Capitol Buzz: Gov. Inslee preparing to deploy National Guard to help fight COVID-19; Worried about paying rent? Rental assistance is available for many in Washington

Washington House Republicans: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information and Resources
Governor’s Office: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Information and Updates
Washington State Department of Health (DOH): 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID-19)

CORONAVIRUS

CASE COUNTS & COUNTY UPDATES

• Pierce County COVID-19 cases at 377; state data struggles continue (The News Tribune)
• Clark County confirmed COVID-19 cases climb to 116 (The Columbian)
• Thurston County announces five new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, total now 48 (The Olympian)
• Lewis County now has 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (The Olympian)
• Volume of coronavirus test results strains Washington’s data reporting system; fix in works (The Olympian)
• Shuksan Healthcare Center announces another resident dies from coronavirus Monday (The Bellingham Herald)
• Nineteen Whatcom residents test positive for coronavirus, health department says Tuesday (The Bellingham Herald)
• State health officer apologizes for delay in COVID-19 data posting (The Bellingham Herald)
• Sixth positive case of COVID- 19 in Mason County (iFiberOneNewsRadio-KMAS)
• Two new cases of COVID-19 found in Walla Walla County (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• Kittitas County Public Health Department works to streamline COVID-19 information for citizens (Daily Record)
• COVID-19 increasing in Washington, including ‘very concerning’ outbreaks in 108 long-term care facilities (The Spokesman-Review)
• Coronavirus cases jump to 202 in Yakima County (KAPP-TV/KVEW-TV)
• Sixth virus death in Tri-Cities area as confirmed case count hits 167 (KAPP-TV/KVEW-TV)
• Coronavirus: 69 cases in Grant County, first report of person recovering from hospitalization (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Details on COVID-19 cases and testing vary from county to county in Washington (NCW Life Channel)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Gas sales plummet as coronavirus spreads — but pump prices are slow to drop (The Seattle Times)
• Hourly Amazon workers, fearing coronavirus risks, wonder why they must staff empty office buildings (The Seattle Times)
• Seventeen Seattle-area companies report more than 2,000 layoffs in a week (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Here’s how to get a small business loan under the $349 billion coronavirus aid bill (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)
• Xerox backs off HP bid (The Columbian)
• Hundreds laid off as coronavirus shutdown costs Metro Parks Tacoma millions in lost revenue (KIRO TV)
• Bellingham suspends plastic shopping bag ban over coronavirus fears (The Bellingham Herald)
• Longview mill not included in Weyerhaeuser curtailments (The Daily News)
• Some ‘essential’ workers don’t feel safe going to work, can’t stay home (MyNorthwest)
• 4,000+ people filed for unemployment in the Tri-Cities last week (KAPP-TV/KVEW-TV)
• ‘We’re deeply impacted’: Closure of U.S.-Canadian border disrupts life in towns that straddle it (The Spokesman-Review)
• Impact Hall, one of Seattle’s earliest co-working spaces, is shutting down (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• As hotels plead for ‘second’ stimulus, Seattle stares down $1.6B in likely loan defaults (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Most large local industrial employers remain in operation (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Contrary to Inslee, Trump administration rules gun shops ‘essential’ amid virus (iFiberOne TV)
• OPINION: Economy will not survive long shutdown (Jason Winfree and Jill J. McCluskey are economics professors at University of Idaho and Washington State University, respectively/The Spokesman-Review)
• COLUMN: Laid-off bicyclist turns COVID-19 anger into business — yelling messages to people stuck at home (Matt Driscoll/The News Tribune)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Seabrook Foundation buys ventilators, teams with eateries to feed the North Beach (The Daily World)
• “People need to say goodbye:” Funeral homes adapt during pandemic (The Daily News)
• ‘People want to feel like they are doing something’: Sewers provide handmade face masks to frontline health workers (Kitsap Sun)
• $100,000 donation to feed the Tri-Cities hungry during coronavirus pandemic (Tri-City Herald)
• Apple Blossom postponed, could be hosted in summer (The Wenatchee World)

