Seattle judge indefinitely halts birthright citizenship order

Hundreds of ballots were damaged after a Clark County ballot box was found burning in the Fisher’s Landing neighborhood of Vancouver Monday morning. A suspicious device was found next to the box, Vancouver police said.

A similar incident had been reported about an hour earlier across the river in Portland, damaging three ballots. Police say the incidents likely are connected.

Around 4 a.m. Monday, the Vancouver Police Department received a call about the ballot box at 3510 SE 164th Ave. smoking and on fire. The FBI also is investigating the incident, police said.

Ballots suffered both fire and water damage, though the full extent is not yet known. While all Clark County ballot boxes were freshly equipped this year with fire suppression devices, it did not prevent the damage in this incident, Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey told Cascade PBS. Some ballots were able to be processed and counted, he said.

Elections officials in Clark County are drying the ballots for a more accurate assessment of the damage, and will contact affected voters, Kimsey said. He said the county will also mail replacement ballots to those affected, with an explanation of what happened. Kimsey also encouraged voters who deposited their ballots at that drop box after 11 a.m. Saturday to contact the county to get a new ballot. Voters can also check their ballot status at voter.votewa.gov.

Kimsey said Clark County elections will also collect ballots from its 23 drop boxes by 5:30 p.m. between now and the election, and encouraged voters to get their ballots in before the boxes are emptied. Law enforcement will also step up patrols near the drop boxes, Kimsey said.

It is the second time in a month that a Clark County ballot box was targeted with a suspicious device. The earlier incident took place Oct. 8, before general election ballots had been sent to voters.

Vancouver is the largest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, which has a closely contested race between U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA3) and Republican challenger Joe Kent.

Free school lunches increased by 32% in the 2024-2025 school year, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. That means at least 70% – 775,000 of Washington’s 1.1 million students – have access to free school lunches.

In the 2023-2024 school year, 1,269 schools offered free meals funded by the federal government, also known as the Community Eligibility Provision, to students, and that number increased to 1,523 schools the following year. Schools get community eligibility to provide free lunches to all students regardless of income if they can document high numbers of students from low-income families.

OSPI worked with the state Legislature to increase the number of students eligible for free lunches by supplementing the funding of federal programs to cover the full or partial cost of school meals for eligible students.

To be eligible, students’ family income must be at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty line. A family of four that makes a monthly income of $3,380 or less is eligible for free student lunch.

However, the federal dollars aren’t enough to cover the increased demand for these lunches, leaving the burden for schools to pay for it in their budgets or make up the difference in their paid school lunch programs.

OSPI is requesting additional funding to make up these differences due to increased school participation, requesting $108 million a year for the program, a budget increase of $17.5 million annually.

During the pandemic, many families and students received universal free breakfast and lunch, but that ended in 2022. In 2023, a bill was passed requiring districts to pursue community eligibility to continue providing meals, falling short of its original goal to provide free meals for all students, as California and Maine do.

 At schools with universal free meals, staff are freed from tracking and collecting meal debt from students and can instead focus on quality meals, OSPI said. OSPI said these universal meal programs are an economic boost to families in need.

“When students participate in universal meal programs, their participation can save their families up to $1,200 per year that they might otherwise be spending on meals during the school day,” said State Superintendent Chris Reykdal in the press release email. “Especially as we all battle rising inflation and our budgets getting tighter, these programs provide much needed financial relief to families statewide.”

Ballots for November’s general election are due to be mailed to voters Friday, Oct. 18. Voters need to submit their ballots to a drop box by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, or postmarked by that day. Many counties, such as King, Thurston and Spokane, are ahead of the game and have already sent them out. Washington has been a vote-by-mail state since 2011.

Voters this year will weigh in on numerous issues, including preferences for U.S. President, U.S. Senator and congressional representatives as well as 12 statewide Washington races: governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, commissioner of public lands, insurance commissioner, auditor, treasurer and three state Supreme Court positions. State lawmakers in the House of Representatives and half of the state senators are also up for election this year.

Voters statewide will also be asked about four ballot initiatives: Initiative 2109 to repeal the state’s capital gains tax, I-2117 to repeal the state’s cap-and-invest program, I-2124 to make the Washington Cares program optional instead of mandatory and I-2066 to prohibit bans on natural gas usage.

Local races are on the ballot as well, with hundreds of county commissioners, district judges and local measures on the ballot. Seattle will decide on a special election for a city council seat and a transportation levy on the ballot.

