“Millions of Washington citizens will continue to be hurt by this controversial (Hirst) court decision, as we wait for House Democratic leaders to move away from catering to special interest anti-growth groups,” and come to a solution with the Senate, explains Madilynne Clark of the Washington Policy Center. (Read more here)

The Olympia City Council is pushing forward a property and sales tax for the upcoming November ballot to provide more funding for public safety. If approved, the tax would be 44 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value and the sales tax would increase by 0.01 percent.

Microsoft has been approved to get their power from outside sources instead of Puget Sound Energy. They will pay a $23.6 million transition fee to PSE but then use clean power for energy, although the company will still need PSE to transmit 80% of their clean power through PSE’s power lines.

The board that manages the Seattle pension fund ruled against divesting $2.5 billion in assets from fossil-fuel investments, despite being encouraged to do so by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray earlier this year. However, the board did say they would increase their investments in renewable energy, moving the overall holdings of renewable energy from 3 to 5 percent.

The Evergreen Recovery Center in Lynwood may be filled to capacity upon opening. The 16-bed facility will open its doors soon, but due to a Medicaid law from the 1960s, the maximum beds available will be 16.

Hanford Reach National Monument is no longer under review for changes, according to Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), who says the protections created for the landmark will continue to be protected.

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