CONGRESS & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

• Trump extends coronavirus safety guidelines as advisers predict soaring US death toll (The News Tribune)
• What you need to do to get your government stimulus check (AP/The Seattle Times)
• Trump says ‘life and death’ at stake in following guidelines (The Seattle Times)
• How dire projections, grim images dashed Trump’s Easter plan (AP/The Columbian)

COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Washington state attorney general warns 5 businesses to stop coronavirus price-gouging of sanitizer, masks on Amazon (The Seattle Times)
• Gig Harbor vendor one of five to receive AG warning over price-gouging coronavirus items (The News Tribune)
• Ferguson calls out price gouging by online sellers (The Everett Herald)
• Authorities warn Washingtonians of scams related to coronavirus stimulus checks (The Seattle Times)
• Bellingham police say their role is to educate during coronavirus ‘Stay Home’ order (The Bellingham Herald)
• Don’t call the cops to report stay-at-home violators (KIT Radio)
• Spokane Amazon ‘hustler’ among online sellers accused of price-gouging COVID-19 supplies (The Spokesman-Review)
• Local law enforcement quashes rumors about coronavirus enforcement (Yakima Herald)
• OPINION: With coronavirus, prison and jail sentences could become death sentences (Katherine Beckett, professor and chair of the Department of Law, Societies and Justice, and S. Frank Miyamoto, Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington/The Seattle Times)

EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY

• Some bumps in the road for Washington schools during remote learning (KING TV)
• WIAA is ready should spring sports begin (The Wenatchee World)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Chelan County PUD likely to delay June 1 rate increases (NCW Life Channel)

ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES & PARKS

• Our air quality is improving as most people stay home. But will it actually help with global warming? (The Seattle Times)
• National Forest trailheads close after ‘stay-at-home’ prompts rush to the outdoors (Crosscut)
• COVID-19 having more effects on local parks (Skagit Valley Herald)

GAMBLING

• Closure of Emerald Queen casino operations extended; layoffs, furloughs announced (The News Tribune)

GENERAL NEWS

• Why are more than a thousand unused COVID-19 test kits sitting in storage in Tacoma? (The News Tribune)
• Volley of Washington, Oregon orders like ‘policy pingpong’ (The Columbian)
• CDC weighing new advice on masks in fighting coronavirus; experts say don’t take them from medical workers (The Seattle Times)
• How you can help people in need during coronavirus (Crosscut)
• UW model shows April 19 peak for coronavirus in Washington state (KCPQ TV)
• State prepared to enforce social-distancing mandates as it receives calls about scofflaws (KNKX Radio)
• COVID-19 testing is accelerating in Washington. So is the need (KUOW Radio)
• Wearing masks in public could be next big step in fight against coronavirus (The Oregonian)
• Some spring hunting canceled in Washington because of coronavirus (Tri-City Herald)
• Final farewells continue, but few are allowed to say goodbye (The Everett Herald)
• Gov. Inslee clarifies more essential workers in new proclamtion; provides limitations for retirement during COVID-19 crisis (KNDO-KNDU)
• Decision on extending stay home order, activating National Guard expected ‘in day or so’ (The Spokesman-Review)
• UW tests remdesivir as possible COVID-19 treatment (KGMI Radio)
• OPINION: Senior Services needs volunteers and donations. Will you help? (Brian Windrope, Senior Services for South Sound/The Olympian)
• EDITORIAL: Special store hours for seniors should endure (The Columbian)
• EDITORIAL: Deadly choir practice is cautionary tale (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• EDITORIAL: Pandemic can’t stop Tacoma art. Enjoy it in a judgment-free zone. And your PJs (The News Tribune)

