By Bill Lucia | Editor
Welcome back to the Daily Standard's weekend edition, where we recap some of the week's top stories.
Number of the week: 250
It was that many years ago today, July 4, 1776, that the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, marking the 13 American colonies’ breaking of political ties with Great Britain.
The Declaration famously states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
An image of the 1776 parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence. (Courtesy of National Archives)
Last night, President Donald Trump delivered an address at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, saying that there is “a resurgence of the communist menace in our land.” Though he did not directly link Democratic socialists to communism in the speech, the rhetoric continued a recent theme of criticism by Trump, alluding to electoral successes by Democratic socialist candidates.
READ MORE: Trump uses Mount Rushmore speech to allege ‘mortal threat’ from communism | by Seth Tupper and Meghan O’Brien
Fireworks explode above Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2026, after a speech by President Donald Trump to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
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Increased tanker traffic through the shared border waters of Washington and British Columbia could rise further if Alberta succeeds in building a new crude export pipeline to the West Coast. Here, an oil/chemical tanker steers through Boundary Pass on the way to the Port of Vancouver in late June. (Photo by Tom Banse)
By Tom Banse
The province of Alberta late Thursday announced a route for a new, one-million-barrel-per-day crude oil pipeline to Canada’s West Coast that terminates within about a mile of Washington state waters.
Environmental interests on the U.S. side of the border are worried.
Oil-filled ships traveling from the port pass by the San Juan Islands and Olympic Peninsula as they head out to sea from Vancouver. A spill in Canadian shipping lanes could easily reach north Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Washington’s outer coast, threatening sensitive ecosystems and killer whale habitat.
“This would significantly elevate the risk of catastrophic oil spills, vessel accidents, underwater noise pollution, and harm to endangered marine wildlife,” the group Friends of the San Juans said in a statement.
Fire burning near Orondo and Chelan Falls
A wildfire burning in grass and brush near Orondo and Chelan Falls was threatening homes and infrastructure, the state Fire Marshal’s Office said early this morning. The Chelan Hills Fire started around midnight and, as of around 6:30 a.m., was 400 acres and growing. U.S. Route 97 was closed in both directions between mileposts 232 and 235, south of Beebe Bridge. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was providing updates on Facebook. For information on the road closure, see WSDOT’s alert page.
See also: Fourth of July fireworks spark wildfire worries | by Aspen Ford
Where’s the governor?
Unclear. His office last released a public schedule on June 24, showing a handful of meetings and events through July 1. He posted a couple of times on social media this morning about the holiday and the fire near Orondo. His office hasn’t said if he’ll participate in any Fourth of July celebrations. An inquiry about whether he’d make an appearance at the U.S. team’s World Cup match in Seattle on Monday went unanswered.
IN OTHER NEWS THIS WEEK…
Opponents of Washington’s new income tax on high earners turned in more than 500,000 signatures for an initiative to repeal the levy, nearly double the amount needed to secure a spot on the November ballot.
Coverage through the state’s WA Cares long-term care insurance program is now available.
Gov. Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown and state lawmakers received 7% pay raises.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day.
The justices also upheld state laws banning transgender athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
And they said they would hear a case on the legality of a Washington law to protect runaway transgender youth that opponents contend tramples on parental rights.
Drivers caught on camera speeding through highway work zones in Washington will face $125 penalties, after the state issued tens of thousands of warnings in the past year.
Washington officials hope to issue new recommendations by summer’s end for how governments release public records.
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