You can check out the Cascade PBS Voter Guide to learn more about the candidates and issues. To check your ballot status, you can look at the voter portal at the Washington Secretary of State’s website. If you don’t receive your ballot by mail, you can contact your county elections office. If you haven’t yet registered to vote or need to change your registration, you can do it online or through the mail by Oct. 28, or in person at your local county elections office by election day, Nov. 5.

Public health officials are responding to a pertussis outbreak at Washington State University.  

There are 18 reported cases of pertussis — also known as whooping cough — in Whitman County as of Oct. 8, officials from Whitman County Public Health said in a news release. All but one of those came from WSU.  

The agency advises those with diagnosed cases to isolate themselves until they complete a five-day course of antibiotics. Isolation involves staying home from work, school or other public places.  

The public health agency said there is no outbreak occurring outside of WSU but has advised residents to take preventive measures, including talking to a health provider after close contact with someone diagnosed with pertussis, staying updated on pertussis immunizations and practicing good hygiene, including covering the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing and washing hands frequently.  

Pertussis is a respiratory illness caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria. The disease spreads through small drops of saliva from one’s mouth or nose when one sneezes. Spread is more likely to occur among those who live together or spend a lot of time outdoors.  

The sponsor behind several initiatives on the November ballot faces a $20,000 fine from the state’s Public Disclosure Commission after the agency said it determined the sponsor, the political action committee Let’s Go Washington, violated state campaign finance laws by failing to maintain and produce necessary records regarding the use of subcontractors to gather signatures for the initiatives. 

In a statement issued Wednesday, the commission noted that half of the fine could be suspended if Let’s Go Washington meets certain conditions, including paying half the amount owed within 30 days. 

The commission held a hearing on Oct. 3 to weigh any fines against Let’s Go Washington over delays in providing required details about campaign finance reports. Additionally, PDC staff alleged that Let’s Go Washington was not clear about whether the five contractors tasked with gathering signatures for the initiatives had hired subcontractors. Under state campaign finance laws, the commission can issue fines of up to $10,000 for each campaign violation.

“LGW has an obligation to inquire and confirm whether its contractors have used sub vendors,” the commission wrote in its order. “Failing to ask or failing to follow up on a contractor’s non-response or refusal to provide the information is insufficient. If this were the standard, any committee could simply ignore the issue and argue it has no knowledge of its contractor’s actions and nothing to report.”

The commission’s final order did note, however, that Let’s Go Washington “properly reported the allocation of its expenditures” totaling more than $12 million. 

Brian Heywood, the Redmond-based hedge fund manager and sponsor behind Let’s Go Washington, said in a statement Wednesday that the organization is evaluating its options with the PDC order and claimed that PDC staff were “gaslighting” in their press release.

“PDC staff never asked for full books of account until August, which we promptly turned over,” Heywood noted. “We were fined for not disclosing sub vendors even though we had no knowledge of any use of sub vendors, and even if we again prove no sub vendors were used, we are still fined $5,000.”

Heywood added that the political action committee has filed its own complaints “based on this new standard” with the PDC against the six groups who first filed the complaints using the same grounds and that Let’s Go Washington expects a prompt investigation before the election on Nov. 5.   

The three initiatives in question would impact current state laws in different ways: I-2117 would repeal the state’s cap-and-invest program and prohibit lawmakers from imposing any similar measures in the future; I-2104 would allow Washington residents to opt out of the state’s long term care program; and I-2109 would repeal the state’s capital gains tax.

With two other researchers, University of Washington biochemistry professor David Baker received the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for his work in computational protein design. 

Translation: He is a pioneer in designing and creating artificial proteins. His co-recipients are Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, artificial intelligence researchers at DeepMind Technologies Limited, a British-American research laboratory and subsidiary of Google. 

“Let’s be honest. This is as good as it gets. He’s a local kid. Garfield High … Now he has a global impact,” said UW president Ana Mari Cauce at a Wednesday press conference at the university. “Other scientists cite his work as critical to their work.”  

“He has created proteins that we have never seen before,” said Timothy Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine and the University of Washington School of Medicine. 

Baker, 62, has been a UW School of Medicine researcher since the early 1990s. 

“The idea that you could make new [proteins] was a crazy idea … It was kind of the lunatic fringe for many years,” Baker said. “We’ve learned a lot about designing proteins with new functions … We are just at the beginning of the impacts.”  

