Across the Northwest, farmers and ranchers are making tough choices on what crops to tear out or how much hay they’ll have for their herds.

Poor winter snowpack throughout the Northwest is to blame, according to federal and state regulators.

In the Yakima Valley, some farmers have already begun to rip out crops like apples, cherries and hops.

Scott Revell [RE-vel] runs the Roza [ROSE-ah] Irrigation District out of Sunnyside, [Washington].

For the crops that do stay – like cherries – there could be a hangover effect.

National Weather Service forecasters expect gusty winds to arrive in Washington a few hours earlier than expected today.

Washington has lots of protections for LGBTQ-plus people on the books…but only one city has explicit protections for people in polyamorous relationships.

The city of Olympia is now the first city in Washington to offer *legal protections* for people in polyamorus relationships….. And other cities may soon follow

KNKX Murrow News Fellow Nate Sanford has more.

Washington is a step closer to adopting the first state income tax in its history.

[UPDATE INTRO WITH LATEST FROM NWS IN A.M.: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-121.418&lat=47.427]

The Washington Cascades are under a winter weather advisory and blizzard warning today [WED].

The new powder has skiers rejoicing.

But this winter has been so dismal for snow that scientists say it would take a whole month of heavy snowfall to end the state’s snow drought.

KUOW’s John Ryan reports.

LEDE: A proposed income tax on millionaires passed a historic milestone on Tuesday after a marathon debate in the House. State Government reporter Sarah Mizes-Tan [MYE-zehz tan] was there.

Wintry weather could dump as much as ten feet of snow in parts of the [Washington] Cascades this week.

Bicycle advocates are raising concerns after Oregon lawmakers voted to reduce grant funding for school bike routes.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and the head of The Seattle Public Library system are laying out their vision for a new $410 [M] million dollar library levy.

KUOW’s Noel Gasca has more.