In brief: Washington state’s minimum wage to rise to nation’s highest

SEATTLE – Washington state’s minimum wage will rise to the highest in the nation on Jan. 1.

The Seattle Times reported the minimum wage in the state will hit $9.47 an hour then. The minimum wage in neighboring Oregon will rise to $9.25, the second-highest in the nation.

Washington makes an annual cost-of-living adjustment to its minimum wage each year, the Times reported.

The state’s Employment Security Department said the pay bump – which will total $312 per year for full-time workers – will affect more than 67,000 workers.

Minimum wages in 18 other states are set to increase on New Year’s Day, according to the nonprofit National Employment Law Project. New York will do so a day ahead.

American released from East Timor jail

PORTLAND – A U.S. traveler detained for months in East Timor has been released from prison.

Stacey Addison, 41, of Portland, was arrested in September shortly after crossing the border into the Southeast Asia nation. The veterinarian was sharing a taxi with a stranger who asked the driver to stop the car so he could pick up a package. Police stopped the vehicle, determined the package contained methamphetamine and took everybody to the station.

Addison was released from jail after a few days, but was ordered to remain in East Timor during the investigation. Then, in October, a prosecutor persuaded a court to rescind Addison’s conditional release and she was taken to a women’s prison despite not being charged with a crime.