Capitol Buzz: Smoke chokes West Coast as wildfire deaths keep climbing; Child care was already dysfunctional. COVID-19 could break it completely Washington House Republicans sent this bulletin at 09/14/2020 10:20 AM PDT Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. Capitol Buzz: September 14, 2020 09/14/2020 10:20 AM PDT CORONAVIRUS CASE COUNTS & COUNTY UPDATES Washington state reports 350 new COVID-19 cases (The News Tribune) Coronavirus updates: State reaches 79,826 cases (The News Tribune) Three deaths linked to St. Michael’s COVID-19 outbreak, Kitsap Public Health reports (Kitsap Sun) Tri-Cities COVID cases up last week. State health officials concerned (Tri-City Herald) Umatilla numbers jump Friday while Walla Walla sees slight bump (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) AGRICULTURE & WATER Hop growers make changes; adjust acreage in response to COVID-19 pandemic (Yakima Herald) Migrant workers leave WA farms, risking poverty instead of coronavirus (Crosscut) BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR Study links restaurants to higher rate of COVID-19 transmission (KCPQ TV) As WA restaurants struggle, workers weigh physical and economic survival (Crosscut) Puyallup looks to bolster business downtown with farmers market, outdoor restaurant seating (The News Tribune) Bridal businesses take a new approach to weddings (Skagit Valley Herald) A debt crisis looms as renters turn to credit cards to stay afloat (Crosscut) Side hustles become essential as jobs disappear during the pandemic (Crosscut) Already stigmatized, sex workers have fewer choices in a pandemic (Crosscut) COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES Child care was already dysfunctional. COVID-19 could break it completely (Crosscut) WSDA: Emergency food demand expected to be elevated for months, years to come (Washington Ag Network/KONA Radio) Clark County Food Bank, partners plan to help hungry kids (The Columbian) EDITORIAL: Tacoma Rainiers must keep hope alive, baseball torch aflame, for Pierce County (The News Tribune) COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT ‘It’s just endless suffering’: One woman fears for her life as her ex-husband’s trial is delayed for COVID-19 (The Spokesman-Review) As the pandemic lingers, domestic violence rises in King County (KIRO TV) EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY How an unprecedented, indefinite crisis forced education leaders to change the ways school districts operate (The Seattle Times) First week of online school in Seattle area: tears and hiccups (The Seattle Times) Back to school: How safe will it be? (The Spokesman-Review) Pod schools popping up around Kitsap County (Kitsap Sun) Here’s what Thurston school leaders report about the first week of school from home (The Olympian) Gyms offer help for Whatcom families grappling with distance learning (The Bellingham Herald) Counties taking cautious approach to resuming in-person learning (Washington State Wire) Keeping your student athlete strong and engaged amid pandemic can be a workout (KUOW Radio) Catholic Schools aim for full in-class return by the end of September (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) Some Kennewick students back in schools. Richland and Pasco kids to follow (Tri-City Herald) Kittitas School District starts in-person for the first day of school (Daily Record) GENERAL NEWS Married for decades, separated by COVID-19 (The Seattle Times) COLUMN: There’s good news aplenty about the coronavirus. So why does it feel like we’re stuck? (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times) HEALTH CARE Pandemic vs. pandemic: COVID-19 hampers fight against HIV (AP/Seattle P-I) CDC sending epidemiologists to help COVID response (KPQ Radio) OPINION: Flu or COVID-19? Don’t guess this fall, get your flu shot (William Hirota, president of the Washington State Medical Association/The Seattle Times) OPINION: Phamacies must be part of Covid vaccination network (Dr. Tina Sharma, doctor of pharmacy and regional clinical services manager for Walmart. Her region covers Washington state/Everett Herald) HIGHER EDUCATION Pullman COVID-19 cases continue rapid climb. WSU president and governor very concerned (Northwest Public Broadcasting) Pullman’s party problem: Skyrocketing COVID-19 cases could bring reckoning for WSU culture (The Spokesman-Review) From WSU to Western, college town businesses are feeling the squeeze (Crosscut) Pandemic expected to cost WSU Athletics $30 million in lost revenue (KQQQ Radio) LOCAL GOVERNMENT Vacancies could affect key county functions, officials warn (Everett Herald) MILITARY & VETERANS Army COVID-19 vaccine may produce a side benefit: Cure for the common cold (The News Tribune) OTHER STATES Coronavirus in Oregon: 5 new deaths, 185 new cases (The Oregonian) SECURITY