A Washington congresswoman is the latest lawmaker to push back on Trump administration plans to dramatically slash federal research funding.

The administration is working to reduce discretionary funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by 40%. This comes in addition to federal cuts within the “big, beautiful bill.”

Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-08) addressed the cuts while meeting with researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center on Wednesday.

“I have been deeply concerned about this administration’s reckless cuts to medical research and science in general, and what they have done with chopping off the head of NIH funding,” Schrier said. “They’ve done this to NIH. They’ve done this to FDA, to CDC, and it is threatening not just our current research, but the entire pipeline of research and students and U.S. leadership for at least a generation.”

Trump positions NIH cuts to reduce national deficit

The Trump administration has positioned the cuts as a way to reduce the national deficit and has also pushed to cancel NIH grants related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and gender identity research.

Schrier said that while she agrees there is a need to reduce the national debt, she does not agree with the President’s approach.

“The way to make those cuts is to do it with a scalpel and not with a chainsaw,” Schrier said. “Medical research and NIH are one of the best investments our country makes. Those dollars are spent efficiently.”

Only 10% of the ballots have been returned so far, according to Halei Watkins, Communications Manager at . She expects the final turnout to be approximately 35%, which she said is pretty strong when compared to numbers nationwide.

“Now, that doesn’t mean it’s good enough,” Watkins told “The Gee and Ursula Show” on 成人X站 Newsradio. “We would like to see it much, much higher, and folks should absolutely take that step and make their voices heard.”

Presidential elections tend to have much higher turnouts than primaries or special elections. However, primaries are important too, Watkins said.

Primary election has big impact

“It鈥檚 these local races that really have a big impact on our day-to-day lives and on our communities,” she said. “So, the primary gives us an opportunity to weigh in and pick our top two candidates to move forward to November, and it’s really important to get out there and make your voices heard.”

One reason she believes turnout tends to be low during Washington’s primary elections is the fact that it happens in the summertime, and people forget about it.

“I think the sunshine comes out, and us Pacific Northwesterners get quite distracted with the beauty of where we live and all of the back-to-school plans and summer vacation, and it’s really easy to get lost,” Watkins said. “But voting is a habit, so the more that we can build that habit across every single election, the more folks will turn up in these local primary races.”

King County voters will be narrowing down the field for offices, including the mayor of Seattle, some Seattle City Council seats, and the county executive.

Ballots will need to be dropped off at your local elections office by 8 p.m. on August 5.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for 成人X站 Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims the USDA鈥檚 request for detailed personal information, such as Social Security numbers and home addresses, violates federal privacy laws and exceeds the agency’s legal authority, according to a from the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.

The dispute centers around a new USDA rule introduced in May. It requires states to provide five years of personal data on everyone who applies for or receives SNAP benefits. In Washington state, this would impact over 1.2 million people.

SNAP is funded by the federal government but managed by individual states. For over 60 years, this partnership has operated under clear boundaries regarding data sharing and eligibility verification.

The USDA has not yet issued a public response to the lawsuit.

The poll surveyed 403 registered voters between July 7 and 11, using landline, cellphone, and online interviews as polling mediums. The political affiliation of those surveyed included 43% Democrats, 19% Republicans, and 38% Independents.

Gov. Ferguson’s approval rating low after 6 months

Of the polled voters, 32% rated Ferguson’s first six months as “excellent” or “good.” Voters who believed Ferguson had done a “fair” job represented 22% of the rating, and 31% of voters said he was doing a poor job.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a partisan response, but it鈥檚 more than that because Democrats aren鈥檛 really sold yet either,鈥� Elway stated via . 鈥淢aybe that鈥檚 the curse of being the middle guy.鈥�

Cascade PBS/Elway noted that the poll had a 95% confidence level. A poll’s confidence level means that if it were conducted 100 times, the results would be within five percentage points of the results at least 95 times.

PBS reported that a variety of reasons contributed to the disapproval rating for Ferguson. These negative opinions include anger toward Ferguson signing off on new taxes, cuts to spending, and his inability to stand up to the Trump administration.

Some voters also expressed concern that Ferguson focused too much on the Trump administration, aligned too closely with Democrats, while others said he was too moderate

Comments from voters

Roy Senter, 64, from Pullman, cited Ferguson’s approach towards the state’s budget in his concern. Senter noted he does not identify with a specific political party, although he generally votes Republican.

鈥淕ov. Ferguson said he wanted a balanced budget, but his solution was just to raise taxes,鈥� Senter stated in the poll.

Of the Republicans who participated in the poll, 87% graded Ferguson’s performance as “fair” or “poor.” As for Independent voters, 92% who tend to vote Republican provided negative responses, with no positive ratings.

Emily Manke, 52, from Bellingham, expressed her frustration with Ferguson’s transparency regarding his state budget decisions.

鈥淭here鈥檚 just no explanation,鈥� Manke stated. 鈥淚鈥檝e felt very hopeless and chaotic because there are no answers. I don鈥檛 know why he鈥檚 doing the things he鈥檚 doing.鈥�

Positive ratings included 19% of voters praising Ferguson’s fights against Trump, 12% believed he was hard-working, and 9% approved of his impact on the state budget.

Voters in the poll indicated that they were not surprised by how Ferguson has handled his first six months, with 44% voting that his performance aligned with their expectations.

