Thursday, August 2, 2018

LOCAL

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — The union predicted it: Teacher pay is rising statewide — Teacher salaries are soaring as the Washington Education Association predicted they would. Leaders of the statewide teacher union declared in March that a surge in state funding because of the McCleary lawsuit meant classroom instructors could win pay raises of double-digit percent at the bargaining table. So far, it’s happening in Edmonds, Omak, Othello, Bellevue and Lake Washington, to name a few… WEA leaders are urging on their members: “Don’t accept excuses from your school board or superintendent — or anyone else. Thanks to McCleary, the money is there.” As salaries rise in some districts, tension will be climbing in others.

► In today’s Yakima H-R — Selah School District employees join push for high pay hikes from McCleary decision — Roughly 70 Selah School District employees and their supporters rallied outside the district office on Wednesday morning in the latest act of solidarity among Yakima Valley educators who are negotiating with district administrators over salary increases for the upcoming school year. Wednesday’s protest came just hours after dozens of Yakima School District employees crowded into a board of directors meeting Tuesday night to demand a higher pay increase, and roughly a week after employees with the Toppenish School District protested outside the district office in Toppenish.

► In today’s News Tribune — More Fred Meyer, QFC stores in region to see new self-scan tech — The number of checkout stands being replaced by the new technology will vary by store, said a Fred Meyer spokesman: “For instance, at Monroe, we are removing two lanes and adding 12 SCO robots.”

ELECTION

► From Slog — Washington state can have a single-payer health care system by 2020. These candidates will champion it. — See which candidates running for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and the Washington State Legislature said they’d vote YES on state-based universal health care legislation similar to David Frockt’s SB 5701 (or the House’s version, HB 1026), which would help establish a framework for implementing single-payer in the state.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Spokane County GOP chair resigns, says defense of white supremacist was a ‘serious mistake’

EDITOR’S NOTE — Ya think?

► In today’s Washington Post — Fears grow that U.S. is vulnerable to further interference in elections — Two years after Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential campaign, the nation has done little to protect itself against a renewed effort to influence voters in the coming congressional elections, according to lawmakers and independent analysts.

THIS WASHINGTON

► In today’s Olympian — Interpreters for HCA patients urge state to address issues sparked by new vendor — Many interpreters are struggling to make ends meet since the Washington State Health Care Authority put its interpretation services contract up for re-bid, according to Interpreters United Local 1671 President Leroy Mould. A new vendor, Universal Language Services, took over HCA’s interpretation services as of July 1. That’s when everything started to go downhill, Mould said: “Universal was not ready in the least. They were were not ready even — for anything whatsoever.”

ALSO at The Stand — Tell Gov. Inslee: Restore state’s successful interpreter services

► In today’s Kitsap Sun — Some child-care workers worried about new state regulations — Some child-care providers are worried about the impact of a new state requirement that staff at child-care centers and licensed child-care homes must earn college credit for “early childhood education certificates” authorized by the state.

► In today’s Columbian Basin Herald — Amid investigation, House Republicans restore Manweller to leadership role — Rep. Matt Manweller (R-Ellensburg) was elected in June by House Republicans to a leadership position, six months after being stripped of another leadership position in the wake of a Central Washington University investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the legislator. That investigation is still ongoing.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Manweller remains on paid administrative leave from CWU, where he teaches political science, amid an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct with students. Manweller has previously faced scrutiny over allegations of sexual harassment at CWU, over reports from women at the State Capitol who have told the Legislature that interactions with him made them uncomfortable, and over his marriage to a former high school student of his after she turned 18. (He was 30.)

► From Pew — Lawmakers in blue states try to protect organized labor — Before the high court ruled (as expected) on the Janus v. AFSCME case, eight of the 22 states that allowed unions to charge such fees took steps to cushion the blow — often citing the broader battle between liberals and conservatives over organized labor and “right to work” laws.

ALSO from the WSLC 2018 Legislative Report — Public employees achieve ambitious agenda

THAT WASHINGTON

► From The Hill — Four cities sue Trump saying ObamaCare ‘sabotage’ violates Constitution — The cities of Baltimore, Chicago, Columbus and Cincinnati filed the lawsuit in federal court in Maryland, arguing that Trump’s actions against the Affordable Care Act violate the Constitution’s provision that the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

► In today’s Washington Post — Future generations will feel only contempt (by Ruth Marcus) — President Trump’s outrageous tweets are testing, once again, our capacity for outrage. They are not harmless venting. Rather, they pose a threat to the rule of law… Leave aside the matter of whether Trump’s attacks on the Russia “hoax” represent potential evidence in an obstruction case against him. That is worth considering, but the focus on his tweets as obstruction in plain sight has obscured the even more concerning fact that the tweets offer incontrovertible evidence of a president who cares nothing about the well-being of his country and the integrity of its elections.

► From Reuters — China urges U.S. to ‘calm down’ in trade dispute, says its tactics will not work — China on Thursday urged the United States to “calm down” and return to reason after the Trump administration sought to ratchet up pressure for trade concessions by proposing a higher 25-percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

► In the USA Today — AFL-CIO leader Trumka offers qualified support for Trump’s trade policies — The AFL-CIO president said, “I think he’s going in the right direction on trade,” but but questioned the administration’s approach to levying tariffs. 

IMMIGRATION

► From The Guardian — What happens after ICE tears your family apart: ‘The storm descended’ — On June 19, ICE officers descended on Fresh Mark, a meatpacking plant in Salem, Ohio, and detained 146 workers. The scene was chaotic. “Nos cayó la tormenta,” one worker told me: The storm descended on us. One minute, people were slapping labels on packages of bacon. The next, there were uniformed men shouting, “Go!” Many workers thought the building was on fire. They fled outside to handcuffs and the swirling lights of police cars. Three men hid in a storeroom, crouched on stacks of wooden pallets. They waited it out and escaped. All the other Hispanic workers were detained, even those with work permits… Following the raid, chaos and confusion follow for the affected families.

► From The Guardian — Military family shattered as wife of decorated U.S. marine deported to Mexico — The breaking apart of American military families marks a new low point in Trump’s war on immigration. “When I think about the service my husband has given this country it just breaks my heart,” said Alejandra Juarez, who is being expelled 20 years after she entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico as a teenager.

NATIONAL

► From Harvard Law Today — A ‘clean slate’ for the future of labor law — Last month, Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program began an ambitious effort to fix a broken system of labor laws. The program, “Rebalancing Economic and Political Power: A Clean Slate for the Future of Labor Law,” began with a daylong seminar  and will continue with a series of followup meetings over the next 18 months, with the goal of producing major recommendations to reform labor law. Attendees came from across the country, including law professors, labor activists, and union and online organizers.

T.G.I.T.

► The Entire Staff of The Stand had the great pleasure of seeing a true American legend perform last night at Marymoor Park in Redmond. We are pleased to report that musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist Willie Nelson can still bring it at age 85. Here’s a guy who has fought for American family farmers, marijuana law reform, bio-fuel production, humane treatment of animals, LGBTQ rights, and the list goes on and on. But last night was just Willie plowing through his many hit songs and reminding us how grateful we should be that he “woke up still not dead again today.” Enjoy!

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.