Proteins are strings of amino acids that occur in nature. Proteins support other biochemical structures, act as catalysts to help form hormones and enzymes, and affect cells. “Proteins are the workhorses for all living things,” Baker said. 

The artificial proteins leading to the Nobel Prize could be used to create new vaccines, block infections, aid Alzheimer’s and cancer research and help break down plastics at the molecular level, among numerous other applications. 

Baker’s lab is on the UW campus. Half of the lab houses many graduate and post-doctoral researchers designing proteins on computers. A glass wall separates them from a biochemistry lab where the materials are mixed to see if new proteins work as intended. 

“You have to have very precise movements and structures,” said post-doctoral researcher Florence Hardy.  

“It’s very exciting. Intense,” said Ph.D. candidate Avi Swartz.  

Post-doctoral researcher Yujia Wang is designing proteins to speed reactions in enzyme research. Ph.D. candidate Stephanie Harris is designing a protein to be used as a tool to study how cells signal each other. “I think it’s cool,” she said. 

Baker has published more than 640 peer-reviewed research papers and been awarded over 100 patents, while co-founding 21 biotechnology companies. 

Cauce noted that the 62-year-old Baker is young for a Nobel Prize winner, adding that for him “The best is yet to come.” 

Washington has joined 20 other states plus the District of Columbia by filing a lawsuit Tuesday against TikTok, alleging the social media platform targets youths to keep them hooked on the site to the point that usage damages their mental health.

As of Tuesday, eight states filed similar lawsuits. Another 12 plus Washington, D.C., are expected to file their lawsuits this week, according to a press release from the Washington Attorney General’s Office.

Washington’s lawsuit in King County Superior court charges TikTok with violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act. 

The lawsuit alleges that TikTok has published misleading public statements about the platform’s content moderation, despite its own research showing the risks to young users, according to an Attorney General’s Office press release. Research shows that excessive social media use by youths correlates with increased poor mental health outcomes. That’s especially true for young girls, the news release said.

A 2023 U.S. Surgeon General report said excessive social media use by youths, children and adolescents poses risks of physical and psychological harm such as higher rates of depression, anxiety and attention deficit disorders. It can also lead to eating disorders, suicidal thoughts and body dysmorphia.

“I am one of the millions of parents across Washington who knows firsthand the hold TikTok and other social media apps have on kids,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in Tuesday’s press release. “TikTok is deceiving young people and their parents when it claims to look out for the safety of young users. Platforms like TikTok must be reformed and we know they are unwilling to do so on their own.”

TikTok employs an arsenal of harmful, addictive-by-design features tailored to exploiting, manipulating and capitalizing on young users’ still-developing brains, the news release said.

TikTok’s business model relies on maximizing user engagement. To keep young users coming back to the platform, TikTok designs algorithms to figure out what types of videos they like and push more of those types of videos to them. TikTok’s “infinite scroll” and autoplay features increase the likelihood that users will stay on the app for an excessive amount of time, the news release said.

TikTok also uses “age gating” — or screening a user based on his or her birth date — to prevent underage users from accessing some of the platform’s offerings. But age gating depends on a user truthfully reporting their own age, the news release said.

The Pew Research Center reported last year that 63% of all Americans age 13 to 17 used TikTok, and most teenagers in the U.S. report using TikTok daily. According to the research, 17% of teens say that they are on TikTok “almost constantly,” according to the attorney general’s office.

Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission will decide whether Let’s Go Washington, which put four initiatives on November’s ballot, was deliberately opaque in its signature-collection finances, and if it had dragged its feet in opening its books to the public. The commission held a hearing Thursday, but a date for their ruling has not been set.

The PDC staff has charged Let’s Go Washington with taking eight to 675 days to add required details to 21 original campaign finance reports. The staff alleges that Let’s Go Washington has not sufficiently addressed whether its five signature-collection contractors hired any subcontractors. And the staff has charged Let’s Go Washington with not fully opening its financial records until the PDC subpoenaed them.

Redmond hedge fund manager Brian Heywood founded Let’s Go Washington in 2022 to put initiatives to public votes during elections. The group successfully gathered signatures on seven initiatives in 2023 and 2024, three of which the Legislature passed. Washington voters will face four of the group’s initiatives in November — repealing the state’s cap-and-invest program on carbon pollution; making participation in the Washington Cares program voluntary; repealing a state capital gains tax; and forbidding any state or local bans on using natural gas.