Twenty-four percent reported that Ferguson has been worse than expected, and 13% believe he outperformed their initial expectations.

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Wilson believes affordable housing is a solution for solving homelessness, citing a book that views homelessness as a housing issue.

“Where people are coming from is they’re losing their housing,” Wilson said. “Their landlord is coming and saying, ‘You want to renew your lease? Well, that’s going to be $500 a month.’ And they’re looking at it, and they’re saying, ‘I can’t afford that.’ And they’re looking around at the housing market, and they’re saying, ‘There’s nowhere I can go.’ And so, then they’re on a friend’s couch for a while, and then the friend is like, ‘You can’t stay here anymore.’ And then they’re in shelter, and then they’re on the street.”

Katie Wilson’s approach to public safety

When asked if Wilson saw a connection between homelessness and public safety, Wilson answered, “Absolutely.”

“I think we’ve seen a real failure to meaningfully address the homelessness crisis,” she added.

Wilson said that by taking out tents, people are now sleeping in doorways of businesses and then behaving aggressively toward customers.

“So, you’re actually making our public safety problems worse by not meaningfully addressing homelessness,” she said.

When approaching crime hotspots such as Aurora and Little Saigon, Wilson believes the solution is multifaceted.

“It’s going to require the right combination of police response and civilian response and the right coordination,” Wilson shared.

She also believes Harrell’s聽“Stay Out of Area of Prostitution” (SOAP) and “Stay Out of Drug Areas” (SODA)聽laws聽are “performative.”

“It’s tempting to say, ‘We’re cracking down, we’re doing something.’ Those laws have not meaningfully been enforced yet, and that’s really because they’re not very useful. The data on how these laws work in practice shows that people still go into these zones that they’ve been banished from for all kinds of reasons,” Wilson said.

She also advocated for engaging with specific individuals who are causing issues.

Why Katie Wilson believes she can beat Bruce Harrell

成人X站 host John Curley asked Wilson why she believes she could beat Harrell. Wilson pointed to a special-election vote on social housing, approved by voters but opposed by Harrell, arguing it showed a disconnect between the mayor and the public.

“His face was plastered all over the mailers, and Seattle voters just said, ‘No.’ They said, ‘We have an affordability crisis,'” Wilson remarked. “We want to do something about it, and we don’t care what the mayor says.’ And that just taught me how out of touch he is with the struggles that ordinary people are facing 鈥� he doesn’t feel the cost-of-living crisis. And so that really showed me that there was an opening there.”

Wilson also believes Washington Governor Bob Ferguson’s rent control bill, which limits landlords to an annual rent increase of 7% plus the rate of inflation up to a maximum of 10% is “very, very weak.”

“If you’re renting an apartment for $2,000 a month, a 10% increase, and that’s about what the cap is this year, is $200 a month. That is a large rent increase. So, it’s really not demanding very much of landlords,” she said.

“Will government get bigger or smaller if you’re elected?” Curley asked.

“The honest answer to that is, I don’t know, because some of it depends on what happens to the economy and to cuts that Trump might be making that affect Seattle. So even if I want to make it bigger, it might get smaller,” Wilson responded.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 鈥� 7 p.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.

Debora Juarez will serve in District 5 until the election in November of next year.

Debora Juarez first Native American to be selected to council

Juarez was first elected to represent the North Seattle district in 2015 and served as council president. She was the first Native American to be elected to the council. She thanked the other candidates after her appointment.

鈥淥ne last note, I want to share, which I’ve learned from my elders, is there isn’t one leader,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s like a flock of birds. Leadership is shared.鈥�

Cathy Moore resigned, citing health and personal reasons.

Earlier this month, the Seattle City Council narrowed its list of candidates for the vacant District 5 seat from 22 applicants to six finalists.

Among those selected were Debora Juarez, who previously represented District 5 on the City Council, and Nilu Jenks, who ran for the seat in 2023 and currently serves as political and partnerships director for FairVote Washington.

Also on the shortlist were James M. Bourey, executive director of the Seattle Architecture Foundation; Katy Haima, community planning manager for the city of Seattle; Julie Kang, director of professional and continuing education at Seattle University; and Robert Wilson, a Navy veteran who works for Amazon.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for 成人X站 Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.

Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson鈥檚 Pathways to Recovery plan has unanimously cleared the council’s Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee.

Pathways to Recovery would dedicate up to 25% of the revenue, generated by the 0.1% local sales tax, increase to behavioral health and public safety programs, supporting expanded treatment access and community safety initiatives.

“I can’t express how often I pass someone who is bent over from the impacts of sustained drug use and think, ‘How can we just not do something about this poison that is out there?'” Nelson said at a meeting.

Seattle legislation would generate $40 million

The legislation would generate approximately $40 million a year for addiction treatment, diversion services, supportive housing, and facility improvements, making it a potential major step toward tackling addiction and homelessness in Seattle.聽

“For far too long, we have watched people suffering on our streets from untreated addiction and mental illness deteriorate before us,” Nelson stated via a news release. “When we invest in people getting off the street and into treatment, we prevent crime, reduce emergency responses, save lives, and make every neighborhood safer. That is not just fiscally responsible; it is the moral thing to do.”

The full Seattle City Council is expected to vote on Tuesday.

