CAPITOL  BUZZ

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Spokane area adds construction jobs while they decline nationally (The Spokesman-Review)
• Many employers are weighing vaccine mandates. They might not be worth the headache. (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Kroger is amassing a robot army to battle Amazon, Walmart (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)
• Air Canada bailout saves Boeing 737 Max jet orders (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Boeing union members ratify new contract, avoid a strike (MyNorthwest)
• To-go cocktails will keep flowing in Washington state with law extended into 2023 (The Seattle Times)
• Gov. Inslee signs bills to help Washington’s unemployed residents (MyNorthwest)
• OPINION: Engage and compete with China to boost Washington’s economic recovery (J. Norwell Coquillard, executive director, Washington State China Relations Council/The Seattle Times)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Everett’s own spaceman thrilled to join all-civilian mission (The Everett Herald)
• OPINION: Should Washington’s public statues reflect who we are now? (Anna Schlecht, longtime community activist and Russell Lidman, professor emeritus at Seattle University/The Olympian)
• OPINION: How a Japanese immigrant stood up to the injustices of his day with a pioneering civil rights message that resonates in ours (Steven Goldsmith /The Seattle Times)

CONGRESS

• Newhouse thinks Democrats’ proposed Supreme Court expansion will fail (KPQ Radio)

CORONAVIRUS

• ‘Frustrated with it all’: As Whitman County returns to Phase 2, COVID-19 cases at WSU Pullman decline (The Spokesman-Review)
• King County hovering just below Phase 3 threshold (MyNorthwest)
• Walla Walla officials say mass clinics will wind down as case counts remain low (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• COVID once spared the young. Now more are being hospitalized. (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)
• Half of US adults have received at least one COVID-19 shot (AP/The Oregonian)
• BLOG: Vaccine passports aren’t really a thing, but here’s an alternative (Jim Camden/The Spokesman-Review)

COURTS (STATE)

• Tim Eyman ordered to pay $2.9 million to cover Washington attorney general’s legal costs (The Seattle Times)
• Washington initiative promoter Tim Eyman ordered to pay an additional $2.9M in fines (Seattle P-I)
• How the WA Supreme Court drug possession ruling left a ‘void of treatment’ (MyNorthwest)

CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT

• State lawmakers debate drug possession laws (KCPQ TV)
• Police halt drug possession arrests as they await major rewrite of Washington’s drug laws after Supreme Court ruling (The Spokesman-Review)
• Mill Creek has new drug law — it could be obsolete in days (The Everett Herald)
• 2 big changes for police use-of-force in Washington state (KUOW Radio)
• Clark County lawmakers split along party lines on police use-of-force bill (The Columbian)
• Seattle police lieutenant retires rather than face firing after directing city contractor to remove trash (The Seattle Times)
• Washington becomes first state to provide forensic exams for survivors of strangulation (KCPQ TV)
• Riot declared in Portland protests after police kill man (The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: Supporting police doesn’t mean ignoring mistakes (Brandi Kruse/KCPQ TV)

CYBERSECURITY

• OPINION: EWU is committed to securing the critical infrastructure of the state of Washington and U.S. (Stu Steiner, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of computer science at Eastern Washington University/The Spokesman-Review)

EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY

• All Washington students can be learning in-person Monday (Seattle P-I)
• Politics, race were key factors when Washington schools reopened for in-person learning during pandemic (The Seattle Times)
• Superintendent Reykdal: Phased return to schools is ‘building back’ support system (MyNorthwest)
• Clark County schools ready for the next hurdle (The Columbian)
• Effort to bring K-5 back to class Monday is ‘problem solving room by room’ (The Daily News)
• Parents want removal of homeless encampment near school (MyNorthwest)
• OPINION: I taught at Tacoma’s Wilson High, and changing name is OK. But ironies hard to ignore (Mike Jankanish, retired teacher/The News Tribune)
• EDITORIAL: Student teacher test as it stands past its prime (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• EDITORIAL: Seattle school board should stop grandstanding and focus on solutions (The Seattle Times)

ENVIRONMENT

• States, including Oregon and Washington, are growing fewer trees. Forest owners say that’s a problem (Stateline.org/The Columbian)
• OPINION: Earth Day 2021: A year for bold action on climate and environmental justice (David Mendoza, director of advocacy and engagement for The Nature Conservancy in Washington, and Maia Bellon, partner at Cascadia Law Group and former director of the Washington State Department of Ecology/The Seattle Times)