At issue is whether the five signature-collection contractors — TDM Strategies, Your Choice petitions, All State Petition Management, Collective Voice Solutions and RM Consulting — hired subcontractors. If so, the group should have reported how much the subcontractors were paid and what work the subcontractors did.

Heywood co-founded TDM Strategies, which received $700,000 from the almost $9 million that Let’s Go Washington spent on the five contractors, said Chad Standifer, an assistant attorney general prosecuting this case. Heywood donated the majority of the $9.15 million collected in the past two years by Let’s Go Washington, which according to PDC records has spent slightly more than $12 million.

Kelly Palmer, Let’s Go Washington’s chief of staff, testified that none of the five contractors indicated they had subcontractors, but that Let’s Go Washington did not aggressively try to determine if any existed. Palmer said Let’s Go Washington tried to comply with the PDC’s requests for financial information, but its intensive campaign activities slowed it down. Both the PDC and the group testified Let’s Go Washington did not break down expenses among the first six petition drives for most of 2023, but eventually the organization told the PDC that each drive equally received about one-sixth of the money. Let’s Go Washington’s attorney, Callie Castillo, contended that the group has disclosed all its expenditures, the PDC has not proven any subcontractors existed and the group eventually complied with all PDC requests.

Phil Stutzman, a PDC compliance officer, argued that one contractor reported its use of subcontractors is “proprietary,” implying that it does use subcontractors. Stutzman also said an employee for Your Choice confirmed the use of subcontractors, though Let’s Go Washington’s Palmer said that employee was in a conflict with Heywood over money and was eventually charged in an unspecified trespassing incident.

Standifer argued that Let’s Go Washington has not disputed that it delayed eight to 675 days to fix 21 financial reports, saying that extra information was needed for the public to know how that money was spent. He zeroed in on Let’s Go Washington’s failure to actively determine if subcontractors existed. And he noted a subpoena was needed for the organization to fully open its books to the PDC. 

Let’s Go Washington faces a potential fine of up to $10,000 per violation. It is up to the PDC commissioners to determine how many violations occurred.

For those who want to see debates between the candidates for secretary of state and insurance commissioner, the League of Women Voters of Washington has you covered. 

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (D) will face Republican challenger Dale Whitaker, and state senators Phil Fortunato (R-Auburn) and Patty Kuderer (D-Bellevue) will debate over the open seat for insurance commissioner at an event that starts at 6 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Edmonds College Black Box Theater in Lynnwood.

Kuderer and Fortunato will start with the insurance commissioner debate at 6:30 p.m. Whitaker and Hobbs will follow at 7:15 p.m. The League of Women Voters of Washington and Snohomish County are organizing the debates. The event is open to the public.

Both debates will be recorded and live-streamed by TVW, and the organizers invite the public to submit questions for the candidates in advance by emailing forumquestions@lwvwa.org.

These are two of the nine statewide races that voters will decide in this year’s general election. Election day is Nov. 5 and ballots will be mailed to voters on Oct. 18.  

Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena has agreed to pay $477,917 in penalties and refunds for charging hidden fees to thousands of customers who bought food and beverages.

On Friday the Washington Attorney General’s Office announced the settlement, which still has to be approved by a judge. 

Climate Pledge Arena, a cashless venue since it reopened under its current name in 2021, added a 3% “operational” fee to food and beverage purchases, according to an Attorney General Office press release. Customers were not informed about the 3% fee prior to their purchases, although it showed up on their receipts after they bought their food and drinks. This undisclosed fee was added to roughly 183,000 purchases at 37 arena events from Feb. 27, 2023 to July 22, 2023. The AG’s office says the lack of adequate disclosure violates Washington’s Consumer Protection Act.

The AG’s Office started its investigation after a Jesse Jones report on KIRO-7 in the summer of 2023. The arena’s operator, Oak View Group, told the TV station the 3% was an “operational” fee, and it eliminated the fee after the station’s inquiries.

According to the settlement agreement, Climate Pledge Arena will set aside $162,917 to refund that 3% to each customer who puts in a claim for being overcharged, plus an additional $10 for the customer’s inconvenience. Another $315,000 will go to the AG’s Office to repay its expenses. Climate Pledge arena is also required to settle a related private class action lawsuit on the same matter.

“Washington law is simple: If you charge a fee, you must clearly disclose that fee before someone pays it,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in the news release. “Climate Pledge was not doing that. Now they are paying the price.” Ferguson encouraged people who believe a company is charging hidden fees to contact his office, which has charged companies $9.6 million in the past five years for inadequately disclosing fees and surcharges.