By The Herald Editorial Board

The Legislature's $43.7 billion two-year budget—which took negotiations within hours of a partial state government shutdown—is signed, but some lawmakers haven't had quite enough brinkmanship for the year.

Now the state's $4 billion capital budget, which provides the funding for construction of public schools, colleges, universities, community and youth facilities, parks, environmental projects, and more, is being held up by the Republican-controlled Senate until lawmakers can resolve a disagreement over water rights for private development.

By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

Your association has created a new report called Builder's Bulletin that aggregates key housing statistics of interest to our industry, such as home price and permit data and supply of housing inventory. This report will be updated monthly and made available to members. The Builder's Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, U.S. Census Bureau, Office of Financial Management and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Download this month's report:

By Shoreline Area News

Ramp captain Joseph Irons, president of Irons Brothers Construction, and his team designed and constructed a free wheelchair access ramp for Kathleen Wheeler of Edmonds for the Master Builders Association annual Rampathon event.

For many years, Kathleen has struggled with severe osteo-arthritis (OA), fibromyalgia and diabetes, which makes mobility difficult and walking extremely painful.

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