Latest Washington news, sports, business and entertainment at 11:20 am PDT – KTVZ

VIRUS OUTBREAK-SEATTLE-EVICTIONS

Seattle extends COVID eviction ban until Sept. 30

SEATTLE (AP) Seattle is extending the citys coronavirus moratorium on evictions through Sept. 30. Initially established in March 2020, the moratorium is an attempt by the city to stave off evictions of people who lost jobs because of the pandemic and fell behind on their rent payments. The Seattle Times reports the extension announced Friday is the fifth Mayor Jenny Durkan has ordered. Seattles moratorium applies to residential, nonprofit and small-business tenants, with small businesses defined as those with 50 or fewer employees. Most evictions are prohibited for those tenants, including evictions for nonpayment of rent, though tenants remain obligated to pay rent and can accumulate debt.

CHLORINE SHORAGE

Chlorine shortage: Cities ask people to reduce water use

SALEM, Ore. (AP) City leaders in Lake Oswego and Tigard in Oregon and Anacortes in Washington are among the communities asking residents to reduce their water use during a chlorine shortage. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the chemical used in small amounts by water treatment facilities to prevent harmful bacteria growth in drinking water supply. State officials say they have a plan to help water districts across Oregon get the chlorine they need if their stockpiles run low and theres no threat to the water the public depends on. The shortage occurred after a power outage earlier this month at the Westlake chemical facility in Longview, Washington, the main provider of chlorine for Oregon.

JUNETEENTH-WASHINGTON

Juneteenth becomes official state holiday in WA in 2022

SEATTLE (AP) President Joe Biden this week signed legislation establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery a move state lawmakers made for Washington state earlier this year. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee last month signed a measure making Juneteenth a legal state paid holiday, starting in 2022. In 2007, the Legislature had designated Juneteenth as a day of remembrance. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas two months after the Confederacy had surrendered. That was also about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Southern states. Its the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.

OFFICER KILLED-ARREST

Man accused of stealing officers vehicle at crash arrested

SEATTLE (AP) A 49-year-old Seattle man has been arrested, accused of stealing the vehicle of an off-duty Seattle police officer earlier this week after she was struck by a car and killed while assisting people involved in a crash. The Seattle Times reports the man was arrested by the Washington State Patrol and Seattle Police Department SWAT team late Thursday evening in a hotel in Bellevue. He was taken into custody on investigation of felony hit-and-run, theft of a motor vehicle and other charges. Officer Alexandra Lexi Harris died Sunday after being struck while helping people involved in a three-car collision in Seattle. The man arrested, according to the State Patrol, is the driver of one of those three cars.

COLD CASE-RAPE-ARREST

Deputies arrest man in cold case rape of teen girl

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) Grays Harbor deputies arrested a 50-year-old Enumclaw man in connection with a 2003 kidnapping and rape cold case in McCleary. The Olympian reports Paul Bieker was booked into the Grays Harbor County jail on Tuesday. The Sheriffs Office alleges he abducted and sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl in 2003 and have indicated they are exploring possible connections to the murder case of Lindsey Baum, who went missing in 2009, according to a Facebook post. Bieker appeared in Grays Harbor Superior Court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, kidnapping, burglary, felony harassment and taking a motor vehicle without permission.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-CAPITOL REOPENING

Washington state Capitol reopening to public July 1

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) The Washington state Capitol building will reopen to the public on July 1 after being closed since March 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement Thursday state officials said the Department of Enterprise Services is working to re-establish public tours and is recruiting tour staff. Security fending around buildings on the Captiol campus was removed in early May, four months after the barriers went up during national unrest tied to the presidential election. A crowd of supporters of former President Donald Trump breached the gates to the Governors Mansion in Olympia on Jan. 6, the same day a pro-Trump mob stormed the nations Capitol in Washington, D.C.

GOVERNOR RECALL PETITION-DISMISSED

Judge dismisses Washington state governor recall petition

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) Washington state officials have said a petition that was filed last month to recall Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic was dismissed this week. KOMO-TV reports the governors office said Wednesday that a judge ruled to dismiss the petition filed by a citizen group known as Washingtonians to Recall Inslee. The residents could appeal, but it wasnt immediately known if they planned to do so. The group alleged in its May petition that the governors order that limited activities in the state during the pandemic interfered with their rights to assemble, work freely and participate in religious activities.

IMMIGRANT DETAINEES-MINIMUM WAGE

Mistrial halts case on minimum wage for immigrant detainees

SEATTLE (AP) A trial over whether the GEO Group must pay minimum wage instead of $1 a day to immigration detainees who perform tasks like cooking and cleaning at its for-profit detention center in Washington state has ended with a hung jury. U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan in Tacoma declared a mistrial Thursday after jurors indicated they could not reach agreement following a two-week trial and about two days of deliberation. Democratic Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued GEO in 2017, saying the company had unjustly profited by running the Northwest detention center in Tacoma on the backs of captive workers. GEO maintained that the detainees were not employees.

AP-US-BOEING-LARGE-737-MAX-

Boeings newest version of the 737 Max makes first flight

SEATTLE (AP) Boeings newest version of the 737 Max jetliner has taken flight. A Boeing 737 Max 10 completed a test flight of about 2 1/2 hours on Friday over Washington state. The Max 10 can hold up to 230 passengers. Its a slightly bigger version of Boeing planes that are already flying. Airlines began using those earlier Max jets in 2017, but they were grounded worldwide for nearly two years after two crashes that killed 346 people. The new model is designed to compete against a similarly sized plane from Europes Airbus.

VACCINE INCENTIVE-MILITARY LOTTERY

New vaccine lottery announced for military in Washington

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) Washingtons military, veterans and family members will be eligible for a new vaccine incentive lottery announced by Gov. Jay Inslee. There was concern that because the federal government wasnt sharing individual vaccine status of those groups, there werent in the running for Washingtons original lottery, which has already had two drawings for $250,000 prizes. The new separate lottery specifically applies to military, military staff and family members who were vaccinated through the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, or the National Guard. Starting July 20, there will be one drawing a week for three weeks, with cash prizes of $100,000 for the first two weeks and a $250,000 prize for the final week.

Visit link:

Latest Washington news, sports, business and entertainment at 11:20 am PDT - KTVZ