The Capitol Buzz is a weekday summary of online news stories from across the state, highlighting policies, politics and other issues that affect Washingtonians.
AGRICULTURE & WATER
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES
CONGRESS & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
- Federal farm bill compromise reached with SNAP changes out, industrial hemp in (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
- Herrera Beutler gets approval for three bills (The Daily News)
- Three Herrera Beutler bills advance, one signed into law (The Columbian)
COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Federal judge expands his inquiry into overturning of Seattle police officer’s firing (The Seattle Times)
- King County Prosecutor: it’s time to modernize how sexual assault cases are prosecuted (KOMO TV)
- Judge refuses to dismiss wage effort at immigration jail (KCLK Radio)
- Is Tri-Cities getting more dangerous? Experts say no. (KEPR TV)
EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES
ENERGY & UTILITIES
- Avista and Hydro One ask Washington regulators to reconsider denial of $5.3 billion sale (The Spokesman-Review)
- Arlington raises fees after China ban on ‘dirty’ recyclables (The Everett Herald)
- COLUMN: No, Gov. Inslee, you’re not Churchill, climate change isn’t Nazis (Dori Monson/MyNorthwest)
ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES & PARKS
- Wealth of resources: Ascot gets OK for exploration of mining potential near Mount St. Helens (The Chronicle)
- EDITORIAL: Legislators: plastic bags need to go (Yakima Herald)
- EDITORIAL: Solutions cannot fracture society (Daily Record)
FISH
- Skagit County nets $1.3 million in salmon funding (Skagit Valley Herald)
- State grants about $1.3 million for local salmon recovery efforts (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
HANFORD
HEALTH CARE
- Health care signup deadline 11:59 p.m. Saturday for state exchange (KIRO TV)
- Astria reverses course and will continue to fund residency program (Yakima Herald)
- Record count reported for mysterious paralyzing illness, 9 in Washington (AP/KEPR TV)
HIGHER EDUCATION
- WWU student accused of racist graffiti expelled from school and trespassed from campus (The Bellingham Herald)
- COLUMN: Rantz: Gonzaga said no, Ben Shapiro is showing up anyway (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
HOMELESSNESS
- Spokane joins statewide group to increase teen homeless services (The Spokesman-Review)
- Judge orders Olympia to stop allowing people into sanctioned homeless camp (KNKX Radio)
HOUSING
- Rectifying Seattle’s racist past requires a denser future, say housing experts (Crosscut)
- After investigation, Eastside housing program may audit hundreds of homes (KING TV)
IMMIGRATION
- Lawmakers still awaiting answers on ICE detainee’s death in Tacoma (KNKX Radio)
- Help was on the way for family with three daughters battling cancer, until Visa was denied (Kitsap Sun)
LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS
- Mount Vernon’s new permitting software to increase efficiency (Skagit Valley Herald)
- Judge reverses Frognal order, says logging can move ahead (The Everett Herald)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- In surprise turn, Mayor’s pick to lead HR department bows out (Crosscut)
- Commissioners put the Benton-Franklin fair on notice (Tri-City Herald)
MARIJUANA
MEDIA
MENTAL HEALTH
- Inside Inslee’s proposed budget: A new, 500-bed mental hospital to replace Western State (NW News Network)
- Inslee unveils $675 million plan to reverse crisis in Washington’s mental-health system (The Seattle Times)
- Washington governor proposes plans to fix mental health (AP/Seattle P-I)
OPEN GOVERNMENT
OPIOIDS
OTHER STATES
- Oregon lawmakers plan to introduce gun storage bill in 2019 (The Oregonian)
- Intel’s Oregon tax breaks are among the nation’s biggest, new report finds (The Oregonian)
POLITICS
STATE
TRANSPORTATION
- Renewed effort in Washington, Oregon to replace I-5 bridge (KING TV)
- Washington, Oregon get talking about I-5 Bridge (The Columbian)
- Driving on the pass without chains? You could be fined (Yakima Herald)
- Fast ferry service from Tacoma to Seattle might be possible, study says (The News Tribune)
- Tacoma looks to ferries for I-5 congestion relief (KCPQ TV)
- Washington State Ferries plans to rework schedule in Vashon Island run (KIRO TV)
- Washington state combats collisions with new wildlife bridge (AP/Tri-City Herald)
- State planning to fix eroding section of Highway 530 (Skagit Valley Herald)
- They want people to remember what happened on Highway 530 (The Everett Herald)
- Changes coming to Intercity Transit bus schedules starting next week (The Olympian)
WILDLIFE
- OPINION: No to whale-watching moratorium: Done responsibly, it can help our orcas survive (David Bain, vice president and chief scientist for the Orca Conservancy/The Seattle Times)
- OPINION: Yes to whale-watching moratorium: Cut the engine noise, save the orcas (Tim Ragen, retired in 2013 after 13 years as science director and then executive director of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission/The Seattle Times)
- OPINION: Let’s make sure Orcas get what they need from us (King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles/Crosscut)
