soft landing’ for cooling WA economy (The Seattle Times)
• Washington employment showed modest gains in August (The Center Square)
• Sneak peek: These are the fastest-growing private companies in Washington (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Workers from multiple Seattle-area Homegrown stores go on strike (MyNorthwest)
• Days before cutting hundreds of WA workers, Yellow paid execs millions (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)

CHILD CARE

• OPINION: We must meet the challenge of saving child care (Alex Galeana, executive director of Children’s Campaign Fund Action, Ruth Kagi, former state representative, and Amy Anderson, government affairs director for Association of Washington Business)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Snohomish’s rogue barber retires, passes keys to new ‘opinionated’ owner (The Everett Herald)

CONGRESS

• U.S. House passes bill in bid to stop states from banning gas-powered cars (The Spokesman-Review)
• WA lawmakers push for greater access to fertility services for service members and veterans (Washington State Standard)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Federal judge orders pro bono attorney for Pierce County inmates suing over sewage issues (KNKX Radio)
• Renton man sentenced for bringing explosives to 2020 protest (MyNorthwest)

COURTS (STATE)

• WA Supreme Court strikes down restrictions on sheriffs’ use of tear gas (Washington State Standard)
• Sheriffs don’t need independent OK to deploy tear gas in riots, WA Supreme Court rules (The Center Square)
• Washington AG sues 20 manufacturers of PFAS chemicals (KOMO TV)
• Did police kill Manuel Ellis? Or was it meth? Trial experts to offer divergent opinions (The News Tribune)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Homicides increasing in Seattle, half of 2023 cases still open (KING TV)
• Spokane authorities warn of epidemic of cars so easy to steal, teenagers are doing it (The Center Square)
• Citing crime, drug use, Spokane ramps up police presence at Second and Division (Spokane Public Radio)

DRUG CRISIS

• UW researchers stress transit study did not find ‘no risk’ from drug exposure (KOMO TV)

EDUCATION

• WA National Merit semifinalists announced (The Seattle Times)
• WECU neighborhood branch becomes larger space for Bellingham Schools’ special needs program (The Bellingham Herald)

ENVIRONMENT

• OPINION: Environmentalists destroying forests instead of saving them (Jim Petersen, founder and president of the nonprofit Evergreen Foundation/The Spokesman-Review)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Biden administration restores the power of states and tribes to review projects to protect waterways (AP)
• Hunter Biden is indicted on federal firearm-purchasing charges after plea deal fails (AP)

FISH

• Giant white sturgeon found along Lake Washington shore near Kenmore (KING TV)

HANFORD

• DOE agrees to new work at radioactively contaminated site in Eastern WA after $1M fine (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Northwest Kaiser Permanente workers authorize strike as contract nears expiration (The Oregonian)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Court documents reveal commissioner George Kliavkoff’s strategy in Pac-12 legal dispute (Bay Area News Group/The Seattle Times)
• WSU adds new online hazing prevention training for students and faculty this fall (KHQ TV)

HOMELESSNESS

• Homeless encampment cleared in Beacon Hill (MyNorthwest)
• Bremerton will vote on camping ordinance after neighborhoods react to proposal (Kitsap Sun)

HOUSING

• To confront WA’s high rents, feds increase limits on housing vouchers (The Seattle Times)
• Is housing a form of health care? A Washington program says it is (Washington State Standard/Crosscut)

INSURANCE

• Health insurance rates are about to jump for thousands of WA residents (The Seattle Times)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Dozens call for consequences against Seattle Police officers after controversial body cam video (FOX 13)
• India officials want probe after release of Seattle Police bodycam video (MyNorthwest)
• Slain King County woman’s family claims in lawsuit police could have prevented shooting (MyNorthwest)

LGBTQ

• Why trust between Seattle police and the LGBTQ+ Pride community has been crumbling (KUOW Radio)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Active shooter drills can have lasting effects students’ mental health (KIRO TV)
• Why do we play? Rats can teach us how it improves mental health. (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Alleged victims of military doctor’s sexual assault seek financial accountability from U.S. Army (FOX 13)
• Explosions and low flyovers shaking your home? It’s JBLM, and here’s when it will stop (The Olympian)
• No plan B: VA remains committed to troubled computer system despite three years of problems in Spokane (The Spokesman-Review)

OTHER STATES

• Drug decriminalization stumbled in Oregon. Other states are taking note. (Washington State Standard)
• Oregon sues Fox News over false election claims, retirement fund losses (Oregon Capital Chronicle/The Columbian)
• Thousands sign up to experience magic mushrooms as Oregon’s novel psilocybin experiment takes off (AP)
• What’s in California’s mental health system overhaul (Pluribus News)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Olympia School Board adopts policy to bring back school resource officers (KOMO TV)
• ‘Gone too soon’: Kamiak student was killed waiting for school bus (The Everett Herald)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Workers sue WA Department of Corrections over Larch closure (Washington State Standard)
• Union that represents Washington corrections officers seeks to block Larch closure (The Columbian)
• State settles $9M suit with three children abused while in foster care (KNWN Radio)
• $220 million in infrastructure funds approved by Washington Public Works Board (The Center Square)
• Department of Revenue returning unclaimed cash, property to Washington residents (KGMI Radio)

TRANSPORTATION

• Sound Transit’s Tacoma streetcar climbs the Hilltop starting this weekend (The Seattle Times)
• Until further notice: 1-boat service on busy Edmonds-Kingston route (The Everett Herald)
• Skagit County seeking bids for electric ferry (Skagit Valley Herald)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Yakima River Canyon fires at 60% contained, crews expecting to stand down Friday (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Auburn Scout, volunteers build accessible path to popular fire lookout (The Seattle Times)