By executive order, Gov. Inslee directed state agencies that contract with businesses to considerwhether or not those businesses require employees to individual arbitration clauses. The order does not, however, ban agencies from signing contracts with such businesses. Inslee’s order is in response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. (Washington State Wire)

KIRO Radio’s Zak Burns called the Seattle City Council’s passage and quick repeal of a jobs tax “a referendum on the city council themselves.” Burns said of Kshama Sawant, “For years she was the Socialist lion who got everything done, and now she is becoming quite toxic. She thought her brand was more powerful than Amazon’s, and she was proven wrong.” (My Northwest)

The Tacoma City Council on Tuesday appointed two new directors to head high-end, and high-pay, city positions. Jackie Flowers was appointed to be director of Tacoma Public Utilities and Jeff Robinson will head the Community and Economic Development Department, with combined salaries above $490,000. (Tacoma News Tribune)

After nine years of work, Hanford cleanup crews were able to begin removing highly radioactive sludge from the K West Reactor Basin. “The sludge is some of the most hazardous material at Hanford, so moving it away from the river to safe storage in a robust engineered facility in the center of the site significantly reduces risk,” said Doug Shoop, manager of the Department of Energy Hanford Richland Operations Office. (Tri-City Herald)