Capitol Buzz: WA farmers caught between state, refining companies over climate law’s carbon fuel tax; WA Gov. Inslee signs bill limiting wind turbine lights. But he vetoes local control

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Big E. Washington employer lays off hundreds of workers. Paper mill is being idled (Tri-City Herald)

CANNABIS

• New law blocks Washington employers from testing for pot when hiring (Washington State Standard)
• ‘A different animal’: Doctors warn seniors about potency of cannabis products (KOMO TV)

CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM

• WA farmers caught between state, refining companies over climate law’s carbon fuel tax (The Center Square)
• A climate cash spending spree is about to get underway in Washington state (Washington State Standard)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Making time to celebrate the Chinese community’s place in state history (Washington State Standard)
• Minors seeking gender-affirming treatment can shelter without parent’s knowledge (MyNorthwest)
• Seattle’s Chinatown among most endangered historic places (Axios – Seattle)
• At this Federal Way teen center, learning to cut hair is ‘like a flex’ (The Seattle Times)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Kroger settles with union on BLM button violation (MyNorthwest)

CRIME

• Inslee signs bill to create support programs for survivors of adult sex trafficking (KOMO TV)
• Yakima DV Coalition members hear survivor’s take on how to better help victims (KAPP/KVEW)

EDUCATION

• EDITORIAL: The way Washington schools kids in lockup is criminal (The Seattle Times)

ELECTIONS

• Gov. Inslee signs ‘deepfake’ disclosure bill into law (The Center Square)
• Washington elections bill ‘more likely to cause insurrection’ (The Center Square)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Inslee signs bill making sure first responders get treatment for job-related PTSD, other ailments (KIRO TV)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• WA Gov. Inslee signs bill limiting wind turbine lights. But he vetoes local control (Tri-City Herald)
• Everett nuclear fusion energy company nets first customer: Microsoft (The Everett Herald)

ENVIRONMENT

• Why conservation groups are trying to restore native prairies in WA (The Seattle Times)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Corporate giants buy up primary care practices at rapid pace (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• DEA extends telemedicine option for prescribing controlled medications (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• Large Bellingham homeless encampment cleared after property owner settles lawsuit (The Bellingham Herald)
• EDITORIAL: County’s homeless idea should stop before it starts (Yakima Herald-Republic)

HOUSING

• Gov. Inslee signs housing discrimination crackdown (The Center Square)

IMMIGRATION

• US to limit asylum at Mexico border, open 100 migration hubs (AP)
• Washington remains a welcoming state as end to Title 42 approaches (The Center Square)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• City of Yakima hoping to save money by cutting police officers (KIT Radio)

LEGISLATURE

• Podcast | How bills on guns, housing and abortion passed in WA (Crosscut)
• Washington Psilocybin Services Act signed into law, lays groundwork for mushroom use (KAPP/KVEW)
• The Spotlight: Dangers of hazing, dark side of social media, new breed of dog thieves (FOX 13)
• Meet Washington’s new state dinosaur, the Suciasaurus rex (Axios – Seattle)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Drug possession controversy in Washington comes full circle in Spokane (The Center Square)
• Seattle’s jail diversion program is turning down referrals due to limited funds (The Center Square)
• Seattle expands protections to firefighters, first responders (MyNorthwest)
• OPINION: Bainbridge’s lip service to climate always yields to growth (Ron Peltier, Bainbridge Island resident and served on the Bainbridge Island City Council from 2016-19/Kitsap Sun)

MEDIA

• Changes coming to The Olympian’s print, digital products (The Olympian)

MENTAL HEALTH

• At Everett Clubhouse, structure for the 1 in 5 people with mental illness (The Everett Herald)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Veterans seek petition outside Mann-Grandstaff to end controversial electronic health record system (The Spokesman-Review)
• OPINION: When it comes to housing, we are failing military families (Paul J. Selva, retired US Air Force General and served as the 10th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/The Seattle Times)

OTHER STATES

• Democratic, Republican leaders schedule meeting for Wednesday as GOP walkout reaches 7th day (The Oregonian)
• Gov. Tina Kotek: ‘Oregonians should prepare for wildfire season’ (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Oregon’s AG Ellen Rosenblum joins in call for federal gas stove rules (The Oregonian)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• Facing Fentanyl: Addiction in pregnancy ‘ruins multiple lives’ (MyNorthwest)
• OPINION: Drug laws promoting health, not punishment, have best chance of success (Jeffery Robinson, founder and CEO of The Who We Are Project/The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Dems already have head start on new drug law (The Columbian)

TRANSPORTATION

• Washington to adopt California ban on diesel trucks (Capital Press)
• Landslide blocks Amtrak route between Vancouver and Kelso (The Columbian)
• Sound Transit contracting with record number of security guards (KOMO TV)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• New list of Native boarding schools with Catholic affiliation includes Yakima school (Yakima Herald-Republic)

WILDLIFE

• New food storage rules in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest aim to save bear lives (Snoqualmie Valley Record)
• COLUMN: To aid the killer whales, the real apex predator gets some pushback (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)