HEALTH CARE

• Washington may not get all the ventilators it requested from the federal government to fight the coronavirus (The Seattle Times)
• Limited testing in senior care facilities in Washington leaves them ‘flying in the dark’ against coronavirus (The Seattle Times)
• The Seattle area’s blood supply is OK for now but will thin out soon due to coronavirus isolation (The Seattle Times)
• Red Cross asking for donations and blood as needs arise (KXRO Radio)
• Insole makers pivot to become respirator mask producers in one week (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Seattle couture designer answers Providence’s challenge with 20,000 surgical masks (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Mukilteo furniture builder turns out 100,000 surgical masks and counting (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Ferndale’s Superfeet will make 30,000 masks for area hospitals fighting coronavirus (The Bellingham Herald)
• Local foundations help with purchase of 10 ventilators at GHCH (The Daily World)
• 250-bed Army field hospital could open next week in Seattle (KCPQ TV)
• Isolated but not alone: Nurses help coronavirus patient say goodbye, offer comfort to the end (KNKX Radio)
• CenturyLink transforms into a military field hospital (KUOW Radio)
• Skagit Regional Health expecting big financial hit (Skagit Valley Herald)
• Everett hockey arena opens as COVID-19 quarantine center (The Everett Herald)
• Bankruptcy court declares ‘easy call’ in approving lease of Astria Regional for state COVID-19 efforts (Yakima Herald)
• State health officer discusses COVID-19 trends (Columbia Basin Herald)
• How to support Pierce County health care workers and restaurants? Buy them dinner (The News Tribune)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• CWU Board of Trustees discuss university finances, spring enrollment (Daily Record)

HOMELESSNESS

• Homeschooling while homeless during coronavirus: ‘Too many distractions going on’ (KUOW Radio)

HOUSING

• Worried about paying rent? Rental assistance is available for many in Washington (KCPQ TV)
• How to talk to your landlord about rent if coronavirus closures have affected your paycheck (The Seattle Times)
• Inslee and DFI announce assistance for homeowners unable to make mortgage payments (KNDO-KNDU)
• Eviction or reprieve? Some who can stay in homes believe they’re on the brink of homelessness (The Spokesman-Review)
• April rent is due, and it’s not going to be pretty (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Washington homeowners to receive assistance with mortgage payments (Columbia Basin Herald)

IMMIGRATION

• Local nonprofits help undocumented immigrants with rental and food assistance (KNKX Radio)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Snohomish County to use downtown Everett arena as quarantine facility for people exposed to coronavirus (The Seattle Times)
• Whatcom Council creates emergency response fund for coronavirus, puts in $1.5 million (The Bellingham Herald)

MEDIA

• Live from Quarantine City: KEXP’s steady voices ‘see us through’ coronavirus pandemic (The Seattle Times)
• Oregon newspapers stop printing, cut jobs and hours amid coronavirus crisis (The Oregonian)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• National Guard to be deployed ‘soon’ in Pierce County as part of state coronavirus response (The News Tribune)
• Gov. Inslee preparing to deploy National Guard to help fight COVID-19 (KIRO TV)
• Navy barred by Pentagon from disclosing coronavirus cases while carrier outbreak continues (Kitsap Sun)
• Washington National Guard likely to take more active support role, but not in order enforcement (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
• Caregiver had no symptoms for 3 days before returning to Spokane Veterans Home (The Spokesman-Review)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon schools to start distance learning on April 13 (AP/The Columbian)
• Senate president: Oregon Legislature won’t hold special session on coronavirus this week (The Oregonian)
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown tests negative for COVID-19 (The Oregonian)
• Coronavirus in Oregon: 84 new cases brings state tally to 690, health officials say (The Oregonian)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Flood of coronavirus data overwhelms state’s disease-reporting system, leading to lag in data (The Seattle Times)
• Washington State Ferries worker dies from complications related to coronavirus (KIRO TV)
• Washington state prisons take measures to keep coronavirus away (KING TV)

TAXES

• EDITORIAL: Benton, Franklin counties should delay property taxes because of coronavirus (Tri-City Herald)

TRANSPORTATION

• Lyft partnership offers free trips to work, grocery for those in need amid coronavirus outbreak (The News Tribune)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Lummi announces one more positive test for coronavirus, as total for tribe rises to 17 (The Bellingham Herald)