Contributing: Frank Lenzi, 成人X站 Newsradio

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Vance took to a town meeting to suggest several large companies are laying off Americans to then apply to hire people from overseas. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan believes Vance is on to something, according to “The Jason Rantz Show.”

“J.D. is onto something here if, in fact, they’re doing it as just a purely economic decision. You’ve got good employees who are Americans, and you’re saying, ‘We’re paying them X, and we can get foreign individuals to come in and do the same job. We can pay them X minus something else. Some lower salary,’ 鈥� that’s just wrong and that’s what I think troubles Americans,” Jordan said on “The Jason Rantz Show”聽on KTTH.

House Judiciary Chairman looks to pass stricter immigration bill

To prevent companies from hiring foreign workers, Jordan aims to push through the strict immigration bill that made its way through Congress last session.

“I think it puts in place the laws we need, so that in the future, if you get another Joe Biden-type president, they can’t do what Joe Biden did. Open the border, give all kinds of visas. Do all kinds of things they did,” Jordan said. “I want to pass that tough immigration law, and then, in the context of that, if there’s negotiations about some high-skilled visas and everything else, so be it, that’ll happen, but I want to pass the tough legislation.”

There will be 3,120 Microsoft employees laid off in Redmond and Bellevue by Aug. 1, according to the . Microsoft stated the cuts were not related to performance, but instead an effort to reduce layers of management as it continues to heavily invest in artificial intelligence (AI).

Jordan said his committee is looking to pass legislation similar to 鈥� a bill that tightens asylum eligibility and mandates that employers use an electronic system to verify employment eligibility.

“What we need to do is pass H.R. 2-type legislation. That’s what we’re looking to do out of our committee when we get back in the fall,” he shared.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. 鈥� 7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the聽podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on聽,听,听, and聽.

With President Donald Trump promising to impose a 35% tariff on Canadian goods starting August 1, U.S. Senator Patty Murray of Washington and British Columbia Premier David Eby are sounding the alarm.

The U.S. has already imposed a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, which Canada exports to the U.S.

“The trade war that we’re in right now,” Eby asserted at a virtual news conference Wednesday, “is a recipe for mutually assured destruction.”

Eby noted that the Trump administration has threatened or imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, referencing the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act 鈥� the U.S. trade policy widely seen as kicking off a global trade war that contributed to the Great Depression.

Murray pointed out that the growing trade dispute with Canada puts Washington in a particularly vulnerable position.

“We actually import nearly $18 billion in goods from Canada each year,” Murray said, pointing out the benefits go both ways. “Canada is one of our largest trading partners, accounting for, every year, nearly $8 billion in exports, including our seafood, apples, and airplane parts, and more than $2 billion in cross-border tourism and business.”

Canada pulls back from U.S. tourism

Eby said the trade war, and Trump’s suggestion that Canada become the 51st U.S. state, are already taking a toll on tourism from Canada.

“Cross-border visits from B.C. to Washington are down 35%,” he said.

Eby added that Canadians are boycotting some U.S. goods, including alcohol, calling it a “hard but necessary decision.”

A Canadian liquor trade group said sales of U.S. spirits dropped 66.3% between March 5 and April, according to .

Murray blames Trump’s tariff policies

Murray doesn’t blame Canada, but rather Trump’s tariff policies, and she supports legislation that would reassert congress’ authority over tariffs and trade policies.

“It’s very clear that Trump wants to treat tariffs like some reality TV show, constantly playing up the outrage and the uncertainty of the ‘will he won’t he’ drama that he seems to like living in,” she claimed.

Trump insists there has long been a trade imbalance between the U.S. and countries around the world, including its neighbor Canada.

He said tariffs will bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and force our border countries, Canada and Mexico, to work harder to keep illegal drugs and undocumented immigrants from slipping into the U.S.

Read more of Heather Bosch鈥檚 stories聽here.

“A sales tax is not the tool that any of us would have chosen in an ideal world, but the legislature didn’t give us a menu of options,” King County Council Member Girmay Zahilay said. “They gave us one tool, and it’s the only tool available to avoid devastating cuts to our core public safety services.”

The county is facing a budget deficit of about $180 million, mostly due to funding cuts at the federal level.

The shortfall would hamper the county’s ability to fund core public services like sheriff’s deputies, prosecutors, public defenders, and agencies that provide services and support for crime victims.

King County Council member Reagan Dunn votes against tax

During public comment, most were in favor of the tax, even those who expressed concern. King County Council member Reagan Dunn was the only council member to vote against the plan.

“King County has raised taxes by more than 40% on taxpayers over the last 10 years,” Dunn said. “That’s a very significant set of increases, for all kinds of different things.”

The new tax goes into effect January 1, 2026, and puts King County among the highest taxed counties in the state.

Follow James Lynch on聽聽Read more of his stories聽here. Submit news tips聽here.

Cantwell, a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service (NWS), urged the Trump administration to modernize the nation’s weather systems on .

Sen. Cantwell interview on CNN

In early May, NOAA announced that the billion-dollar weather and climate disasters database will be retired as part of a directive from the White House reflecting its ongoing effort to end climate-related programs and services.

Cantwell spoke on CNN to address the need for improved weather forecasting technology that can lengthen the time civilians have to prepare and respond to natural disasters, and limit the number of lives lost and dollars spent during these weather events in the U.S.

