Category Archives: In the News

11 Mar
0

Big Country News: $500K will fund genetic genealogy testing for all unidentified remains in Washington

In 2023, at the recommendation of the task force and request of Attorney General Ferguson, the Legislature established a Cold Case Investigations Unit to focus on solving cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and people. Rep. Lekanoff and Sen. ...

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05 Mar
0

WA State Standard: Child sex trafficking survivor says update of WA laws will help prevent stories like hers

When Yvonne Hubbell was 16, she stabbed an 81-year-old man soliciting her for sex in self-defense. “He was trying to throw me around and punch me,” Hubbell said of the incident, which took place in 1997 in Kitsap County. “I ...

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04 Mar
0

Crosscut: WA legislators are pushing new gun bills. Here’s what could pass

Senate Bill 6246, sponsored by Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, would require a court to prohibit a person judged incompetent to stand trial from having the right to own a firearm, if that person is not committed to a facility for ...

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27 Feb
0

AP: Washington Lawmakers Advance Bill Making It A Felony To Threaten Election Workers

The Washington state Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to make harassing election workers a felony, three months after four county election offices received envelopes containing suspicious powder — including three testing positive for fentanyl — and had to be evacuated. “This ...

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23 Feb
0

WA State Standard: Ban on child marriages in Washington could soon be law

Child marriage is still legal in Washington. That may soon change: The Washington Senate on Friday passed a bill on a 48-1 vote setting a minimum marriage age of 18. Before 2018, child marriage was legal in all 50 states. ...

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03 Feb
0

KIRO 7: How a new state bill could help save students’ lives

Legislation aimed at helping students in emergency situations unanimously passed the Washington State Senate. According to a news release from Washington State Democrats, SB 5790 would provide schools with bleeding control kits. It would also help bystanders be prepared until ...

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24 Jan
0

Everett Post: Dems, Republicans take different approaches to recruiting police officers to WA

Democrats suggest their approach is better designed to address the officer shortages and difficulty recruiting. Senate Majority Leader Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, during a meeting with reporters this week,said, “The approach that Democrats are taking with the regional training centers has ...

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09 Jan
0

The Imprint: Washington Law Gives CPS Broader Authority to Investigate Alleged Abuse in Residential Schools and Treatment Centers

Beginning this month, Washington officials have new authority to root out abuse and neglect of children housed in private boarding schools, residential treatment centers and the state’s school for the deaf. Senate Bill 5515 tasks the Department of Children, Youth and ...

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08 Jan
0

KUOW: Should Washington stay in standard time? These lawmakers say ‘yes’

As lawmakers return to Olympia for the 2024 session, the Washington state Legislature is taking another run at eliminating the twice-yearly ritual of changing clocks. “I’m working with colleagues in Oregon and California and they’re going to be trying to ...

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16 Nov
0

Wenatchee World: Washington lawmakers say there was a lack of interest in fertility fraud laws. Then a woman sued her Spokane obstetrician-gynecologist for involuntarily inseminating her

If there were a law against doctors using their own sperm to inseminate their fertility patients, 33-year-old Brianna Hayes said it’s possible she might have lived a different life. Hayes was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 4 years old. ...

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