DAILY NEWS
Teachers stand strong | I-1631’s coalition | Sen. Murray: Let’s fix health care
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
LOCAL
► In today’s (Longview) Daily News — Longview high school teachers fight new schedule — Starting next school year, Longview high schools will switch from six- to seven-period days in an attempt to improve on-time graduation rates. But the faculty union and some parents are objecting to the change, saying it will cut a significant amount of classroom time during the school year.
ALSO at The Stand — DESC workers win investments to address homelessness in Seattle
► In today’s Seattle Times — After head-tax vote, Amazon resuming work on one building, but unsure of plans for another — Amazon says it will resume planning to build its 17-story Block 18 tower, but it is still weighing whether to sublease space in the Rainier Square skyscraper that’s under construction.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Albertsons closing two Seattle stores — Albertsons said late Monday it will close two unprofitable grocery stores in Seattle’s north end next month, citing increasing costs related to city of Seattle regulations implemented over the last three years.
► From The Stranger — Appeals court ruling deals a setback to Seattle Uber law — In a decision issued Friday, a panel of Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges struck a significant blow to Seattle’s effort to allow drivers for services like Uber and Lyft to unionize.
PREVIOUSLY at The Stand — Despite court ruling, for-hire drivers in Seattle vow to keep pushing for rights (May 14)
► A related story from AP — Official: Lyft drivers at Disney World can join union — A regional NLRB director last week ruled about 60 drivers who pick up Disney World guests using the Lyft app can be represented by the Teamsters local in Orlando.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle returns to Wells Fargo because no other bank wants city’s business — Seattle split with Wells Fargo a year ago over the bank’s investments in the Dakota Access Pipeline and a fraud scandal. But the two are together again after the city could find no other bank to take its business.
► From KOIN — A second Burgerville votes to unionize — On April 23, the Burgerville in Southeast Portland made history, becoming the first federally-recognized fast food workers union. Now there’s two. The Burgerville in Gladstone, Ore. — on 19119 SE McLoughlin Blvd. — voted to to form a union on Sunday in a secret-ballot election overseen by the NLRB.
► In today’s Columbian — Firefighters union hosting first aid class — The Vancouver firefighters union, IAFF Local 452, will host a two-hour course Saturday on how to treat bleeding injuries.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
► In today’s Washington Post — Trump’s ZTE tweet sows confusion before trade talks with China — Senior U.S. officials struggled Monday to explain and act on President Trump’s abrupt decision to rescue Chinese telecom giant ZTE — a move that caught many of them by surprise.
► In today’s NY Times — Trump shifts from trade war threats to concessions in rebuff to hard-liners — The shift on ZTE is an abrupt reversal that reflects another twist in the pitched battle inside the White House between the economic nationalists, who channel Trump’s protectionist instincts, and more mainstream advisers, who worry about the effects of hard-line policies on the stock market and long-term economic growth.
ELECTIONS
► From KING TV — Voter initiative launched to cut carbon emissions — The Initiative 1631 campaign for a new carbon fee officially launched on Thursday, showcasing a coalition of support that proponents hope gives this latest effort a shot in November.
ALSO at The Stand — I-1631 invests in jobs, clean energy future (by Jeff Johnson)
► From KNKX — Broad coalition of groups in state behind new carbon Initiative 1631 — A diverse array of groups from all over Washington state gathered in Seattle to rally support for Initiative 1631. That’s the latest proposal to curb carbon emissions by imposing fees on big polluters.
► From the NW Progressive Institute — Avalanche of corporate money begins flowing into state initiative campaigns — Serious money is beginning to flow into campaign committees organized in support of — and in opposition to — initiatives that could be destined for the November 2018 general election ballot, reports recently filed with the PDC show.
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Political newbies and veterans begin filing for offices — A Sultan city councilman wants to go to Congress and a 19-year-old Bothell man is looking to start his political career in the Legislature.
MORE local coverage of candidate filings in today’s Tri-City Herald, (Vancouver) Columbian, Wenatchee World, and Yakima H-R.
THIS WASHINGTON
► From KUOW — Mental health looms as next vexing challenge for Washington lawmakers — At a news conference Friday at Western State Hospital, Republican state Sen. Steve O’Ban framed Washington’s mental health crisis this way: “I kind of think of this as, this is a bad analogy perhaps, but McCleary Two.” O’Ban isn’t the only one calling for a renewed focus on mental health. He was flanked by a pair of Democrats from the state House who said this is a bipartisan issue. In addition, Gov. Jay Inslee is calling for an accelerated change in how the state’s two psychiatric hospitals are operated.
THAT WASHINGTON
► In today’s Wall Street Journal — Rebuilding schools, bridges — and lives (by Richard Trumka and Marty Walsh) subscription required — When you see that the ASCE’s infrastructure report card gives the nation overall a D+, don’t hang your head. The U.S. can get that grade up. But it won’t happen with a plan like President Trump’s, which would cut Washington’s contribution to infrastructure projects from 80% to 20%, quadrupling the burden on cash-strapped cities and states. The true way forward is to do the opposite: Put the federal government back in the business of building America’s future.
► In the Boston Globe — Let’s deliver the mail, not myths (by APWU President Mark Dimondstein) — President Trump’s attention of late has been focused in part on the United States Postal Service and Amazon, resulting in a new executive order calling for an evaluation of USPS finances. This is a good opportunity to underscore some important facts regarding the Postal Service, a national treasure belonging to all the people of the United States.
THAT SWAMP
► From Axios — Report: DeVos dismantles team probing fraud at for-profit colleges — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has largely disassembled a team created in 2016 by the Obama administration to look into widespread fraudulent activities by for-profit colleges, and she hired a number of top aides who previously worked at institutions that were under investigation, current and former employees said.
► From The Hill — Senate GOP anger over McCain insult grows — Republican senators are demanding a public apology after a White House staffer joked about GOP Sen. John McCain‘s failing health, even as the administration is doubling down on its decision to handle the fallout “internally.”
NATIONAL
► In today’s Olympian — Hundreds march down Capitol Way in Olympia Monday to call attention to poverty
► In today’s Seattle Times — Teachers shell out nearly $500 a year from their own pockets on school supplies — Nearly all teachers are footing the bill for classroom supplies, an Education Department report found, and teachers in high-poverty schools spend more than those in affluent schools.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.