Showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Forecast here.
Making headlines in the Northwest:
- Drunk boaters targeted this weekend
- Off the wire: Backlash against traffic cameras and more
- Unemployment checks going up between $3 and $13
- Edmonds concerts series kicks off July 10
Drunk boaters targeted this weekend
Three Sheets Northwest advises boatersthat "if you’re heading out on the water this weekend, you’ll want to keep relatively dry — and we’re not talking about the weather."
The U.S. Coast Guard, along with local and state marine law enforcement agencies, will be patrolling Northwest waters from Friday through Sunday as part of Operation Dry Water, the online boating and sailing magazine reports.
Started in 2009, the national campaign is coordinated by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) in partnership with state and local agencies and the Coast Guard, aimed at reducing alcohol and drug-related accidents and fatalities on the water.
Unemployment checks going up between $3 and $13
People filing for unemployment benefits in Washington after July 3 will receive increased benefits.
The state Unemployment Security Department says the minimum weekly benefit will go up $3 to $138 and the maximum benefit will go up $13 to $583.
The benefits are calculated as a percentage of the average annual wage in the state. That went up about 2 percent last year to about $930 a week or more than $48,000 a year. The department says the increase was not caused only by pay raises but also by the elimination of lower-paying jobs.
The increase also means increases in the unemployment taxes that businesses pay and in worker's compensation benefits for people injured on the job.
– The Associated Press
Off the wire: Backlash against traffic cameras and more
- Activists are pushing four Washington cities to join a growing national backlash against cameras used to issue traffic tickets. Thousands of people have signed on to ballot proposals in Longview, Monroe, Redmond and Bellingham, hoping to replicate the anti-camera success seen elsewhere.
- A federal judge has sentenced a Pasco, Wash., man to more than 17 years in prison for possessing 4 1/2 pounds of methamphetamine. The Tri-City Herald reports that 35-year-old Gerardo Sanchez-Ramirez pleaded guilty in April to possessing meth with intent to distribute.
- Police say a car crashed through a fence and into the back of a home in Newcastle, Wash., yesterday. Police say the driver was removed from her car and taken to a Seattle hospital with serious injuries.
Funding has been restored for about 50 Libyan students at Washington State University. Officials for WSU were told Wednesday night that the Libyan Ministry of Education and Scientific Research has released funds to continue the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program through next May.
Edmonds concerts series kicks off July 10
The Edmonds Arts Commission has announced this year’s line-up of outdoor summer “Concerts in the Park.” All concerts are free, accessible to persons with disabilities and open to the public.
Eight concerts are held in City Park at 3rd and Pine in downtown Edmonds on Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. in July and August. Concerts will be cancelled at 2:30 p.m. if it rains.
Go to My Edmonds News for the summer lineup.
