A contractor with offices in Pasco has been fined by the state Department of Labor & Industries after a 3,000-pound piece of equipment fell and crushed a worker at a southwest Washington jobsite. 

The long-operating packaging manufacturing plant in Wallula will cut 200 jobs by the end of March 2026 as it permanently shutters part of the facility to cut production costs. 

A California union and a group of farmworkers from around the country—including one from Sunnyside and several others working in the state’s vineyards—are suing to stop new, lower-wage federal guidelines that save money for farmers but cut pay for temporary foreign agriculture workers, hurting local laborers as a result, the suit alleges. 

Providence’s latest round of layoffs will leave a mark at two of the region’s largest hospitals. 

The bill would be an expansion of a 2020 state law limiting the use of noncompete agreements to employees making above about $120,000 a year.

Affected positions range from those working in IT, software, mechanical and nuclear engineering, as well as roles connected to national security, cybersecurity research, chemistry, earth science and administration. 

Washington state’s top justice official is throwing more resources into enforcing the state’s worker protections, saying federal efforts have lapsed under the Trump administration. 

The Tri-Cities job market is less degree-dependent than the state overall.

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history continues to roil the nation but work at the Hanford site is continuing for now.