Half a dozen Democratic state lawmakers -- all of them from districts with large rural areas -- today called on the state's attorney general to weigh in on whether a city can ban otherwise-legal firearms from city property.Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels recently issued such an…
Starting with the 2009 model year, new cars sold in Washington must meet strict California emission standards. Buy a car that doesn't and you're in for a shock: You won't be able to register it in Washington.Here's our story.
Not a lot of suspense on this one, but the Washington Education Association has endorsed Randy Dorn, a (different) union official running to oust state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson.The WEA is at odds with Bergeson, it's former president, over her support for the…
Starting this week, Washington smokers covered by Medicaid can get more help quitting, including things like nicotine-replacement patches or gum.Although smoking rates have declined sharply, the percentage of smokers remains high among low-income people, according to the state Department of Social and Health Service."The new…
More from the in-box...Now that veteran Associated Press reporter Dave Ammons has gone to the dark side – i.e. gone to work as a state-paid spokesman – he's gone from his dual role as the longtime host of "Inside Olympia," a weekly interview show on…
In a new twist on the governor's race, a decades-old Seattle Italian-American club on Wednesday blasted the state Democratic Party for using the Sopranos TV theme song as the backdrop to a recent video critical of Republican Dino Rossi.The group was unhappy -- really unhappy…
It turns out that there's an errror on the thousands of petitions being signed to put Initiative 1029 on the ballot in November. In language presumably carried over from an earlier draft of the measure, the form says that it's actually a petition to the…
I can't recall the last time I heard the state Democratic Party highlighting a Fox News video, but they want to make sure you see this one. It highlights the fact that 28 Republicans are going by GOP, no party, or some other term on…
Running for office -- or even thinking about it? Here's a hint: Buy your domain name before your critics do.State Attorney General candidate John Ladenburg got an unpleasant suprise last week when he found that a staffer for the King County Republicans had bought the…
Thanks to Lori Anderson with the PDC, here's a peek into the checkbooks of the groups pushing or opposing several ballot measures this year. (The measure summaries in parentheses are mine.)-Initiative 985 (Tim Eyman's measure designed to steer more money into transportation projects, synch up…
Steve Lerch, a state economist, is predicting about that this two-year state budget cycle will bring in about $60 million less than predicted four months ago.Lerch was speaking to the state's Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.In the 2009-2011 budget cycle, he thinks, the hit will…
As I mentioned last week, TVW is trying to keep bloggers from downloading, editing and posting audio or video excerpts from the public-affairs network's copyrighted coverage. Washington political bloggers, most notably www.horsesass.org founder David Goldstein, are resisting, saying that under a legal doctrine called fair…
About 85 percent of Washington's high school juniors have already passed the new reading and writing standards they'll need to get a diploma, the state's top school official said Monday, a slight increase from last year.But the Washington Assessment of Student Learning results, released Monday,…
Ahh, sunny Spokane. Here's how things went this weekend at the state Democratic Party convention:-There was general agreement on the party platform.-Gov. Chris Gregoire blasted her presumptive Republican challenger, former state Sen. Dino Rossi, as someone who "pretends he is an outsider who has never…
In the 41st legislative district, Republican Valery Chan has dropped her bid for an open Senate seat. State Rep. Fred Jarrett, D-Mercer Island; and Republican Bob Baker have also filed for the seat.And in King County, superior court candidate Eddie Aubrey has dropped out.Here's the…
Really. The state's public affairs network, famous for its "gavel-to-gavel" coverage of the legislature, state supreme court, etc., is clamping down on bloggers lifting video or audio from the site. On Friday, the network started contacting bloggers, including me, who use excerpts from its recordings.…
In a tussle made possible by the new rules for Washington's "Top Two" primary, the state Democratic Party is claiming that Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi is trying to deceive voters by saying he prefers the "GOP" party on the primary ballot, instead of simply…
Bars and taverns "have bounced back strongly" from the hit they greatly feared when the state indoor public smoking ban took effect in Dec. 2005, according to the state Department of Revenue.As an industry, their average growth rate was actually stronger after the ban, according…
From tomorrow's paper:OLYMPIA _ A King County judge on Wednesday threw out parts of a controversial 2003 state water law Wednesday, throwing into question the water-system expansion plans of potentially hundreds of developers and private water systems statewide."It's a pretty big deal that's going to…
Ballot order can matter a lot, particularly for lesser-known seats with a lot of candidates. The order of candidates' names is randomly chosen by election officials.So how did candidates fare this year?-Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers: last on the list of half a dozen contenders for…
From a story I wrote in Sunday's paper:Unhappy with reports of abuse at camps for troubled teens, Angela Smith decided to turn directly to voters for reforms.The Seattle woman wrote a citizen's initiative. She recruited 100 volunteers, got thousands of petitions printed, and set about…
-Half a dozen people have now filed to run for state school superintendent.-State Rep. Alex Wood, who started the day with no filed opponents, how has two Republicans and an Independent running against him.-A Bremerton man listing his name as "(Blue Collar) Brad Gehring" is…
I blogged this morning about Spokane GOP chairman Curt Fackler's decision to list no party in his run for state insurance commissioner.Here's another example of a Republican candidate apparently seeking a little distance from the brand: Mercer Island public-releations entrepreneur Valerie Chan filed to challenge…
-Nine people have filed to fun for governor, including several perennial candidates. Among them: Tacoma's Will Baker. Baker, who once described himself as an "international man of diplomacy," has run for Washington secretary of state, auditor and governor and been repeatedly arrested for disrupting government…
Spokane businessman Curt Fackler filed last night to run again for Insurance Commissioner. As several other candidates around the state have done, Fackler listed no party preference.But Fackler is the Spokane County GOP chairman.Why not run as a Republican?"I feel that insurance is a nonpartisan…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
| June 2008 | ||||
| 30 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 23 |
| 20 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 12 |
| 11 | 10 | 09 | 06 | 05 |
| 04 | 03 | 02 |
