State legislators like to make it back to the district from Olympia during the session to talk to the "real folks" with things like town hall meetings. With the crush of business this year, that's difficult.

When one's district is Northeastern Washington's 7th, there's another problem. The folks are so far flung -- from Metaline to Tonasket to Odessa to Republic to Deer Park -- that finding the right town to book the hall is difficult.

Reps. Joel Kretz and Shelly Short are trying to get around this by having a telephonic town hall meeting. Think of it as a big party line (you remember party lines, right? OK, if you're younger than about 50, probably not).  You dial in and can listen and talk.

They're going to try this at 7 p.m. on April 16. To participate, one needs to call 1-877-229-8493, then enter the password number of 14789. They hope it will work like a call-in radio show.

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