By Bill Lucia | Editor
When construction of the Washington state Capitol was completed nearly 100 years ago, in 1928, the building featured skylights above the House and Senate chambers. These were removed and roofed over in the 1970s due to earthquake safety concerns. Now, a roughly $8.6 million project is getting underway to restore the skylights and laylights. “It’s really important historical preservation,” said Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, the lead Senate Republican on the construction budget. “I think when people see it, they’ll wonder why we waited so long.”
Also in today’s edition…
A new state Supreme Court justice is sworn in.
Debate in other states over who must report child abuse and neglect.
And, a massive data center is proposed in northern Alaska.
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Earlier this year, state staff and contractors viewed materials for the restoration of skylights above the legislative chambers. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Enterprise Services)
By Jake Goldstein-Street
Construction on the skylight restoration project is scheduled to begin in June and end in December, meaning that it will be complete in time for the 2027 legislative session. As is, it’s impossible to tell that there were ever skylights above the chambers, and electric lighting illuminates floor action. Along with the skylights, this year will see other work in the chambers, including improvements to audio-visual equipment, the replacement of lights with LED units, and upgrades to fire alert systems.
In this 1930s aerial photo of the state Capitol, the skylights can be seen atop the left and right flanks of the building. (Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives via National Archives)
Washington state Supreme Court Justice Theo Angelis dons his robe alongside his wife, Kim, and children, Katherine and John, as he is sworn in on Monday. (Photo by Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard)
By Jake Goldstein-Street
Theo Angelis was formally sworn in as a Washington state Supreme Court justice on Monday during a ceremony at the Temple of Justice in Olympia.
Gov. Bob Ferguson appointed Angelis to the position in March, and he has been on the court for about six weeks. He replaces retired Justice Barbara Madsen, who’d served on the court since 1993. Angelis joins the high court from private practice at K&L Gates, where he specialized in intellectual property and appellate litigation.
Angelis will need to run for election this year to retain his seat. He faces retired Federal Way Municipal Court Judge Dave Larson, who narrowly lost a campaign for a Supreme Court seat in 2024; Sharonda Amamilo, a family and juvenile court judge in Thurston County; and Greg Miller.
By Robbie Sequeira
Legislators in other states are weighing who should be required to report suspected child abuse or neglect. Some are considering whether clergy should be included in this category of “mandatory reporters” — and whether they should be forced to reveal information from confessions. Other lawmakers are debating whether sports coaches, talent agents, camp leaders and other professions with access to children should be mandated reporters. The discussions about what obligations to place on clergy mirror a legislative debate and legal fight that recently played out here in Washington over a law enacted last year that made clergy mandatory reporters.
By Nathaniel Herz
A company has proposed building a $500 million data center that would occupy a square mile on Alaska’s Arctic North Slope. It would be one of the largest projects of its kind in the country. Supporters say the data center would take advantage of cold temperatures for cooling, abundant land, and a ready supply of natural gas. A new pipeline would be built to carry natural gas to a power plant at the site. If built as planned, the facility could consume more than twice as much natural gas as urban Alaska uses for electrical generation and home and commercial heating.
ICYMI
Lawmaker stares down ethics charges | by Jerry Cornfield
Federal judge rebuffs bid to toss WA legislative maps | Jerry Cornfield
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