As hundreds of candidates file their candidacy forms next week, Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed is is calling on them to behave.This is Washington's first ever "top two" primary, which allows candidates to describe their party preference in 16 (non-obscene) letters.Most, Reed hopes, will…
As predicted, things are starting to get lively at the state Republican convention in Spokane. The delegates have this morning voted whether to add an unplanned speaker (he got to speak) and whether to throw out the Skagit delegation (denied, but with a flurry of…
From this morning's crop of speeches:"We are the only group that Christine Gregoire can't unionize."-Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers"The purpose of this assembly is to bring people together" to unite behind GOP principles. "Everybody in this room, you're all Republicans. You are family. Come together."-Congressman Dave…
Next week marks the start of filing week, when candidates put cash down (1 percent of the elected position's annual salary) and throw themselves into the political ring.Many candidates, of course, declared months (or in some cases, years) ago. And political reporters tend to use…
Yakima City Councilman Norm Johnson has filed campaign paperwork to run as a Republican to replace Rep. Mary Skinner, R-Yakima, who recently announced that she's stepping down at the end of the year.And Johnson's not the only one. According to the Yakima Herald-Republic, Democrat Vickie…
Also, the group is debating what to do about a longstanding requirement that political candidates note their party on campaign ads.After all, in the state's soon-to-be-tried-for-the-first-time Top Two Primary, you're just expressing a "party preference." And party is irrelevant in the primary: the top two…
The Catholic Diocese of Spokane is one of those taking sides in the assisted suicide measure that proponents are trying to get on the ballot this year.In a recent letter to parishioners, Spokane Bishop William Skylstad urged church members not to sign the petitions to…
C. Mark Greene, chairman of a fledgling political party called the Party of Commons, has filed campaign finance paperwork to challenge Secretary of State Sam Reed."No automatic coronation for Sam," he writes on his blog. A perennial federal candidate, Greene was planning to run for…
State Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, is in critical care at an Olympia hospital after a "cardiac episode" at home Saturday night, according to a press release his office just sent out.An echocardiogram test showed that Swecker, who recently turned 61, has a congenital heart valve…
More from this morning's paper:OLYMPIA - The military cannot automatically discharge people because they’re gay, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in a case involving an Air Force nurse from Spokane.A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revived Maj. Margaret Witt's…
HANFORD INITIATIVE: The federal appeals court said this morning that despite an overwhelming vote by Washington voters in 2004, the resulting state law requiring the feds to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservatin before dumping any more waste there is pre-empted by federal law.Former state…
With some people cut off from their homes by a major flood-water washout of SR 206 near Spokane, Gov. Chris Gregoire said this afternoon that she'll issue an emergency proclamation to draw federal dollars to help pay the $1 million-plus repair bill. Nearly a quarter-mile…
Dwight Pelz, chairman of the Washington State Democrats and one of the state's Democratic "superdelegates" in what turned out to be a fiercely contested Democratic nomination fight, today said that he's supporting Barack Obama."Barack Obama can win this election, and has clearly energized a generation…
Last week, I wrote about a Spokane Regional Transportation Council employee who stopped to take some work-related photos at an Interstate 90 weigh station, only be startled when her personal cell phone rang 10 minutes later. On the phone: a state trooper, wanting to know…
Staci Lehman, who works for the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, was out on Tuesday snapping some photos of a soon-to-be-moved highway weigh station on Interstate 90 near the Washington/Idaho state line."We were just doing a Powerpoint on some of the projects that are funded in…
A May 12 phone poll of 500 likely voters in Washington suggests that "the re-election prospects for Washington Governor Christine Gregiore (D) have improved significantly over the past two months" according to pollster Rasmussen Reports.The poll shows Gregoire leading Republican challenger Dino Rossi 11 percentage…
As ordained minister Virgil Montgomery describes it, the trip that landed him before the state's highest court began with a few errands.On a shopping trip to Spokane, the 60-year-old Newport man and a 63-year-old friend bought some matches for his woodstove. And some cough medicine.…
Rep. Mary Skinner, R-Yakima, said today that she will not run for re-election this fall."After long and careful consideration and much prayer, I have decided not to seek an eighth term in office as state representative and will retire in January," she said in a…
From today's paper:SEATAC _ The opening-day convention crowd was a lively, thousand-strong mass of people. The ballroom swelled with cheers for door prizes, then faded to back-of-the-room chatting.In front of this crowd, Richard Semler rose. With little introduction, he painted a stark picture from his…
The state Democratic Party is seeking donations to hire a plane to fly around Seattle skies on Tuesday, trailing a banner reading "JOHN MCCAIN: 100 YEARS IN IRAQ."
Catching up...-- Dinner with John McCain in Bellevue can be yours next week, for $33,100 a plate.-- The Everett Herald's Jerry Cornfield takes a closer look at the widespread budget woes of school districts.-- And finally this: An impasse between a Texas-based educational foundation and…
The state's Parent-Teachers Association held its annual convention in Seatac last week, drawing more than 1,000 people from across the state. Here are some highlights from a panel discussion on a topic that's sure to dominate the five-way race for state superintendent of public instruction…
Although reportedly trailing Gov. Chris Gregoire in fundraising last month, Republican challenger Dino Rossi recently celebrated a milestone: racking up as many individual campaign contributions as he got during his entire 2004 campaign.To thank the 30,746th donor this year, Rossi led a sort of Prize…
Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will be in Spokane May 20 to headline a $40-a-head "Friends of the Family Banquet" at the Spokane Convention Center.
Thanks to I-872 several years ago and a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, Washingtonians are about to vote in a new pick-no-party primary this summer. The top two vote-getters for an office -- regardless of party -- will face off on the November…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
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