“I come from a very disaster-ridden state. We know what it costs us. Let’s get the best weather radar and technology system, do the analytics, and give people fair warning to get the heck out of the way,” Cantwell said. “We know that these storms are costing us billions of dollars and costing us lives.”

Cantwell noted the massive flooding in Kerrville, Texas, and how the modernized weather technology services she is requesting could have had a big impact on residents’ reaction time to the flooding, possibly notifying people days in advance.

“In Kerrville, if we had this kind of technology today, we would have been able to forecast the potential event of this weather pattern because of warm temperatures in the Gulf and process that information into a more searing alert in people’s minds, hours and maybe days ahead of time,” Cantwell said. “Americans should have the best weather system. Why not? Every hurricane is costing us billions of dollars, so why not prevent this?”

Cantwell’s letter to Trump

Cantwell summarized her weather-focused requests for Trump into five segments, which included modernizing weather data collection, analytics, research, modern alert systems, and advanced bipartisan legislation.

鈥淐ommunities across the United States are experiencing more frequent, intense, and costly flash floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, atmospheric rivers, landslides, heatwaves, and wildfires,鈥� Cantwell wrote. 鈥淭he lessons from Kerrville, Palisades, Asheville, Lahaina, and too many other natural disasters are that providing Americans with more timely and accurate weather information can avoid billions in property losses and save lives.”

The first of the five points in Cantwell’s plan spoke to improved weather data collection tools, like radar, hurricane hunters, weather satellites, and ocean buoys that would provide revamped data collections by land, space, air, and sea.

“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create the world鈥檚 best weather forecasting system that would provide Americans with much more detailed and customized alerts days instead of minutes ahead of a looming extreme weather event,鈥� Cantwell wrote.

Cantwell claimed that improving the Doppler radar network could enable meteorologists to deliver more accurate forecasting and increase the amount of time between a weather warning announcement and its arrival.

Hurricane Hunters’ data collections have also improved forecast accuracy by at least 10 to 15% according to studies by the NOAA. Cantwell asked to rebuild the Hurricane Hunter aircraft fleet by replacing the current , which has been in service since the 1970s, and introduce four new .

Weather satellites are also included in Cantwell’s revision, addressing the need to update to the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite system, which can track lightning strikes that start wildfires, and smoke that can impact air quality and human health.

Other pieces of the five-point plan

Cantwell asked for world-leading analytics that can surpass the current European weather forecasting models’ capabilities. This would require more supercomputing and improvements in data analytics.

Additional funding for cutting-edge research was also mentioned, and Cantwell claimed that a NOAA laboratory in Oklahoma is testing a new tornado and extreme weather warning system that could provide an extra two hours to prepare.

The expansion of weather emergency communication channels to inform the public of a natural disaster was also included in the letter. Cantwell explained that emergency communication services such as AM and FM radio, websites, SMS, push notifications, TV, and social media all provide valuable alerts and warning information.

Follow Jason Sutich聽.听厂别苍诲听news tips here.

Tensions spiked when U.S. senators stripped a controversial provision from President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥渂ig, beautiful bill鈥� that would have blocked states from regulating AI for the next decade. The move revealed sharp divides within the tech industry and between both political parties over who should hold the reins on this powerful technology.

J.D. Vance speaks at AI Action Summit in Paris

In February, Vice President J.D. Vance spoke at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, France, in front of business and world leaders, where he outlined the Trump Administration’s regulation plans.

“We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off, because deregulating AI,” Vance said. “This doesn’t mean, of course, that all concerns about safety go out the window, but focus matters, and we must focus now on the opportunity.”

AI leaders answer questions at U.S. Senate Commerce Committee

In May, leaders from AI-leading tech companies ChatGPT, CoreWeave, AMD, and Microsoft answered questions from a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee focused on how regulations could impact American AI competitiveness with tech markets in China and the European Union. However, while each company said they leaned toward less regulation when it comes to AI, their thresholds for that regulation differed.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he understands companies need guardrails when developing and deploying AI solutions, but too much regulation could stifle growth.

“I have the great honor to be one of the parents of the many parents of the AI revolution, and I think it is no accident that that’s happening in America again and again and again, but we need to make sure that we build our systems and that we set our policy in a way where that continues to happen,” Altman said. “Of course, there will be rules. Of course, there need to be some guardrails. This is a very impactful technology, but we need to be able to be competitive globally.”

CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator testified that a patchwork of regulatory overlays will cause friction.

“And the idea that you can make an investment that could then become trapped in a jurisdiction that has a particular type of regulation that would not allow you to make full use of it is really very, very suboptimal and makes the decision-making around infrastructure challenging,” Intrator said.

Microsoft president weighs in on AI debate

At the hearing, Microsoft President Brad Smith outlined a more balanced approach to running the AI race.

“It is a race that no company or country can win by itself,” he said. “To win the AI race, the United States will need to support the private sector at every layer of the AI tech stack. The nation will need to partner with American allies and friends around the world.”

Concerning whether or not the federal government should open the door for U.S. States to deregulate AI, Brad Smith told 成人X站 Newsradio in a one-on-one interview, “States have long played a critical role in, say, protecting children, protecting consumers, and it would be a mistake, in our view, if federal legislation were to preclude their ability to do that, especially under laws of long standing.”

