(The Center Square) – University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass says the Washington Department of Ecology should “definitively correct misinformation being pushed” about a pending drought emergency. The claim that this summer represents a drought emergency for Washington State is “simply and demonstrably false,” wrote Mass in a May 18 blog post. In a Tuesday interview with The Center Square, Mass said reservoirs are fuller than normal, and annual precipitation is at
(The Center Square) – The Spokane County Library District has placed a tax hike on the August ballot, despite its reserves having grown almost every year as SCLD’s levy rate falls with rising assessments. A press release frames the tax hike as necessary for the long-term sustainability of SCLD’s 10 libraries in Spokane County. The May 5 announcement warned that if rejected, SCLD might introduce new fees, defer maintenance, consider reducing hours and potentially close
(The Center Square) – A week after Let’s Go Washington launched an initiative campaign aimed at repealing the newly passed income tax, the organization tells The Center Square “more people have signed up to receive petitions in a shorter amount of time than any other initiative.” It was last Tuesday, LGW announced the initiative (IP26-645) and said signature gatherers would soon be out collecting voter signatures, with a July 2 deadline to collect about 309,000
(The Center Square) – Pasco is launching a six-month enforcement effort to tackle illegal street vendor activity under a roughly $70,000 plan approved by the city council on Monday to hire two new officers. Tri-Cities has seen an uptick in unpermitted street vendors in recent years, with complaints up 89% in 2025 compared to 2024 and 119% compared to 2023. The Benton-Franklin Health District and several law enforcement agencies have even convened a task force
