Judge Marsha Pechman is holding the Dept. of Social and Health Services in contempt of court for not providing timely competency evaluations within two weeks of receiving court orders to do so. The fine is $750-per-person every day after the two week period and doubles after the first late week. (The Spokesman-Review)

Former Governor Dan Evans is calling on lawmakers and Gov. Inslee to “put the partisanship aside and solve two pressing problems. Washington state needs a capital budget and a fix to the state Supreme Court’s Hirst decision, which has impacted homebuilding in rural areas.” (The Seattle Times)

The group behind I-27 is moving on to the state Supreme Court after judges in King County banned their initiative from the ballot. “Just two days ago we gave a notice of appeal with an expedited review request to the Washington State Supreme Court to reinstate the right for  1.3 million voters in [King County] to participate in the elections process,” Joshua Freed said. (MyNorthwest)

80,000 more gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Columbia River yesterday from Vancouver’s Westside Wastewater Treatment facility. There has already been one massive spill into the river in the last few weeks, although the Vancouver Public Information Officer Loretta Callahan claims they are unrelated spills. (MyNorthwest)

The Dept. of Natural Resources rejected the least for construction changes to the Millennium Bulk Terminal-Longview project, rejecting a request from Northwest Alloys submitted back in August for use of state-owned aquatic lands. (MyNorthwest)

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