Governor Jay Inslee got a briefing on the wildfire threatening several Washington towns.
Governor Jay Inslee got a briefing yesterday on the wildfire threatening several Washington towns. Office of Governor Jay Inslee

"Worry, Uncertainty" as Washington Towns Stare Down Wildfires: The Jolly Mountain Fire now covers 23,000 acres and currently threatens more than 900 structures near Lake Cle Elum, the Seattle Times reports. Officials have warned residents of Roslyn to be ready to evacuate if necessary, Governor Jay Inslee has declared a statewide emergency, and the Washington Department of Natural Resources has extended its burn ban to cover the entire state. The smoke here in Seattle should start to clear up today and be gone by tomorrow.

Oregon Is Still on Fire, Too: The fire burning the Columbia River Gorge, which may have been started by some idiot teens, is now at 20,000 acres in its fifth day. Here's what it looks like right now.

Republican Congressman Dave Reichert Is Not Running for Re-Election:


State Attorney General Bob Ferguson to Announce "Multistate Legal Action Involving DACA" at 10:30: So says a press release from Ferguson's office. Yesterday, President Donald Trump's administration announced plans to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. We'll have more details about the legal action here on Slog later this morning.

Local Dreamers, Officials, and Advocates Rallied for DACA Yesterday: Seattle recipients of program gathered alongside elected leaders and advocates:





You've Got to Read This: Sydney Brownstone on the rise of Trump-style nativism in our backyard.

UW to Build Employee Housing: It'll be at least four years until the housing opens and a financing plan still needs to be finalized, but the University of Washington plans to build 150 units of affordable housing for some of its employees who can't afford to live near campus.

Hurricane Irma: Has already ripped off roofs and flooded homes in the Caribbean and is now headed toward Puerto Rico and Florida.

Teen Dies After Fist Fight: Marysville Police arrested a 15-year-old boy after he and a 16-year-old boy got in a fist fight and the 16-year-old suffered a brain injury and died, the Associated Press reports.

State Attorney General Sues Tacoma Hospital He Says Failed to Provide Charity Care: Washington AG Bob Ferguson is suing St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma for allegedly withholding charity care from low-income patients since 2012. Under state law, hospitals are required to screen low-income patients for discounted or free care. Ferguson's office says St. Joseph's senior management knew about the failure "and did nothing." A spokesperson for the company that runs the hospital said, "We carefully consider all charity care applications we receive and approve all who qualify."

Unions Want to Hand Out Replacement Democracy Vouchers: In an attempt to help people who lost or threw out their democracy vouchers (the $100 in publicly funded vouchers residents can donate to any city council or city attorney candidate), the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission has allowed candidates to hand out forms to voters who need to request replacement vouchers. Now, several unions in town want to be able to do the same thing. (Unlike candidates, they would not be able to actually collect the vouchers, just help voters replace them if they lost them.) The unions pushing for the change have all endorsed Teresa Mosqueda in the race for city council position 8.

Workplace Culture Changes Promised at Male-Dominated Fish and Wildlife Department: After investigations found a "sexualized culture" at Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife, leadership is promising more sexual harassment training and new resources for employees, reports the Northwest News Network's Austin Jenkins.

Seattle City Council Recognizes Filipino Town: "Responding to an outcry from Filipino Americans and others, the Seattle City Council added 'historic Filipino Town' on Monday to a resolution aimed at helping the Chinatown International District preserve its unique culture and history amid redevelopment," the Seattle Times reports. Although the resolution initially included a reference to "historic Manilatown," that language was removed, sparking the outcry.

"An Extraordinarily Difficult Summer" for the Washington State Ferries: Yikes. In response to anger over delays on the ferry to Vashon, the state ferries system issued a letter saying, in part: "Since Memorial Day, five of our 22 vessels have undergone extended, unplanned repairs. Currently, four of those 22 vessels are out of commission, leaving only 18 boats to operate a summer schedule requiring 19 boats to run at full capacity. One of those 18 boats (the 50-year-old Kaleetan on the Seattle/Bremerton route) is running at half-power because of a problem with one of its propulsion generators."

Traffic Got So Bad this Guy Started Taking His Cessna to Work: Okay.