FISH

• Study finds Chinook salmon are returning to rivers younger than before, re-sparking debate on fish management (The Daily News)
• These Bellingham Technical College students’ efforts ‘will have a cascading effect on future generations’ of salmon (The Bellingham Herald)

GAMBLING

• Tulalip Tribe reaches deal for first sports betting contract in Washington (MyNorthwest)
• Dawn of legal sports betting in Washington state in deal with Tulalip tribe (KNKX Radio)

GUN RIGHTS

• Fact check: Biden’s claim that gun owners support his gun-control proposals (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

HEALTH CARE

• Why some health care workers in Washington state were reluctant to get COVID shots (The Seattle Times)
• Inslee signs measure addressing health provider PPE costs (AP/Kitsap Sun)
• Public health: New state funding is ‘down payment’ for long-term support (The Chronicle)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Washington’s universities consider requiring COVID-19 vaccines for students (KING TV)
• Students protest Seattle Pacific University policies after discrimination lawsuit (KIRO TV)
• COLUMN: Bring back in-person graduations. ‘They’re not making effort,’ says UW Tacoma senior (Matt Misterek/The News Tribune)

HOMELESSNESS

• County nixes new shelter plan, expands cold-weather refuge (The Everett Herald)
• Auburn’s proposal to change civil fee to criminal charge is not ‘criminalizing homelessness,’ say officials (The Seattle Times)

HOUSING

• Washington state ranks low for home foreclosures, but aid groups are bracing for more (The Seattle Times)
• King County has millions for rental assistance, but payments face delays (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Politics of Seattle’s housing crisis: How homeless advocates fill gaps (KUOW Radio)

LEGISLATURE

• Republican lawmakers still pressing for action to limit governor’s emergency powers (The News Tribune)
• Democrats reject MacEwen’s motion to bring governor’s emergency powers reform bill to a vote (KLCK Radio)
• Senate passes drug possession fix, sponsor votes against it (KIRO TV)
• Legislature OKs bills on coroners, school district funds (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Washington now recognizes Juneteenth, but there’s more to the story (Crosscut)
• New bill from state Republican ‘should help everybody interested in free speech’ (MyNorthwest)
• From incarceration to the Washington Legislature, Rep. Tarra Simmons hits her stride in first term in Olympia (The Seattle Times)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Puyallup begins search for diversity consultant after calls for action against racism (The News Tribune)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Expect noise from JBLM as soldiers participate in training exercises (The News Tribune)

OTHER STATES

• As mask mandates end, Oregon bucks trend with permanent rule (AP/The Columbian)

POLITICS

LOCAL

• COLUMN: Are democracy vouchers enough to keep Seattle elections local? (Samantha Allen/Crosscut)

STATE

• COLUMN: Washington ranked as the 7th best state — but only among Democrats. For Republicans, we’re 45th. (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• State Auditor responds to ESD’s claim that audit numbers are ‘inflated’ (MyNorthwest)
• Department of Children, Youth and Family Services to pay $300,000 settlement following discrimination investigation (The Spokesman-Review)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• EDITORIAL: Increased support to local rehabilitation efforts welcome (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

TAXES

• Starting in 2023, an estimated 420,000 Washingtonians will get tax rebates of $300 to $1,200 (The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: A closer look into our property tax system (Sen. Brad Hawkins, 12th Legislative District/The Wenatchee World)
• COLUMN: U.S. tax policy is sleight of hand (Greg Jayne/The Columbian)
• COLUMN: If you expect to pay the proposed capital gains tax, share your stock picks (Dave Ross/MyNorthwest)
• EDITORIAL: Pass the climate and transportation package now (The Seattle Times)

TECHNOLOGY

• Zoom bombings that target marginalized people spark demands for legal protections (The Seattle Times)
• Tesla with ‘no one’ driving crashes in Texas, killing two people (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times)
• Access to billions in federal funding a key distinction between broadband bills (Washington State Wire)

TRANSPORTATION

• Port of Vancouver, importers of oversize cargo push for upgrades to I-84 (The Columbian)
• Washington could ban new gasoline cars by 2030, ahead of other states (KING TV)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Unrecognized tribes like the Chinook in SW Washington struggle without federal help in pandemic (Northwest Public Broadcasting)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• State restricts outdoor fires as conditions dry out (The Bellingham Herald)
• Montana company offering wildfire protection to some Spokane home, farm owners (The Spokesman-Review)
• Senator Hawkins’ wildfire bill with electric utilities focus almost to finish line (KPQ Radio)
• EDITORIAL: Wildfire bill approval will be investment in state (The Columbian)

WOLVES

• Washington state range riding program reworked in advance of coming wolf season (The Spokesman-Review)