SB 5289, which would forbid use of cell phones and handheld devices while driving, passed through both chambers and is waiting to be signed by Gov. Inslee. The fines for violating this law would be $136 and then $245 on the second offense. If signed, it will go into effect in 2019. to allow for an adjustment period.

Gov. Inslee signed a bill into law yesterday that will penalize dog owners who inhumanely tether or tie their dogs up. “There are a lot of animals in our state, a lot of dogs in our state, that are being held in really unsafe environments that are having horrible and disfiguring injuries because of the way they’re being tethered,” bill sponsor Senator Joe Fain (R-Auburn) said. Washington is now joining 19 other states with making it illegal to tether their dogs.

A new ordinance that increases power of the Office of Law Enforcement Oversight in King County passed Monday. The ordinance gives the independent civilian office more power over King County’s Sheriff Office in allowing them to recommend changes, despite not being the ones to make the final decisions.

Cary Moon, urban planner and founder of People’s Waterfront Coalition which opposed the highway 99 tunnel, is throwing her hat in the ring for the Seattle Mayor race. Of opposing the tunnel, Moon had said, “we need to reclaim that land for the city and build civic space in the heart of downtown.” Of running for mayor, she says she feels “an immense duty and responsibility to ensure Seattle, our beautiful, vibrant, diverse city, works for everyone.“

Pullman School District has established a new policy for negotiating union contracts in public. “All bargaining sessions will take place in the community/board room at Pullman High School… and are open to the public,” they wrote on the district website. Open meetings, rather than secret negotiations, are a new precedent for union contracts being set by Pullman’s School District and we support this decision for increased transparency wholeheartedly.

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