CAPITOL  BUZZ

ABORTION

• Planned Parenthood seeks cash after bailing from US program (AP/The Seattle Times)

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• PUD providing water to farmers for drought relief (Skagit Valley Herald)
• COLUMN: Farming’s fate in Thurston County hinges on transitioning to value-added agriculture (Stephen Bramwell/The Olympian)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Poll: WA feels good about the economy, bad about Trump’s tariffs (Crosscut)
• Target, like Walmart, proves main engine of economy is humming (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)
• Powell may signal future rate cuts, but would they matter? (AP/The Everett Herald)
• U.S. deficit to expand by $800 billion more than expected (The Washington Post/The Everett Herald)
• Amazon is harnessing the ‘strange and remarkable’ growth of independent sellers with new tools, investments (The Seattle Times)
• Tacoma Screw’s plans for Gig Harbor area fulfillment center under last stages of review (The News Tribune)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Here’s how Whatcom County is fighting back against white supremacist hate (The Bellingham Herald)

CONGRESS & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

• Trump praised for energy policies, criticized for trade tariffs at Tri-Cities summit (Tri-City Herald)
• EDITORIAL: A Washington state law to compel Trump’s tax returns? No thanks (The News Tribune)
• EDITORIAL: Feds lack credibility for changes to Endangered Species Act (The Seattle Times)

COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT

• It’s ‘not a hoax’ — Bellingham Safeway workers find 23 kilos of cocaine with bananas (The Bellingham Herald)
• More than $1 million in cocaine found in banana shipments to 3 Safeway stores in Western Washington (The Seattle Times)
• Spokane County Prosecutor clears officer in fatal shooting; family to file lawsuit (The Spokesman-Review)
• Former Seattle Police Chief John Diaz appointed as director of King County jails (The Seattle Times)
• Exams show cats recently found dead in Olympia and Lacey were killed by other animals (The Olympian)

EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY

• Mediator called in to avert Kennewick teacher strike on first day of school (Tri-City Herald)
• Vaccine exemption law changes back to school requirements (KLEW TV)
• Granger teacher named Regional Teacher of the Year (Yakima Herald)
• Appeals Court gives Longview schools a victory in isolation booth lawsuit (The Daily News)
• Red Cross offers safety tips as students get ready to go back to school (iFiberOneNewsRadio-KMAS)
• OSPI seeks regional, state-wide school board candidates (Columbia Basin Herald)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Is Washington too rich for FEMA aid? New guidelines change the rules for who gets help (The News Tribune)

ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES & PARKS

• DNR tells county to expect further decline in timber revenues (The Chronicle)
• Hunter education courses filling up as fall hunting gets closer (KXRO Radio)
• Claims that protesters were sprayed by chemicals near Port Townsend are false, official says (KING-TV)

FISH

• Off the hook: California king salmon rebounds after drought (AP/iFiberOneNewsRadio-KMAS)

HEALTH CARE

• Providence nurses prepare to strike if contract negotiations continue to stall (The Spokesman-Review)
• Prizes for not doing drugs: A treatment that works, but isn’t used much. (The Seattle Times)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Saint Martin’s University named among top 50 most transformative colleges in U.S. (The Olympian)

HOMELESSNESS

• Merger of Seattle and King County homeless services gets closer to reality — and some local cities’ leaders are worried (The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: Green Lake homeless encampment highlights Mayor Durkan’s ineffectiveness (Dori Monson/MyNorthwest)

HOUSING

• Klickitat County to use state sales tax revenue for housing efforts (KIHR Radio)

IMMIGRATION

• Report criticizes Yakima for ICE deportation flights, as city explains financial quandary (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
• ‘We do the best we can’: Refugee in Spokane hopes for husband’s arrival as U.S. immigration policies tighten (The Spokesman-Review)
• Sheriff’s office ends participation in police database (AP/The News Tribune)

LEGISLATURE

• To expel or not to expel Matt Shea, that may be the question (The Everett Herald)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Tacoma mayor to receive pay increase in 2020 (The News Tribune)

MEDIA

• Evening anchor Marni Hughes leaving Q13 News in September (KCPQ-TV)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Pentagon cancels billion-dollar missile defense project (AP/The Everett Herald)

OPIOIDS

• Spokane included in new Meds-First program for opioid addiction (The Spokesman-Review)

OTHER STATES

• Chinook Winds launching sports betting as Oregon Lottery falls behind schedule (The Oregonian)
• Oregon’s 25 most-expensive prescription drugs (The Oregonian)

POLITICS

ELECTIONS

• “Faithless” electors win a critical round in federal court (The Everett Herald)

STATEWIDE OFFICE

• Washington’s Gov. Inslee to seek re-election, hours after dropping presidential bid (The Seattle Times)
• Inslee to seek third term as WA governor after dropping longshot presidential bid (Crosscut)

TRANSPORTATION

• ‘Like having a sold-out event at the Tacoma Dome every day for eternity.’ New group preps for mass transit (The News Tribune)
• The light-rail bridge being built in south Bellevue seems to soar unsupported over I-90. Here’s why. (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle’s ‘microtransit’ experiment drives people to light rail. Is it working? (Crosscut)
• Feds match $37.5M for WSDOT to replace trains involved in 2017 derailment (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• New lanes finally coming to I-90 east of Bellevue (MyNorthwest)
• Issaquah is Seattle metro area’s top commuter city, study finds (KOMO-TV)
• Snohomish OKs WATVs on city streets, county could add areas (The Everett Herald)
• EDITORIAL: E-scooters offer plenty of pros — and cons (The Columbian)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Gathering celebrates 50th anniversary of landmark fishing rights case (Yakima Herald)

WILDLIFE

• Orca measure won’t be on San Juan County ballot (Skagit Valley Herald)
• New tracking system could help ships avoid hitting whales (MyNorthwest)