Global Entry is back after a 6-month COVID hiatus. Here’s what you need to know (The Seattle Times) AGRICULTURE & WATER ‘Crisis within a crisis:’ Already endangered by COVID-19, farms and farmworkers face new threat from wildfires (The Seattle Times) BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR Boeing 737 MAX program leaders who approved flight control system say they didn’t know key details (The Seattle Times) As the FAA finalizes the 737 MAX’s return, is Boeing’s jet now safe? (The Seattle Times) Boeing’s 737 MAX faces key hurdle at European safety meeting (KUOW Radio) Amazon to hire 100,000 to keep up with online shopping surge (AP/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) Amazon confirms it won’t renew lease for Seattle office building (Puget Sound Business Journal) CBRE survey finds record number of Seattle tenants mull Eastside moves (Puget Sound Business Journal) Report: Seattle spent more than $136M with women- and minority-owned businesses (Puget Sound Business Journal) COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES OPINION: Human trafficking, pedophilia, kidnapping, enslavement: The complicated truth (Erin Williams Hueter, Lutheran Community Services Northwest/The Spokesman-Review) CONGRESS & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT The Divide: Feds crack down on Seattle rioters (KCPQ TV) Oregon congressional delegation urges FEMA to speed wildfire disaster aid (The Oregonian) COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT State Supreme Court clears way for second sheriff recall bid (AP/Seattle P-I) Sheriff: ‘Homicide’ ruling in inmate’s death needs context (Kitsap Sun) Fortney: Group pushing to defund police is behind recall (Everett Herald) Sheriff’s deputies sued in fatal shooting of Stanwood man (Everett Herald) COLUMN: 30 photos of weapons, violence at ‘peaceful protests’ in Seattle (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest) EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY Vancouver, Evergreen school districts suspend in-person services due to air quality (The Columbian) Enrollment numbers down in East County school districts (The Daily World) Schools change lunch distribution for smoky air (KEPR TV) OPINION: For success, more students need education, training (Barbara Hulit, senior vice president at Fortive Corp., an Everett-based industrial technologies company and Dr. Daria Willis, president of Everett Community College/Everett Herald) ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES & PARKS Recreation becomes ‘wreckreation’ as careless outdoor adventures turn destructive (The Spokesman-Review) HEALTH CARE Diagnosis for family doctors: Less money, greater hardship, and patients on video (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times) First 2020 human cases of West Nile virus reported in Yakima, Benton Counties (MyNorthwest) HIGHER EDUCATION WSU suspends on-campus operations Monday due to wildfire smoke; Online classes resume (KQQQ Radio) CWU program addresses food, housing insecurity (Daily Record) HOMELESSNESS The number of fires in Seattle homeless camps has soared this year amid COVID-19 pandemic (The Seattle Times) Aberdeen homeless camp down to 22 residents, city looks at shrinking its footprint (The Daily World) HOUSING There are few homes for sale in Whatcom County. That’s still not slowing down sales (The Bellingham Herald) LOCAL GOVERNMENT Part of Pier 58 collapses on Seattle waterfront, injuring 2, after removal work begins (The Seattle Times) In decision on fluoride and public health in Spokane, money is front and center (The Spokesman-Review) Seattle business groups press for input on public safety as mayor and City Council eye changes (The Seattle Times) ‘The wind in your hair’: ATVs can stay on Snohomish streets (Everett Herald) Lake Stevens council makes the mayor a full-time job (Everett Herald) Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County calls for investigation into city council (MyNorthwest) EDITORIAL: Yakima council should reinstate public comment (Yakima Herald) MENTAL HEALTH COLUMN: Let my best friend’s legacy be more honesty and compassion toward mental illness and addiction (Naomi Ishisaka/The Seattle Times) OTHER STATES Oregon fire marshal resigned under investigation for entering active wildfire zone (oregonlive.com/The Seattle Times) Oregon residents, fearing looters amid wildfires, post signs threatening to kill intruders (oregonlive.com/The Seattle Times) WSDA waves import requirements to help Oregon farmers (Washington Ag Network/KONA Radio) Man arrested twice in 12-hour span for starting fires near I-205 (The Oregonian) Oregon air quality remains poor amid historic wildfires; Portland again worst among major cities (The Oregonian) Oregon prisoners report ‘inhumane’ conditions following