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Discussions to reopen Straight of Hormuz progress, judge blocks Trump ban on news agencies in the White House, Starbucks to close 250 stores, Dunkin’ expands to Boise, Seattle’s Hubble Network valued at $1.6B, Google to launch computers into space next week.

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Oracle sends ‘force majeure’ notice about data center project — stock drops 3% (CNBC)

Micron Stock Gets a Big Wall Street Boost Ahead of Earnings (MF)

Big business warns Trump against diesel export ban in joint letter (CNBC)

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Small businesses slow to take up WA’s new electric truck vouchers (KUOW)

“When it comes to meeting its own greenhouse gas emissions, Washington is behind the curve on transitioning to electric vehicles. The transportation sector is the highest emitter in the state, accounting for 40% of total emissions, and will likely be the most difficult to decarbonize.

“If we really want to meaningfully reduce our state’s GHG emissions, being able to deploy zero emission technologies on our streets, near our roads and communities, is one of the best ways to do that,” said Betz Mayer, incentive programs deputy director at Catalyst Mobility, a nonprofit implementing WAZIP that specializes in electrifying transportation.

Nearly five months after its launch, the program has been “pretty successful,” with roughly half of the $112 million in available vouchers requested, Mayer said. Some applicants have already received funding, while others are still awaiting approval.

“My personal and maybe somewhat controversial opinion is that … a significant amount of [class 7 and 8 vehicle] vouchers will not come to fruition,” Ariens said, which include heavy duty and semi trucks. The product availability and the necessary infrastructure that’s required to operate them “are far more challenging to deploy.”

Meanwhile, there’s a “massive immediate market opportunity” for smaller work trucks, he added.

Ariens called for a “drastic increase” in funding for vehicles in the classes 4 through 6 which include medium-duty commercial vehicles such as delivery trucks, utility vehicles and small buses.

“The market for those trucks is much larger and the infrastructure is much simpler,” he said.”

Reporter’s notebook: Seattle's Central Library, architectural ambition’s cost, and a $6 billion bill (KUOW)

“The iconic building is so old — more than 20 years old — that city officials are starting to ask questions about long-term upkeep. The situation is not dire, exactly, but within the next 10, 20, 30 years, it is likely to need a significant amount of work.

The windows that define the structure, for example, will eventually need replacing. But with nearly 10,000 of them — each custom sized — the cost and logistics of doing so are immense.

The Central Library is only one item on Seattle’s menu of needs. Officials with the city’s finance department estimate the sum of Seattle’s maintenance and upkeep demands could be as high as $6 billion. The fire department’s headquarters need replacing, the police department’s north precinct floods, and the animal shelter is beyond capacity.

But it’s not clear what dollar streams the city can tap for all that work. The boom times of the 2010s are well in the rearview mirror and options for new taxes are limited. The city’s preferred approach of the last decade — property tax ballot levies — are reaching their state-imposed limit.

So where does that leave the city? It’s possible we’ll see a raft of new bonds — or, more simply, debt. Seattle Center has already put in an ask for a $1.5 billion bond; Pike Place Market is likely to ask the city for one in the coming years; and officials have mulled one geared toward public safety infrastructure.

Tom Fay, Seattle Public Library’s chief librarian, says the library, too, could ask for the city for a significant bond in the coming years, on top of the nearly half a billion dollar levy for services just approved by voters.”

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