Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee has signed into law a bill that limits how schools conduct “active-shooter” drills involving life-like simulations. House Bill 1941, signed into law last week, requires any drills to be “trauma-informed and age and developmentally appropriate ” for students. In addition, the measure requires school employees to notify all students, teachers and staff before conducting any shooting-safety lockdown drills. “Active-shooter drills are associated with increases in depression, anxiety and fears about death among children as...
OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee said lawmakers delivered on his call to take “big, bold, action,” after the 60-day legislative session closed March 10, working until the midnight deadline to pass a $64.1 billion supplemental state budget. In addition to boosting spending by $5 billion in the current biennium, legislators approved the first major transportation funding package since 2015. Here’s what passed: Longterm care One of the earliest actions was to halt the state’s long-term care benefit program by 18-months. Both Democrats and Republica...
OLYMPIA – Some educators are pushing for children’s enrollment in school by age 5. Currently, Washington parents are allowed to delay their child’s enrollment with the local school system until age 8. If Senate Bill 5537 passes, it changes to 5. The Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee held a public hearing on the bill on Jan. 14. “By adjusting the compulsory age to 5, we are aligned with the majority of states and closer to alignment with our Pacific coast neighbors,” said Sen. Lisa Wellman, D-Mercer Island, sponsor of the bill...
OLYMPIA - On the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Capitol rally, Gov. Jay Inslee announced he will support legislation criminalizing lying about election results. "It should not be legal in the state of Washington for elected officials or candidates for office to willfully lie about these election results," he said during a Jan. 6 press conference last week. He was referring to alleged false statements made about the presidential election of 2020 being stolen by now-president Joe Biden. Making...
