By Bill Lucia | Editor
Welcome back to the Daily Standard's weekend edition, where we recap some of the week's top stories.
Quote of the week: “All of the opponents get it. They can say they’re building a light rail to nowhere.”
That’s Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle lamenting where things stand with plans for extending light rail into her city from Portland as part of the Interstate 5 bridge replacement. Estimated costs for the bridge replacement have roughly doubled to around $14 billion, and focus has shifted to completing core elements of the project with funding that’s currently available. This is shaping up into a scenario where there’s no timeline for designing a final segment of the rail extension into Vancouver.
We highlighted the story in yesterday’s edition. If you missed it, you can read it here: Surging costs undercut I-5 bridge light rail plan | By Jerry Cornfield
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The Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility is seen on May 26, following a fatal chemical storage tank failure. (Photo by Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images)
By Aspen Ford
No state agency was responsible for inspecting the 900,000-gallon chemical storage tank that burst at a mill in southwest Washington this week, leaving 11 people presumed dead. Unlike underground storage tanks that are inspected at least every three years by the Department of Ecology due to groundwater contamination risks, ensuring the safety of above-ground tanks is largely left to site operators.
The failed tank held more than half a million gallons of white liquor, a highly corrosive chemical used in paper manufacturing, officials said. Why it ruptured remains unclear.
“There’s no one agency or regulatory body that would be responsible for inspecting any single (above-ground) tank,” said Marissa Baker, industrial hygiene program director at the University of Washington. “Ultimately, the responsibility falls on the mill owner and operator,” Baker said. “Part of maintaining a safe and healthy work site is ensuring the structural integrity of their tanks that store extremely hazardous chemicals.”
On Friday, Longview Fire Chief Brad Hannig said a seventh person was recovered from the site, raising the confirmed death toll to nine, with two victims still missing.
Teebah Alsaleh, left, and Matt Segal, right, are the newest members of Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission. (Photo courtesy of PDC)
By Jerry Cornfield
The Washington Public Disclosure Commission’s two newest members attended their first meeting Thursday, marking the first time in more than a year that the state’s chief enforcer of campaign spending rules operated at full strength. Matt Segal and Teebah Alsaleh, both appointed last month, filled seats on the five-member commission that were vacant for months. Their arrival brought an end to an odd chapter for Gov. Bob Ferguson, who made their appointments under threat of recall.
A senator stumbles
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray displays her broken ankle. (Photo courtesy of Murray’s office)
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., has traded one of her trademark tennis shoes for a boot — an ankle brace to be exact. Murray said Thursday that she tripped earlier this week while running down stairs and broke her ankle. “Next week, I’ll be back at the Capitol for votes and hearings,” she said in a statement.
Contemplating 2028
Will state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, run for governor in 2028? He’s apparently thinking about it. “Of course I’m looking at it,” Walsh said on “The Jason Rantz Show” on Seattle Red 770 AM. “I’ve been talking with people about it for a while.” Walsh, who is chair of the state Republican Party, also suggested that a main reason the GOP is struggling in the state is low voter turnout. “Too many conservative and even moderate voters in Washington are discouraged and disheartened,” he said. “They don’t believe the system is trustworthy, and they don’t vote.”
On the horizon
We’ll be sending out candidate questionnaires on Monday for our 2026 voter guide, which will go live in mid-July, around the time ballots are sent out ahead of the Aug. 4 primary. The guide will focus on state-level races, including the five Supreme Court seats on the ballot and key legislative and congressional contests. We’re looking to shed light on a range of topics, like how important judicial candidates think precedent is when deciding cases, and whether legislative contenders think the state is on the right or wrong track. Stay tuned!
Where’s the governor?
He traveled to Longview after the chemical tank incident. “We’re bracing ourselves for this being the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington state history,” he said earlier this week during a press conference with first responders.
Schedule documents obtained via records request show Ferguson at events not listed on his public calendar, including a 10th anniversary event for Apple Health Core Connections, which is a health plan serving children and young adults in foster care, an appearance at a Puyallup medical clinic, and a chunk of last Friday spent at the state fastpitch softball championship (his daughter plays fastpitch softball).
Ferguson drew some attention online this week for a social media post about the income tax on millionaire earners he signed into law earlier this year. “It looks like voters will get a say,” he said, referring to an initiative effort aimed at overturning the tax. Tracking with his previous comments, he also said he would veto “ANY” attempt to lower the tax threshold so it applies to earnings under $1 million.
“I look forward to the public having their say on this important policy,” he wrote.
Republican elected officials and other conservatives chimed in, some questioning why the tax wasn’t proposed as a constitutional amendment (that would automatically go before voters) and pointing out that the law included an emergency clause blocking a referendum. Getting a referendum on the ballot requires fewer signatures than an initiative, meaning it’s a less time-consuming and less expensive option.
IN OTHER NEWS…
A year into Washington’s limit on residential rent increases, the state has found violations resulting in $800,000 in penalties, but landlords haven’t had to pay as they’ve taken steps to comply with the law.
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s attempt to sue California and Washington for licensing an undocumented truck driver accused of killing three Floridians in a traffic accident.
There’s mounting evidence that a large data center could be among the main beneficiaries of power from a controversial pumped-hydro energy storage project near Goldendale.
A federal judge in Seattle ruled the Trump administration wrongfully terminated a $4 million grant for Washington meant to provide services for new migrants.
The Trump administration has sued Washington and three other Democratic-led states over their refusal to grant undercover license plates to federal agents.
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