OLYMPIA – Washington state’s minimum wage will increase to $7.63 an hour in January, a jump of 28 cents, the state Department of Labor and Industries said Friday.
The state recalculates the minimum wage each September according to changes in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The adjustment is required by Initiative 688, approved by state voters in 1998.
The minimum wage applies to workers in agricultural and nonagricultural occupations alike. Workers ages 14 and 15 can be paid 85 percent of the adult minimum wage, the department said.
Associated Press
Poulsbo: Bay closed after sewage spill
All of Liberty Bay has been closed to shellfish harvesting following a major sewage spill at the head of the bay.
The cause of the spill appears to be saltwater corrosion in a pressurized sewer line in the beach about 500 feet south of Liberty Bay Auto Center. A hole in the pipe appeared to be 4 or 5 inches long and about 2 inches wide, said Jeff Lincoln of Poulsbo Public Works.
Officials were unable to determine the size of the spill Thursday, but are working on an estimate, he said.
Kitsap Sun
Sumner: Boys charged in headstone case
Two boys accused of disturbing more than 340 grave markers and breaking more than 75 headstones over two nights last weekend at the Sumner cemetery face multiple felony charges in Juvenile Court.
Pierce County prosecutors charged the boys, ages 14 and 16, Thursday in county Juvenile Court. Each boy is charged twice with first-degree malicious mischief and with a total of 15 counts of unlawful removal of a grave marker.
Both boys pleaded not guilty. They were released to their parents and placed under house arrest.
If convicted on all counts, each boy could get 180 days in juvenile jail, 300 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine, authorities said. The judge could order restitution. Damages are estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars.
The News Tribune
Chinook: Tribe will rebury old remains
Human remains uncovered earlier this week at a former American Indian village where Lewis and Clark once camped will be reburied where the remains were found, representatives of the Chinook Indian Nation said.
The remains are believed to be those of former inhabitants of a historic Chinook village.
“We just want to honor and respect these people,” Gary Johnson, chairman of the Chinook Tribal Council, said Thursday of the move to rebury the remains.
The remains were uncovered Tuesday morning by construction crews digging a utility trench for a highway project that is realigning a section of U.S. Highway 101.
Associated Press
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
