DAILY NEWS
Our new normal ● Redefining radioactive ● An airline food strike?
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
LOCAL
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Washington’s first major wildfire of 2019 grows to 5,000 acres in Grant County — A wildfire in Grant County – Washington’s first major fire event of 2019 – near the Wanapum Dam grew to more than 5,000 acres Tuesday as it burned its way east, forcing dozens of evacuations. Spokane saw the fire’s smoke slowly drift into the city through the afternoon, lowering air quality and screening surrounding hills with a smoky brown haze. By 8 p.m., Spokane’s air quality reached the worst in the country, according to the National Weather Service… Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said 2019 is already being one of the most active fire seasons on record.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Boeing drone unit Insitu cuts workforce, dealing a blow to Columbia Gorge community — Boeing drone unit Insitu, which employs about 1,000 people in the Columbia River Gorge and about 500 elsewhere, said Tuesday it is cutting its workforce due to competitive pressures and a falloff in business. A person familiar with the details said the workforce will be cut by about 15 percent, which will slash more than 200 jobs.
► In today’s Olympian — Ostrom’s Mushroom farm near Lacey is closing, laying off 239 workers — Ostrom’s Mushroom Farm, a major Thurston County employer that has grown mushrooms near Lacey since the late 1960s, will close the farm by the end of the year and shift production to a new plant in the Yakima area.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — Yakima City Council gets rid of E-Verify requirement — The council decided at Tuesday’s meeting to get rid of a 2011 resolution that required businesses contracting with the city to use E-Verify to screen the background of their workers.
THIS WASHINGTON
► In today’s Columbian — State health insurers’ proposed rate increase minor — Washington health insurers have proposed an average 0.96 percent rate increase for the individual market for 2020, the lowest proposed increase in nearly a decade.
THAT WASHINGTON
ALSO TODAY at The Stand — House approves new Dream Act granting path to citizenship — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-5th) is Washington’s only member of Congress who voted “no.” Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-3rd) did not vote.
► From Reuters — Ex-heads of U.S. Social Security Administration offer plan to fix agency’s customer service — A worsening customer service crisis at the Social Security Administration has prompted three of its former commissioners to urge the U.S. Congress to fix the annual budgeting process that has starved the agency of the resources it needs to do its job.
► From CNBC — Majority of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign workers say they want to unionize — If the effort is recognized, Warren’s campaign could be the third presidential campaign in history to unionize. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign employees became the first to secure a union contract when they did so last month.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
ALSO at The Stand — Tell Congress: No new NAFTA until it’s fixed
► In today’s Washington Post — Use of emergency declaration to impose tariffs on Mexico is legally questionable, scholars say — Trump is once again sailing in uncharted legal and constitutional waters. His promise to punish Mexico with escalating tariffs unless it controls what he calls the “invasion” of migrants across the southern border is premised on a law that has never been used either as a tool of immigration policy or tariffs.
► From Politico — Republicans threaten revolt, may block Trump’s Mexico tariffs
NATIONAL
EDITOR’S NOTE — LSG Sky Chefs is one of several airline catering firms serving Sea-Tac International Airport that are represented by UNITE HERE Local 8 and will be participating in this important vote.
► From Reuters — Canada appeals WTO ruling on U.S. lumber — Canada has appealed against a World Trade Organization panel ruling in a case it lost in April that would allow the United States to use “zeroing” to calculate anti-dumping tariffs on lumber, a WTO official said on Wednesday.
► In today’s NY Times — Companies see climate change hitting their bottom lines in the next 5 years — Many of the world’s biggest companies, from Silicon Valley tech firms to large European banks, are bracing for the prospect that climate change could substantially affect their bottom lines within the next five years, according to a new analysis of corporate disclosures.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.