By Bill Lucia | Editor
Congressional redistricting is in the spotlight around the U.S. But here in Washington, a battle has flared back to life over the political map for the state Legislature. Following a recent Supreme Court ruling, opponents of that map are back in court. They’re calling for an earlier version of the state’s legislative district boundaries to be restored. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs warns that reverting to the old map this far into an election year could potentially delay Washington’s August primary.
Also in today’s edition…
A GoFundMe campaign prevents logging on a tract of state-managed forest.
Trump’s new pick to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
And, federal health officials weigh in on hantavirus risks.
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
By Jerry Cornfield
Rewind to two years ago: U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik approved a redrawn legislative district map for Washington. This was in response to a lawsuit that argued the map crafted by the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission undermined the political power of Latino voters in the Yakima Valley. The court-ordered changes were more than a small tweak, shifting more than 300,000 people across 13 districts.
The Washington state legislative district map created in 2021, top, and the redrawn map approved by Lasnik in 2024, bottom.
Fast forward to late April: The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais significantly curtailed how race can be considered when drawing district maps.
Last week, armed with that ruling, Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, and another intervenor in the Washington districting case went back to Lasnik, arguing that, based on the Supreme Court ruling, he should abandon the redrawn map he approved in 2024 in favor of the earlier map from the redistricting commission.
Candidate filing for this year’s election was last week. The primary is Aug. 4, and according to election officials, 67 candidates are running in one of the districts with boundaries altered by the 2024 court ruling. Hobbs said changing the boundaries at this point is a “recipe for chaos” for this year’s election.
Meanwhile, a separate appeal against the redrawn maps is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Carolita McGee, founding member of the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition, stands near a marked tree in unit 5 of the Doc Holliday timber sale. The tree will not be logged because of its size. (Photo courtesy of Scott McGee/Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition)
By Aspen Ford
Environmental activists raised the $32,000 needed to spare the trees surrounding a campground on the northern end of the Olympic Peninsula from logging.
In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind agreement, the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition paid a logging company to halt the cutting of a 2-acre state-managed parcel around the Sadie Creek campground. “I honestly never dreamed we would raise that money so quickly,” said WendyRae Johnson, member of the coalition.
The agreement was made without approval from the Department of Natural Resources. Without an official conservation agreement involving the state, the land could theoretically be put up for sale again for logging. The 2 acres were part of a state timber sale known as Doc Holliday. The coalition is now trying to prevent logging in another 29-acre area that’s part of the sale, and that’s set to be cut later this year.
By Ariana Figueroa
Long-time federal immigration official David Venturella will lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency spearheading President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
Venturella will replace outgoing ICE acting Director Todd Lyons, who last month announced he would leave his position by May 31, the DHS official told States Newsroom on Wednesday. Venturella will also take on the role on an acting basis.
ICE has been without a permanent, Senate-confirmed director since Trump first took office in 2017.
Venturella worked at the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama administration. He has also worked for GEO Group, the private prison company that runs immigrant detention facilities, including the one in Tacoma.
By Jennifer Shutt
The risk of a member of the general public contracting hantavirus remains low despite several passengers on a cruise ship becoming infected, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. Americans who were on the MV Hondius cruise ship after others were diagnosed with the illness were flown to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Healthcare providers at the site are monitoring the passengers for symptoms. “This particular virus has a long incubation period, so the monitoring period is 42 days,” said Dr. Brendan Jackson, a CDC epidemiologist. “And the 42 days started with the departure of the ship, so May 11 was day one.”
ICYMI
Hopes of World Cup tourist boom feeling shaky in Seattle | By Jake Goldstein-Street
Income tax foes will pursue repeal on fall ballot | By Jerry Cornfield
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