News

The Washington state Legislature has fast-tracked a delay of the implementation of a long-term care program _ and the payroll tax that pays for it _ to address solvency concerns and other issues raised about the first-in-the-nation defined benefit. The 46-3 vote in the Senate on Wednesday comes a week after the House passed the delay on a 91-6 vote. It now heads to Gov. Jay Inslee, who is expected to sign the measure Friday. Once signed, the tax that was set to start this month would be delayed until July 1, 2023. Collection of the $36,500 benefit to pay for things like in-home care, home modifications like wheelchair ramps and rides to the doctor would be delayed from Jan. 1, 2025 until July 1, 2026. 

A California city has voted to require gun owners to carry liability insurance in what's believed to be the first measure of its kind in the United States. The San Jose City Council overwhelmingly approved the measure Tuesday night despite opposition from some gun owners who said it would violate their Second Amendment rights. The council also voted to require thousands of gun owners in the city to pay a small fee, which would be used for firearm safety education and services such as domestic violence prevention and mental health services. The proposal aims at reducing gun violence in the San Francisco Bay Area city. 

A New York City police officer gravely wounded in a Harlem shooting that took his partner’s life has also died of his injuries. Officer Wilbert Mora’s death was announced Tuesday by police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. He was 27. Mora and Officer Jason Rivera were fatally wounded Friday after they were called to a Harlem apartment by a woman who needed help with her adult son. The gunman was identified as Lashawn McNeil. Police say he threw open a bedroom door and shot the officers as they walked down a narrow hall. A third officer shot McNeil, who died Monday.

President Joe Biden has called a Fox News reporter a vulgarity after the reporter asked him a question about inflation. The president was in the East Room of the White House on Monday to convene a meeting of his Competition Council. The panel is focused on changing regulations to help consumers deal with high prices. Several of the gathered reporters shouted questions to the president when he concluded his remarks. Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Biden if inflation was a political liability. Biden responded with sarcasm, saying inflation was a “great asset.” And then Biden added a vulgar phrase beginning with “son of a” about the reporter.

Pfizer has begun a study comparing its original COVID-19 vaccine with doses specially tweaked to match the omicron variant. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech announced the study on Tuesday. COVID-19 vaccine makers have been updating their shots in case global health authorities decide a change is needed. The Pfizer study will include 1,420 healthy adults. Most already are vaccinated and will get boosters of the omicron-based vaccine or the original version. Some unvaccinated volunteers will get three omicron-based doses. The original vaccines still offer good protection against severe illness and death. Studies have made clear that adding a booster dose strengthens that protection. 

A conservation group is turning over a historic redwood grove on the Northern California coast to descendants of the original Native American inhabitants. Save the Redwoods League said it would transfer to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council a 523-acre property it recently acquired on the Lost Coast. It's the second property the league has transferred to the group of 10 tribes. The property includes prized old-growth redwoods, which were mostly decimated by logging. The land was purchased with $3.5 million from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet habitat to mitigate other environmental damage by the utility.