Meet Washington's oldest ferry

By Jake Goldstein-Street | Reporter

By Tom Banse

The Tillikum must sail long past its expected retirement date because Washington State Ferries is so short on vessels, it cannot afford to let go of a single boat. This is the oldest of the state’s fleet, but five ferries in all are older than 50 but still operating. Its two fellow Evergreen State-class ferries were decommissioned about a decade ago. It currently shuttles passengers through the San Juan Islands circuit.

By Jerry Cornfield

Washington’s minimum wage will climb to $17.73 an hour starting Jan. 1, the state Department of Labor and Industries announced last week. That’s a 60-cent increase from the current hourly rate of $17.13, the highest of any state in the nation and more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

COMMENTARY

By Josh Aubol, Steve Stein and Peter Klosterman

Faculty members working with Central Washington University’s College in the High School program surveyed 222 high school math and English teachers. The survey asked teachers a variety of questions about their attitudes toward AI, institutional policies, professional development opportunities, their own AI use, and student AI use.

Teachers reported significant differences in their attitude toward teaching since AI has appeared depending on academic discipline; 57.0% of English teachers reported that their overall attitude towards teaching has worsened since AI appeared, while only 37.6% of math teachers reported a similar change in attitude.

By Jonathan Shorman

Less than a month from Election Day, President Donald Trump’s long-running pressure campaign over elections is approaching a decisive moment. For the past year, the Trump administration has sought to bend the U.S. election system to the president’s will across multiple fronts, despite the Constitution’s guarantee that states administer elections.

Interviews and public comments by more than a dozen current and former election officials, legal experts, lawmakers and others ahead of the midterms reveal anxiety over what Trump may do. Potential scenarios range from armed federal personnel deploying at or near the polls to Trump declaring a national emergency — ideas widely condemned as illegal by election law experts. Homeland Security denies it plans to specifically target polling locations.

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