(The Center Square) – A group of former foster children in Washington who sued the state for failing to protect them from abuse in foster care won a landmark case before the Washington Supreme Court on Thursday that could have far reaching consequences for hundreds of pending cases against the state. The group of plaintiffs brought negligence suits against the state for failing to protect them from abuse in foster care and sought child welfare
(The Center Square) – The Spokane Transit Authority is asking voters to approve a major sales tax this August, as local business leaders argue that it essentially acts as a reserve building tool for the agency. The STA Board of Directors voted 7-2 on Wednesday to place a 0.2% sales tax renewal on the August ballot, after another 5-4 vote in favor of including a 20-year sunset clause. The renewal accounts for a fraction of
(The Center Square) – The six FIFA World Cup games scheduled for Seattle in June and July should boost the city’s tourism industry, despite the cancellation of thousands of room reservations that hotels had blocked out for the games organizers. But what’s unclear is how much of an uplift there will be. Seattle Tourism officials have lowered their economic impact forecast by about 10%, but that was before the Iran war, which has caused a
(The Center Square) – A Washington state Senator who was gerrymandered out of her district is hoping Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling concerning how states draw districts affecting minority voters will bring changes here. The U.S. Supreme Court has now limited the scope of the Voting Rights Act, constraining the use of race as a factor when drawing congressional maps. Justices ruled 6-3 that Louisiana’s 2024 congressional map, which was redrawn to create a second
