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Good afternoon from the KUOW Newsroom.

This is Seattle now.

I'm Paige Browning with a roundup of today's top stories.

It's Thursday, April 16th.

CETAC Airport made international news today. The Chinese government is warning its citizens

to be cautious when traveling to the U.S. and to avoid CETAC International Airport.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents prevented 20 Chinese scholars from entering the country, even though they had valid U.S. visas to attend an academic conference.

That's according to Reuters.

Port of Seattle spokesperson Perry Cooper told the Seattle Times, the airport is committed to welcoming people and commerce and that international

visits are strictly an issue for federal authorities. The sheriffs challenging a new state law

will have their two lawsuits brought together in Thurston County. That's the ruling this afternoon

by a judge in Ponderay County in northeast Washington. The law sets

new eligibility requirements for sheriff candidates and spells out the process to remove a sheriff from

office if they lose their professional certification. Judge Adam Walser declined the sheriff's request

to put the law on hold. Instead, he transferred it to the same

...