SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s agency-request bill to raise the state’s legal smoking age to 21 passed a key legislative hurdle today. The House Health Care & Wellness Committee approved the bill in a bipartisan 12 to 3 vote.

This release is compliments of the Washington State Dept. of Labor & Industries

TUMWATER — A Spanaway woman has been charged with stealing more than $56,000 in injured worker benefits while operating a barbecue eatery.

Susan Kathleen Ruiz claimed she was too disabled from an on-the-job injury to work, yet managed Roadside BBQ in the Parkland-Spanaway area of Pierce County for more than a year and a half, according to court documents filed by the Washington Attorney General.

Stormans case to be argued in federal Ninth Circuit court Thursday

PORTLAND, Ore. — This week, the Attorney General’s Office will defend rules requiring pharmacies to fill lawful prescriptions for time-sensitive medications.

On Thursday, Nov. 20, at 2 p.m. in Portland, Ore., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear argument in the case of Stormans v. Wiesman, in which a pharmacy owner and two pharmacists challenge Washington rules requiring pharmacies to fill lawful prescriptions.

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee today announced that he is appointing Gretchen Leanderson to Pierce County Superior Court. Leanderson has served in the Washington State Office of the Attorney General since 1988 where she is currently the Division Chief of the AG’s Tacoma Division.
 

New Shriners health benefits policy effective Jan. 1, 2015

SPOKANE — After being contacted by the Washington State Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Shriners Hospitals for Children agreed that it will extend health benefits to same-sex spouses of its employees nationwide in states recognizing marriage equality. This new health care policy is effective Jan. 1, 2015.