Capitol  Buzz

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Lots of indoor farms are shutting down as their businesses struggle. So why are more being built? (AP)
• USDA to begin fruit chemical survey (Capital Press)
• Next round of Columbia River Treaty negotiations set for October (Capital Press)
• Spokane water restrictions lowered to Level 1 (KXLY Radio)
• COLUMN: Guest workers play a vital role in Washington agriculture. We should embrace them (Roxana Macias/Tri-City Herald)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• OPINION: Make WA the Silicon Valley of carbon tech (Makoto Hamamoto Eyre, CEO and co-founder of Homeostasis/The Seattle Times)

CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM

• Tri-Cities lawmaker proposes sending families a gas tax refund check. ‘It’s your money’ (Tri-City Herald)
• GOP lawmaker pushes for $100 in gas relief for registered drivers (MyNorthwest)
• Washington gas prices decline slightly, settle in at more than $5 a gallon (The Center Square)
• Washington lawmakers propose gas price relief checks (KXLY TV)
• Carbon auction relief act could net Washingtonians some cash (KONA Radio)
• 2 GOP lawmakers propose gas price relief checks to WA drivers (KWHT Radio)
• State House Republicans propose high gas price relief checks (KNWN Radio)
• Will proposed Washington bill be a pain reliever at the pump? (The Lewiston Tribune)
• Bill geared to offset costly fuel (Moscow-Pullman Daily News)

CAPITAL BUDGET

• Community groups donate $725,000 toward new aquatic center in Yakima (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CENSUS

• COLUMN: Seattle grew more racially diverse in 2022, census data shows (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Do you need to turn back the clock for daylight saving in WA? Didn’t Congress vote it away? (The News Tribune)

CONGRESS

• Speaker McCarthy is running out of options to stop a shutdown as conservatives balk at a new plan (AP)
• Republicans propose short-term spending bill as government shutdown approaches (FOX 13)
• Bill could do away with personal-use permits for huckleberries, other forest products (The Reflector)

CORONAVIRUS

• COVID-19 dashboard converted to track 3 respiratory illnesses (MyNorthwest)
• WA statewide COVID-19 data dashboard has been replaced. Here’s what to know (The Olympian)
• EDITORIAL: A plea for watchful calm this time regarding covid (The Everett Herald)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Court hears suit to stop phase-out of gas, diesel vehicles (Capital Press)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Felony traffic crimes continue to skyrocket in King County (MyNorthwest)
• Thieves steal Pierce County man’s car while he waits for 911 dispatcher to answer his call for help (FOX 13)
• Police response time to Wing Luke Museum 911 calls raises questions about priorities (KUOW Radio)
• OPINION: ACLU of Wash. mad Marysville leaders may put criminals in jail (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
• EDITORIAL: New Parents of Murdered Children chapter a vital resource in WA (The Seattle Times)

DRUG CRISIS

• Seattle City Council expected to vote on drug possession law Tuesday (KOMO TV)
• Marysville considers 3-strike drug law with mandatory jail time (KIRO TV)
• Animal tranquilizer xylazine rarely found in WA’s illegal fentanyl, study finds (Washington State Standard)
• University of Montana working on vaccine for fentanyl, heroin overdose (Daily Montanan/Washington State Standard)

EDUCATION

• Battle Ground teachers still without contract amid negotiations (The Columbian)
• One Tri-Cities school district saw a 200+ student enrollment bump this fall (Tri-City Herald)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Nationwide emergency alert tests; will be sent to cell phones (KXRO Radio)
• Canadian seismologists monitoring swarm of earthquakes off British Columbia coast (The Bellingham Herald)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Spokane voices weigh in on state heat pump debate (The Spokesman-Review)

ENVIRONMENT

• State ranks above national average for trash on roadways. Here’s how bad it’s gotten (The News Tribune)
• Washington state receives $42M to expand outdoor green spaces, ‘urban forests’ (The Center Square)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Social security overpayments have some in Washington scrambling to pay back thousands (KIRO TV)

FISH

• State invests more than $81 million in salmon recovery (KLCK Radio)
• Mysterious giant white sturgeon could shed light on toxins in Lake Washington (KING TV)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Pac-12 lawsuit unveils dispute over governance as WSU and OSU seek clarity (KREM TV)

HOMELESSNESS

• Construction starts on downtown Vancouver Safe Stay site, though no opening date is set (The Columbian)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• About 100 acres of forested coastal land is now preserved in Whatcom County (The Bellingham Herald)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• After Jaahnavi Kandula’s death, City Council asks Seattle Police Department to review response policy (The Seattle Times)
• Historic trial begins for 3 officers charged in killing of Manny Ellis (The Seattle Times)
• Man found dead in Issaquah jail before release for medical treatment (The Seattle Times)
• Lynnwood settles for $1.7 million after 2021 suicide at city jail (MyNorthwest)
• ATF, trade group offering reward in search for gun store robbery suspects (MyNorthwest)

LEGISLATURE

• Bainbridge Island runner, entrepreneur selected as 23rd District representative (Kitsap Sun)
• OPINION: Reflections on a fellow lawmaker from former House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox (Rep. J.T. Wilcox/The Reflector)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Seattle’s proposed vacant building standards update to go before city council (The Center Square)
• Wenatchee City Council discusses the Multi-Family Tax Exemption program (The Wenatchee World)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Navy to test well samples near Bangor after chemicals above standard are detected on base (Kitsap Sun)

OTHER STATES

• Drug decriminalization stumbled in Oregon. Other states are taking note. (Stateline.org/The Columbian)
• Effort underway to recriminalize drugs again, supporters include Oregon’s richest businessmen (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Two area projects receive carbon reduction funding (KIHR Radio)

PARKS

• Visit Washington national and state parks for free on Saturday (FOX 13)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• King County high school begins year with anti-violence workshops (The Seattle Times)
• Former student stabs teacher at Federal Way private school, police say (KING TV)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Former doctor, prosecutor accuse state of recklessly releasing patients from Western State Hospital (KOMO TV)
• Washington Department of Ecology raising awareness on million-pound litter problem (KIRO TV)
• WA and Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture celebrate 60-year ‘sister state’ relationship (The Center Square)

TAXES

• OPINION: Truth in Taxation improves property tax transparency (Jason Mercier, vice president and director of research, Mountain States Policy Center/Capital Press)

TECHNOLOGY

• Tech industry leaders endorse regulating artificial intelligence at rare summit in DC (AP/MyNorthwest)

TRANSPORTATION

• Another WA ferry out for at least a month, forcing fleet shuffle (The Seattle Times)
• ‘The worst it’s ever been’: Vashon residents voice frustrations with troubled ferry route (KIRO TV)
• Lake Sammamish floatplane crash victim identified as Bellevue man (The Seattle Times)
• Kitsap Transit resumes first phase of Sunday bus service restoration (Kitsap Sun)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Nisqually tribe plans to turn traditional homeland into resort, retail development in Lacey (KING TV)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• WA Dept. of Labor & Industries warns of post-wildfire contractor scams (The Center Square)
• Fire Report: Blazes grow in WA over the weekend as red flag warnings go out (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Spokane law firm launching investigation into Gray Fire (KREM TV)
• Air quality warning issued in Clallam County as wildfires burn (MyNorthwest)
• Weekend fire near Green Mountain reached 15 acres (Kitsap Sun)