Many congressional Republicans who supported Trump’s proposed regulation moratorium said it would not only prevent a patchwork of rules and regulations, it would ensure American tech companies could compete with recent Chinese breakthroughs in generative AI, like the MiniMax platform that specializes in transforming text into videos and Deep Seek, a more cost-effective solution than leading American models like OpenAI’s GPT-4. AI has scaled faster than ever in China, thanks to a mix of optimism about technology and flexible regulations ready to ebb and flow to keep pace with the U.S. and European Union.

Congressman Adam Smith calls for regulation

For many Democrats like Congressman Adam Smith, not only does he think states and the federal government need regulations, he told 成人X站 Newsradio we should also adopt smart regulations worldwide.

“I’m particularly worried about the Trump approach of sort of, basically, America is going to operate on its own and do our own thing,” Adam Smith said. “Well, the rest of the world is going to do their own thing, and then chaos is the likely result in a whole bunch of different areas.”

Vance: ‘We must focus now on the opportunity to catch lightning in a bottle’

So, what is the right answer for regulating AI?

“Focus matters, and we must focus now on the opportunity to catch lightning in a bottle, unleash our most brilliant innovators, and use AI to improve the well-being of our nations and their peoples,” Vice President Vance said in Paris.

Using that analogy, strict regulation could be like keeping lightning locked tight inside that bottle. Less regulation could mean letting a little bit of that lightning at a time, but not enough to burn down the house. And complete deregulation could be like letting that lightning loose and just hoping it doesn’t torch everything around us.

For Adam Smith, he said the debate won’t be over anytime soon.

“I’m sure that what we saw the last few weeks was the opening chapter of what will probably become a book of debate and law, and regulation, and there’s a number of chapters still to be written,” Adam Smith said.

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The maximum allowable rent increase for 2026 is聽9.683%, according to a from the Department of Commerce Friday.

The cap will be in effect from January 1 to December 31, 2026.

Rent cap for 2026 aligns with House Bill 1217

In May, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law landmark , which improves housing stability for tenants subject to the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act and the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act by limiting rent increases, as stated on the Washington State Legislature’s .

Therefore, the Department of Commerce is required to publish the percentage for all rental units subject to the .

Two amendments were added to HB 1217 by the Senate, changing the cap from a flat 7% to a choice of whichever is lower between a 7% raise with inflation or a flat 10%. The second amendment exempts single-family homes, which represent approximately 38% of Washington renters.

The bill also bars landlords from raising rents during the first 12 months of a new tenancy. The rent-increase cap for manufactured and mobile homes is set at 5%.

The maximum annual rent increase percentage will be posted each year on the , shortly after the mid-July release of June data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Commerce noted.

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

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The court ruled that the state was “unable to explain why the language in 搂 1(b) of the bill doubled down on singling out clergy.”

Last month, the Justice Department聽 legal action against the State of Washington over this state law.

“Today鈥檚 court victory for Washington鈥檚 Catholic bishops and priests, in the face of the state鈥檚 unconstitutional attack on the sacred seal of Confession, sends a message,” Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at Thomas More Society, said. “The government has no place interfering in the deeply held religious practices and sacramental life of the Church.”

Those opposing the law, including Archbishop of Seattle Paul Etienne, argued it violates the free exercise of religion for all Catholics, and requires Catholic priests to violate the confidentiality seal of Confession. Violating the confidentiality seal that accompanies the sacred rite of Confession subjects them to immediate excommunication from the Catholic Church.

“After the apostles were arrested and thrown into jail for preaching the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responds to the Sanhedrin: ‘We must obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29),” Etienne said. “This is our stance now in the face of this new law. Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of Confession 鈥� or they will be excommunicated from the Church. All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential, and protected by the law of the Church.”

In the brief, Thomas More Society attorneys highlighted SB 5375鈥檚 “discriminatory” purpose, which includes the removal of the prior clergy-penitent privilege exception and the sponsoring legislator鈥檚 “disparaging” remarks about Confession.

The Justice Department鈥檚 lawsuit argued that the violations imposed by this new law include deprivations of the Free Exercise of Religion under the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

鈥淟aws that explicitly target religious practices such as the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church have no place in our society,鈥� Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department鈥檚 Civil Rights Division stated. 鈥淪enate Bill 5375 unconstitutionally forces Catholic priests in Washington to choose between their obligations to the Catholic Church and their penitents or face criminal consequences, while treating the priest-penitent privilege differently than other well-settled privileges. The Justice Department will not sit idly by when States mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.鈥�

The law was initially set to take effect on July 27.

Advocates for the bill: 鈥楥hildren must come first鈥�

Child protection advocates have long pushed for closing what they see as a dangerous loophole in reporting laws.

Proponents said the bill is essential in ensuring no institution, religious or otherwise, is above the law when it comes to protecting children from abuse.

When the bill was being debated before the committee vote, Representative Natasha Hill (D-Spokane) said that the bill鈥檚 notoriety may lead to people not speaking about child abuse during Confession.

鈥淲e鈥檝e heard, maybe this bill isn鈥檛 going to require as much mandatory reporting as maybe we think it will,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f folks are not going to clergy, into the confessional, to confess these sins in hopes of forgiveness, then this isn鈥檛 going to have as big of an impact on our clergy.鈥�

Washington is one of only five states that does not require clergy to report suspected child abuse, a fact that supporters say has led to systematic cover-ups and unpunished crimes.

Hill also addressed the separation between church and state issue.

