$20M childcare center opens, new state laws take effect among TNT’s top stories

A long-awaited childcare facility opens its doors, 10 new Washington state laws take effect and a man who died at a Steilacoom beach is identified. Here’s what you need to know about Monday’s top stories.

• The Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center is preparing to open its $20.9 million, 32,000-square-foot Cora Whitley Family Center at 2102 S. 23rd St. in Tacoma, with a ribbon-cutting set for July 1 and capacity for up to 300 children and 60 staff. Executive director Gail Neal named the two-story facility after her mother, who died in 2014, and the organization is trying to raise $190,000 for classroom furniture before the mid-July student opening.
• Ten new Washington state laws took effect June 11, including Senate Bill 2334, which lets retailers round cash transactions to the nearest nickel amid a national penny shortage. House Bill 2165 makes falsely claiming to be a law enforcement officer a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail, while Senate Bill 6137 allows sports betting on in-state college teams at tribal casinos.
• A 23-year-old Tacoma man, Haley Hicks, died after suffering an emergency while participating in organized group diving at Sunnyside Beach in Steilacoom on June 26, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office. The cause of death has not been listed.
• An electrical malfunction with a transformer pushed smoke into multiple buildings at a Tacoma apartment complex on South 12th Street Sunday, and an explosion occurred 20 minutes after firefighters arrived as they manually shut off power. Eight buildings were evacuated, and residents sheltered at Hunt Middle School, with Tacoma Public Utilities clearing all units to be reoccupied except those in the 600 building, where displaced residents received Red Cross assistance.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.