fire evacuations, transfers (The Oregonian) POLITICS ELECTIONS Washington voters don’t need to request an election ballot, despite U.S. Postal Service postcard recommending that (The Seattle Times) Washington election officials scrambling after USPS sends confusing postcards to voters (The Spokesman-Review) STATEWIDE OFFICE Auditor candidates disagree on state’s handling of COVID-19 (The Spokesman-Review) RURAL BROADBAND Defining “public use” for broadband (Lens) SOCIAL MEDIA TikTok chooses Oracle as U.S. ‘technology partner’ (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times) Facebook to delete ‘false’ claims about Oregon fires as conspiracy theorists unfoundedly blame Antifa (New York Daily News/The Seattle Times) STATE GOVERNMENT Investigator for Washington state attorney general placed on leave after note he left at Tacoma restaurant: ‘BLM Button = No Tip’ (The Seattle Times) Assaults continue at Washington psychiatric hospital (AP/KOMO TV) TRANSPORTATION SDOT promises 55 small projects to help cope with West Seattle Bridge closure (The Seattle Times) I-5 Bridge trunnion project delayed by one week (The Columbian) I-5 bridge closure postponed until Sept. 19 to aid wildfire evacuees (The Daily News) Paccar-owned Kenworth unveils electric zero-emission trucks (Puget Sound Business Journal) OPINION: If we wait for infrastructure to fail before fixing, it’ll be too late (Eric Holdeman, director of the Center for Regional Disaster Resilience, which works on emergency preparedness and disaster resilience projects across the Pacific Northwest/Puget Sound Business Journal) EDITORIAL: Sound Transit should keep to Everett timetable (Everett Herald) WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE Smoke chokes West Coast as wildfire deaths keep climbing (AP/Seattle P-I) Weather expected to push some smoke out of Seattle, but mental health takes a hit in the haze (The Seattle Times) How an easterly wind, hotter summers could fuel more devastating wildfire on Western slopes of Cascades (The Seattle Times) Groups turn to hotels to shelter fire evacuees amid virus (AP/Seattle P-I) Putting the massive West Coast wildfires into context (Crosscut) Milk-shaken: Moving Northwest dairy cows out of wildfire danger is not fun (NW News Network) Inslee: Washington battling ‘climate fires’ not wildfires (KOMO TV) Death toll from wildfires reaches 33 on the West Coast (KOMO TV) East Pierce Fire: 8 structures, 494 acres burned in Sumner Grade Fire (KOMO TV) ‘People are really scrambling right now’: COVID-19 complicates wildfire evacuations on West Coast (KCPQ TV) Clark County welcomes fire evacuees from Oregon (The Columbian) Fire destroys the Yakama Nation Power office building (KOMO TV) Western US ‘literally out of firefighters and equipment,’ fire official says (KATU TV/KEPR TV) Gov. Inslee says devastating fires in the Northwest should be called ‘climate fire,’ not wildfires (KHQ TV) ‘These are climate fires’: Inslee responds to week of statewide blazes (The Chronicle) Cold Springs Fire, 50% Contained (KPQ Radio) Pearl Hill and Apple Acres fires nearing total containment (KPQ Radio) Wildfire near Darrington continues to grow (KGMI Radio) Big Hollow Fire grows to more than 18,000 acres (The Columbian) Can smoke from the West’s wildfires make you feel sick? Here’s what doctors say (The News Tribune) Oregon smoke plume sends Tri-Cities hazardous air quality off state charts (Tri-City Herald) Air experts: There’s dangerous ‘tar’ in the smoke you’re breathing (KIRO TV) Breathing wildfire smoke every summer could have long-term health consequences (Northwest Public Broadcasting) Health effects of smoke from wildfires (KOMO TV) Record-breaking poor air quality continues to affect Spokane on Sunday (The Spokesman-Review) Dense fog, hazardous smoke choke Clark County’s air (The Columbian) Wildfire smoke to linger as hopes for wind and rain dissipate Monday (The Seattle Times) Satellite views show wildfire smoke from West Coast has spread all the way to Michigan (The Oregonian) Sheriff says its unlikely antifa started Cold Springs Fire (The Wenatchee World) WSP chief: No evidence of organized arson in Washington blazes (NCW Life Channel) Fire officials battle rumors along with raging wildfires (Kitsap Sun) COLUMN: Watching Washington burn is more than a wake-up call. It’s a moment of truth (Matt Driscoll/The News Tribune) COLUMN: Gov Inslee fails on Washington wildfires, blames climate change (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest) COLUMN: Why we’re entering an age of wildfire (Stephen Pyne/Kitsap Sun) EDITORIAL: Washington must not forget Malden and Pine City (The Spokesman-Review) EDITORIAL: Spread of wildfires, rumors add to our burdens (The Columbian) WOLVES Environmentalists praise Inslee’s wolf program directive (AP/The Lewiston Tribune)