鈥淚 think that this is an opportunity for church and state to really work together, to make sure folks get the support, the treatment, the interventions that they need,鈥� she said. 鈥淣obody is above the law, that there鈥檚 no veil, there鈥檚 no curtain to hide behind when it comes to child abuse, and especially sexual abuse.鈥�

The Department鈥檚 motion to intervene in Etienne v. Ferguson is pending before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

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Pacific County Court records showed Swank was arrested by a Washington State Patrol (WSP) trooper on February 23, 2007 for DUI and was arraigned four days later. According to court documents, his blood alcohol level registered .21聽 鈥� more than twice the legal limit in Washington.

成人X站 Newsradio asked Sheriff Swank several questions, from his comments on his 2007 arrest to how his own arrest has influenced his policies concerning employee DUIs as an elected sheriff. Swank emailed his reply through a Pierce County Sheriff鈥檚 Office spokesperson, stating, “This is a recycled, 18-year-old story about a charge that was rightly downgraded because I was simply asleep in a parked, privately owned car 鈥� not driving or endangering anyone.”

In April 2007, with an attorney by his side, court records said Swank entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty in exchange for the lesser charge of first-degree negligent driving. Swank was sentenced to serve 90 days in jail, with all 90 days suspended, and two years’ probation, which court records show ended April 24, 2009.

Monday, Swank commented on Dickerson鈥檚 arrest and crash, saying, “If there was a law violation here, then Major Dickerson will be held to the highest standard here at the agency and also within the court system itself. I want everyone to know that I am deeply saddened and sorry about what happened. The victims are in our thoughts and prayers. Please allow the legal process to proceed. It will take some time.”

Pierce County Sheriff鈥檚 Office Major’s DUI arrest

According to WSP, Dickerson failed to yield the right of way at the intersection of 132nd Avenue E. and 288th Street E. in Graham and collided with an SUV. The six occupants in the Ford Expedition SUV included a 27-year-old woman who was driving and is seven months pregnant, her 30-year-old husband, her three children, ages 8, 4, and 3, and her 57-year-old mother, who suffered several broken bones, according to WSP.

New information about Dickerson following the crash, according to Pierce County court documents, showed discrepancies between law enforcement over whether Dickerson exhibited any signs of alcohol use, and whether he left the scene of the accident after being told to remain until investigators arrived.

Pierce County prosecutors said a deputy at the scene, who was described as a technical collision investigator, instructed Dickerson to remain at the scene until WSP Trooper Shannon McKenzie arrived to investigate. However, Dickerson left the scene after his wife picked him up.

“The deputies informed Trooper McKenzie that Dickerson had been picked up by his wife and transported to MultiCare Emergency at 132nd Street and SR 161,” Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Loren Halstrom said in a probable cause declaration.

In an email to 成人X站 Newsradio on Wednesday, Deputy Carly Cappetto, spokesperson for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, explained that reports filed by deputies at the accident scene said Dickerson was advised to remain on scene by a Pierce County “traffic tech,” but was later allowed to leave.

According to Cappetto, the “traffic tech” informed a Pierce County sergeant that a WSP investigator “had extended an estimated arrival time,” but said Dickerson was to remain at the scene until WSP arrived. As time passed, Cappetto said the sergeant, then in charge of the scene, reported Dickerson was “wincing,” “grabbing at his right side,” and “his condition seemed to be getting worse.”

Dickerson declined the firefighters’ offer to transport him to a hospital, according to Cappetto, as his wife took him to an Urgent Care facility instead.

“Dickerson鈥檚 family arrived on scene and eventually convinced him to seek medical attention,” Cappetto said. “The sergeant told Dickerson he could leave since he noticed Dickerson鈥檚 condition appeared to be getting worse. Dickerson鈥檚 wife transported him to seek medical attention, and the sergeant remained on scene to advise WSP when they arrived where they could contact Dickerson.”

The court documents also said that when McKenzie asked if Dickerson showed any signs of impairment before leaving the scene, deputies said no.

“When asked about signs of impairment, deputies on scene informed Trooper McKenzie that they did not observe any and stated there were no odors of intoxicants,” Halstrom stated. “When asked if Dickerson was speaking normally, they advised there was no slurring in his speech.”

Later, at the Urgent Care, WSP said they found several indicators of impairment and arrested Dickerson on suspicion of DUI.

“While speaking with Dickerson about the collision, troopers noted several indicators of impairment, including bloodshot watery eyes, and a strong odor of intoxicants on his breath,” a WSP press release stated.

The Pierce County Sheriff鈥檚 Office (PCSO) said they requested WSP to take over the crash investigation, based on the severity of the collision and Dickerson鈥檚 position with PCSO.

成人X站 Newsradio asked Swank what he thinks about his DUI arrest, and if the recent arrest of Dickerson says anything about the culture within his command staff. Swank did not respond to those specific questions and instead just reacted to questions concerning his own arrest. Swank hired Dickerson, a 25-year veteran of law enforcement, to oversee and lead the county’s criminal division.

成人X站 Newsradio also asked SPD about their knowledge and any actions taken in connection with Swank鈥檚 2007 arrest. SPD didn鈥檛 answer at the time of publishing this article.

