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FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2008, file photo, the execution chamber at the Washington State Penitentiary is shown with the witness gallery behind glass at right, in Walla Walla, Wash. Washington state's Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty violates its Constitution. The ruling Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, makes Washington the latest state to do away with capital punishment. They ordered that people currently on death row have their sentences converted to life in prison. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Opinion

Editorial: Strike death penalty, forced sterilization from books

Legislation to scrub unconstitutional laws from state statues is on its way to the governor’s desk.

FILE - Bottles of abortion pills mifepristone, left, and misoprostol, right, at a clinic in Des Moines, Iowa, Sept. 22, 2010. Medication abortions became the preferred method for ending pregnancy in the U.S. even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Now threatened by a federal court case in Texas, they usually involve taking two prescription medicines days apart — at home or in a clinic. In the U.S., medication abortions usually involve the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Opinion

Editorial: Lawmakers must protect access to abortion pill

While courts weigh the drug’s fate, the Legislature should allow the state to distribute mifepristone.

A white horse grazes out in a pasture blanketed by smoke on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Opinion

Editorial: Lawmakers face budget for climate our kids will see

Legislators now have a source of revenue for solutions to climate change. How it will be spent matters.

An aerial view of Funko Field at Memorial Stadium in Everett, home of the Everett AquaSox High-A baseball team. (Chuck Taylor / Herald file photo)

Opinion

Editorial: New stadium can make AquaSox star economic player

MLB’s mandate for better ballpark facilities could spur more revenue and quality of life for Everett.

FILE -- In this Aug. 15, 2012 file photo, three variations of the AR-15 assault rifle are displayed at the California Department of Justice in Sacramento, Calif. While the guns look similar, the bottom version is illegal in California because of its quick reload capabilities. Omar Mateen used an AR-15 that he purchased legally when he killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub over the weekend President Barack Obama and other gun control advocates have repeatedly called for reinstating a federal ban on semi-automatic assault weapons that expired in 2004, but have been thwarted by Republicans in Congress. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli,file)

Opinion

Editorial: Legislation can keep firearms out of wrong hands

Laws are needed to bar the sale of assault weapons and impose a wait period and training requirement.

A mail carrier delivers mail along Dubuque Road in Snohomish on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Opinion

Editorial: USPS needs to deliver on mail’s timely arrival

Region’s members of Congress ask for reports on delayed delivery of mail, medications and newspapers.

Construction workers walk along the underside of the Lynnwood Link light rail tracks on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Opinion

Editorial: What’s needed to get Link light rail on track

Sound Transit needs to streamline its process, while local governments ready for rail and stations.

Cathlamet, the Washington State Ferry that crashed in Seattle last month, sits at the Port of Everett on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022, in Everett, Washington. The ferry will require extensive repairs after a hard landing crumpled one corner of the boat at the Fauntleroy dock on July 28. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

Opinion

Editorial: State needs quicker route for its new ferries

‘Build in Washington’ can be scrapped as a mandate, while still counting benefits of in-state shipyards.

Department of Natural Resources regional manager Allen McGuire, left, and acting bolder unit forester Tyson Whiteid, right, stand next to marker on land recently purchased by the DNR for timber harvest on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 in Gold Bar, Wash. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Opinion

Editorial: Use state forestlands to ‘farm’ carbon credits

Legislation would allow the DNR to sell carbon offsets to fund reforestation and other climate work.

Getty Images, sundial

Opinion

Editorial: Indifference risks loss of access to public records

Members of the state’s Sunshine Committee are questioning how much others value its work.

An addict prepares heroin, placing a fentanyl test strip into the mixing container to check for contamination, Wednesday Aug. 22, 2018, in New York. If the strip registers a "pinkish" to red marker then the heroin is positive for contaminants. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Opinion

Editorial: Legalize fentanyl test strips, then distribute them

Legislation to remove their ‘paraphernalia’ label is likely to pass, but that’s just the first step.

A man led police on a high speed chase through north Snohomish County on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. (Snohomish County Sheriff's Office)

Opinion

Editorial: Adopt compromise on police pursuit guidelines

The legislation allows police to use reasonable suspicion but places clearer guidelines for pursuits.

Mayor Cassie Franklin gives the State of Everett Update at the Edward Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)

Opinion

Editorial: Everett mayor’s to-do list calls on residents, others

Franklin’s state of the city address points to tough challenges and ambitious plans to meet them.

Randall Tharp’s month recovery coins after battling a fentanyl addiction. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Opinion

Editorial: Best option for addiction moves more into treatment

A Senate bill now in the House would use threat of jail as leverage while increasing access to…

CNA Nina Prigodich, right, goes through restorative exercises with long term care patient Betty Long, 86, at View Ridge Care Center on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Opinion

Editorial: Long-term care needs help to attract, keep workers

Two bills propose expansion of a family home aide program and increased reimbursement for care.

Abstract silhouette of lungs against the background of a dense forest. Trees are the lungs of the planet. Air purification. Mountains. Ecological concept.

Opinion

Editorial: Clean Air Agency plan sets path to breathing easier

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency sets new pollution-reduction goals for health, climate and justice.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson speaks Thursday, March 31, 2022 before Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that creates a first-in-the-nation statewide alert system for missing Indigenous people — particularly women, in Quil Ceda Village, near Marysville, Wash., north of Seattle. The law creates a system similar to Amber Alerts, which are used for missing children in many states. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Opinion

Editorial: State AG’s lawsuit may protect medication abortion

Used in 60 percent of abortions here, mifepristone’s use is threatened in a Texas lawsuit.

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Opinion

Editorial: Creator’s racist rants earn ‘Dilbert’ a pink slip

The Herald, like other papers, is pulling Scott Adams’ strip from its weekend comics section.

Democrats in the Washington State House are proposing to pay for transportation improvements partly by raising the gas tax by 18 cents. (Andrea Brown / Herald file)

Opinion

Editorial: Start on road to replace gas tax with per-mile fee

The voluntary program would begin work to eventually replace the gas tax and its declining revenues.

Firefighters perform a rescue during the Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue’s annual Water Rescue Academy on the Skykomish River near Index in May, 2022. (Kevin Clark / The Herald file photo)

Opinion

Editorial: Local governments need fair boost of their tax cap

A House bill would lift the cap up to 3 percent, helping stave off the structural deficits they…