In Other News
Truck driver injured in rollover wreck
GEORGE – An Othello man was injured when the semi truck and trailer he was driving rolled Friday morning at the interchange of Interstate 90 and Dodson Road, about eight miles east of George, reported the Washington State Patrol.
Troopers said Quirino Turner, 19, was westbound on the freeway when he failed to negotiate the curve at the Exit 164 offramp to Dodson Road. The wreck was reported around 10:15 a.m.
Excessive speed caused the 2000 Freightliner tractor and tanker trailer to roll onto the roadway shoulder before coming to rest on its side, the report stated.
Turner, who was wearing a seatbelt, sustained unspecified injuries and was transported to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake.
Both the semi and trailer were totaled and towed from the scene.
Turner faces a charge of reckless driving as a result of the wreck, according to the WSP report.
Insurers ok’d for group health plans to WA employers
OLYMPIA — Group health care plans offered by Asuris, Premera Blue Cross, and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. will available next year to small business employers in Grant County.
They are among nine health insurers which have been approved to sell group health coverage to small businesses around the state in 2026, announced the Washington Insurance Commissioners’ Office.
In a press release earlier this month, the office said the insurers requested an average premium increase of 9.5%, but a higher average rate of 12.8% was approved based on an actuarial review of the companies’ financial projections.
The rates take effect after Jan. 1 when plans renew. They are available to businesses with less than 50 employees. According to the commissioner’s office, about one-half of small businesses nationwide offer health insurance to their workers. In Washington state, such plans could cover nearly 69,000 workers.
“It’s good to see this many options for small businesses providing insurance for their employees,” said Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer. “Our state has maintained a competitive market, which makes a tough decision for small businesses a little easier.”
Kuderer’s office said most of the proposed rate increase is due to the expected rise in future health care costs. Other contributing factors include higher-than-anticipated medical costs in 2024 and an increase in the expected health care needs of covered members.
Nationwide, the average annual premium for an individual employee is $1,408, up 6% from 2024, while the average annual premium for an employee with family coverage is $6,850, which is up 26% over the last five years. Employers pay an average of $20,143 on top of their employees’ share for family health coverage.
Newhouse urges passage of ‘Build More Hydro’ bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., are urging House leaders to push for swift passage of their companion bill, “Build More Hydro,” before the end of the year to extend construction deadlines for more than three dozen hydropower projects nationwide.
Newhouse represents the Fourth Congressional District in central Washington, where a number of hydro projects are already operating on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
But in a letter issued Tuesday, Newhouse and Daines said 37 unbuilt hydro projects across 15 states are at risk of termination without House passage of their bipartisan measure, S. 1020/H.R. 2072, which would authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend construction deadlines and licensing.
The letter was sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both Republicans.
In July, the Senate passed Daines’ S.1020 bill by unanimous consent and it advanced to the House on Aug. 1 while Newhouse’s companion measure, H.R. 2072, was introduced earlier this year. But the bill has languished due in part to Johnson sending House members home during the 43-day government shutdown – the nation’s longest – between Oct. 1 and Nov. 12.
The three dozen unconstructed hydro projects -- representing more than 2.6 gigawatts of baseload power and $6.5 billion in investments – “are at risk of termination,” wrote the two congressional members.
“Losing these projects would undermine grid reliability at a time when we can least afford it,” Newhouse and Daines stated. “Advancing S.1020 before the end of the year is an essential step to protect American energy security, ensure reliable power to communities across the nation and prevent the loss of billions in investment.”
Those projects, said Newhouse and Daines, could supply electricity to over 30 million homes, provides 96% of utility-scale energy storage, and be vital to flood control, water storage, irrigation, and grid reliability services.
Since the bill’s introduction, approximately 100 megawatts of hydropower has been put on hold with an additional 36 megawatts “forced into limbo by the end of the year because of congressional inaction,” they also noted.