As an SPD Officer, Swank earned commendations for his work from some supervisors. According to his bio on the PCSO’s website, he commanded the SPD SWAT team, “responsible for clearing and securing the CHOP/CHAZ zone during the 2020 Seattle riots, one of many operations that highlighted his decisive leadership in high-pressure, life-or-death situations.” In 2006, the year before his DUI arrest, Swank鈥檚 bio page said he played a pivotal role in de-escalating a hostage situation involving a mass shooter at the Seattle Jewish Federation.

Swank also faced controversy throughout his 30-year career with SPD, including an internal complaint about social media posts sent by him that pushed conspiracy theories about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In one post, Swank said the attack was planned by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and called Pelosi a criminal who needed to be held accountable.

In 2011, SPD suspended Swank without pay for his role during an incident involving an officer, under Swank鈥檚 command, who threatened to beat the 鈥�(expletive) Mexican piss鈥� out of a Hispanic man detained on suspicion of robbery. That man was later released because he was not involved in the robbery. He eventually settled a civil lawsuit filed against the city in which he claimed officers had kicked him. Swank was pointed out for an alleged 鈥済laring鈥� lack of supervision.

In a disciplinary report, signed by former interim SPD Chief Sue Rahr, Swank was accused of making “disrespectful” and “biased, inflammatory” social media posts in 2023 while working as a police captain. The report claimed Swank made anti-transgender comments on social media and claimed Democrats deeply enjoyed chopping up babies, in reference to abortion rights. Rahr also noted Swank used the word 鈥渢hug鈥� referring to a black teenager and called the comment, 鈥渁 racially charged slur [that] could reasonably be construed to be a prejudice and/or derogatory comment based on race.”

Soon after the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) started an investigation into Swank鈥檚 posts, he retired from SPD in 2023. He was elected as Pierce County sheriff in November 2024.

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The council passed the welcoming jurisdiction policy by an 8-1 margin. King County Council member Reagan Dunn was the lone dissenting vote.

“This action builds on King County’s legacy and commitment to ensuring immigrants and refugees are not only welcome here, but they are protected here,” King County Council member Teresa Mosqueda said.

King County measure aims to make refugees, immigrants feel safe

Immigrants and refugees comprise 25% of the King County population. The measure aims to make it clear that everything that can be done will be done to make sure our immigrant and refugee populations feel safe. Mosqueda said it’s a matter of trust.

“We know that welcoming jurisdiction policies, like the one we are enhancing today, are critical for ensuring residents can trust their local government,” she said. “When welcoming jurisdiction policies are in place, they assure that every resident is able to trust their local government. That means more people attend school, more people attend public health clinics, more people can rely on county hospitals like ours, and critically, more people can trust their local law enforcement in moments of crisis.”

The measure is meant to counter what’s happening at the federal level with President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” passed and signed into law last week.

The council also intends to consider legislation that would ensure county employees do not cooperate with or assist with any surveillance programs.

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According to , U.S. District Court Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled that the Trump administration must allow entry for the approximately 80 refugees who were already approved and cleared all requirements.

The case was brought to Whitehead by refugee groups, including Lutheran Community Services Northwest, based in Tacoma. These groups argued in the lawsuit against the Trump administration that the halted refugee admissions, via an executive order issued on Trump’s first day in office, need to be allowed into the U.S.

Whitehead agreed, ruling the president鈥檚 order “crossed the line” of separation of powers. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed Whitehead鈥檚 ruling only to allow the entry of refugees whose applications were approved before Trump signed the executive order, according to The Washington State Standard.

Whitehead also ordered the government to speed up entry for unaccompanied kids and Afghan refugees in Qatar.

The ruling is expected to be appealed.

This is a developing story, check back for updates

“Today鈥檚 decision granted the injunction and confirms the city has failed to stop ongoing illegal activity at Denny Blaine Park 鈥� including public sex and masturbation, indecent exposure, and lewd conduct,” Denny Blaine Park for All wrote in a statement. “The injunction is a necessary step to make the park safe for everyone, giving the city two weeks to do what it has ignored for years: respond to very real complaints and restore public safety.”

The court has ordered the City of Seattle to submit a plan of abatement within 14 days.

Seattle City Attorney pushed back against motion to close Denny Blaine Park

Last week, Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison pushed back against a motion to close Denny Blaine Park, a nude beach that has faced scrutiny for criminal activity.

Davison said the park should stay open, asserting nudity is not the issue and wrote that the “queer nude space has a social utility” in her response to the lawsuit filed by neighbors in King County Superior Court, 聽reported Thursday.

Reported criminal behavior at Denny Blaine Park

Denny Blaine Park for All filed the motion seeking an emergency closure of the park, citing public masturbation, sex acts, drug use, and harassment, according to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Davison noted that while nudity is not the problem, criminal behavior should not be tolerated.

“The city submits that nudity at Denny Blaine is not a nuisance and is not properly abated by this court,” Davison wrote in the response to neighbors’ motion for a preliminary injunction. “Public nudity is subject to city regulation, and the city has chosen not to enforce nudity regulations at Denny Blaine. However, the city has not consented to the alleged drug and alcohol use at the park, or to illegal parking and masturbation.”聽

Denny Blaine for All has submitted evidence of daily dangerous incidents, alleging that visitors are harassed, there are blatant sex acts, and the park is littered with condoms and needles, “The Jason Rantz Show” reported.

Despite countless 911 calls and one neighbor meeting with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, plaintiffs said nothing has changed.

This story was originally published on July 3, 2025. It has been updated and republished since then.

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The trigger modifiers were seized by the federal department while President Joe Biden was in office, but were ruled to return to their previous owners throughout the country under President Donald Trump, except in the 16 states that created a coalition to block the return of forced reset triggers.

“What really happened is that the ATF promulgated a rule under the Biden administration that said that these triggers, standing alone, constituted machine guns and attempted a federal confiscation effort,” Bill Kirk, the president of Washington Gun Law, said on “The John Curley Show.” “Subsequent lawsuits proved that the ATF had acted in an Ultra vires fashion, contrary to the Administrative Procedures Act, and, in a settlement agreement between the ATF and the National Association for Gun Rights, agreed that they would withdraw that rule-making order and return all of the confiscated triggers.

“What happened in the interim time between the confiscation and return date is [that] many states did pass laws that ban these items specifically,” Kirk added. “What the Attorneys General wanted to do is say, if we have these laws in place, our people shouldn’t have those items returned. That’s what actually happened with that.”

Washington is a state that defines automatic weapons by rate of fire, meaning any device that increases the rate of fire beyond the statutory limitation can be outlawed.

The states involved in the coalition to block this gun modification alongside Washington are Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

“Why does somebody who has one of these need one of these?” 成人X站 host John Curley asked. “Does it not actually turn the thing basically into an automatic weapon?”

“I don’t know if anyone does need one,” Kirk said. “I don’t think we define rights by need.”

All conversations recorded in WA gun stores

Effective July 1, all gun stores with $1,000 or more in monthly sales are required to have an audio recording of every conversation that takes place inside the shop. This law comes in addition to requirements of needing 24-hour video surveillance, bars, grates, and security screens on all windows, and commercial-grade metal doors for each point of entry.

“They’re just trying to invade the privacy of lawful, responsible gun owners,” Kirk said. “They believe that somehow or another, gun stores are contributing to the gun violence problem, when in fact, they’re not.”

Kirk shared that, at the very least, the audio is only required to be stored for 90 days. He claimed that the original law would have put many stores out of business due to the infrastructure changes needed.

“What the listener needs to be aware of is that anytime you see a camera inside a gun store right now, on the inside of it, there is a microphone that is recording the audio that’s taking place underneath it,” Kirk said “So again, I don’t want this to have a chilling effect, which is exactly what the state of Washington wants to have on the FFL [Federal Firearms License] industry, but I want people to be mindful of the fact that they are, in fact, being recorded when they step into their favorite gun store.”

“Why does [Washington] say they need the audio?” Curley asked.

“They believe that they need the audio to ensure that firearms are not being sold to people who are otherwise unlawful in possessing them,” Kirk answered. “Shockingly, the gun stores can tell that from the background check that they run on every single person that tries to buy a gun at their gun store.”

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 鈥� 7 p.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.

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KTTH host Jason Rantz noted that the topic of transgender women and girls in sports will come up during the race and asked Smith for his opinion on “The Jason Rantz Show.”

“I don’t think that any legislative body should govern that one way or the other,” Smith responded. “I think the individual leagues in question should make the decision that they believe is fair and competitive. And I think in some instances, yes, if you are a biological man, I think those individual sports 鈥� but I don’t want 11-year-olds having to go through a genital exam before they can join a
sport.”

Regarding undergoing an exam, Rantz said, “You realize that never happens, right?”

Smith ignored the question but said, “If you have a competitive problem, then I think the individual league should be allowed to make those choices.”

“But they can’t,” Rantz rebutted.

“Well, I think they should,” Smith responded.

Rantz pointed out that the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) stated that even if an amendment to separate genders was passed, the organization couldn鈥檛 enforce it because doing so would violate state anti-discrimination laws.

Rep. Adam Smith: Trans people in sports should be an ‘individual competitive decision’

“I don’t agree that those types of laws should be passed,” Smith replied. “I don’t think a law should be passed to dictate to individual sports leagues, on the transgender issue, who they have to play. I think that has to be an individual competitive decision.”

Smith added that he believes conservatives are blowing the issue out of proportion to score political points. He also thinks people are ignoring the fact that the transgender community is facing “massive discrimination.”

“The reason that they don’t want to allow you to be barred from doing this is to try to get to the point where they are treated at least somewhat equally,” Smith said. “When you got a president that is outright banning any transgender person from serving in the military 鈥� that is discrimination. That is denying the existence of transgender people, and that is what they’re concerned about.”

However, Rantz countered, saying, “It’s not that they’re denying the existence of transgender people. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s literally acknowledging the existence of trans people.”

“Banning them from being able to 鈥� well, I suppose you’re right,” Smith said. “In that particular context, it’s right, but there’s all kinds of conversion therapy issues. ‘No, you’re just a freak.’ ‘You’re wrong.’ I mean, you heard what Charlie Kirk has said about transgender people. He calls them freaks and lunatics and weirdos and crazy people, and then transgender people get beat up and assaulted. So the effort to try to get equality for transgender people is not the joke the conservatives seem to think it is.”

“Democrats argue that allowing and forcing sporting competitions is about discrimination or anti-discrimination?” Rantz asked.

“Yeah. Well, it’s about the broader issue of discrimination,” Smith responded.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. 鈥� 7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the聽podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on聽,听,听, and聽.