OLYMPIA – While a House committee considered plans Tuesday to cut wages for some of the state's lowest-paid private workers, a Senate committee tried to emphasize the state doesn’t pay the salaries of its highest-paid public workers. The House Labor Committee considered five different changes…
Drum circle in the Capitol Rotunda. OLYMPIA -- The best thing about the Capitol is one never knows what one will find going on in there. Sometimes it's a dairy princess serving up ice cream bars. Sometimes its the cattlemen offering 'burgers. (S-R reporters have…
OLYMPIA -- A debate of the same-sex marriage bill on the Senate floor is all but locked in for Wednesday, but the time is still up in the air. The Senate has its regular session scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, but that's in the middle…
The Spokane City Council unanimously agreed Monday that marijuana should be able to be possessed legally by people who have a legitimate medical need for the drug. The council approved a nonbinding resolution endorsing a letter that Gov. Chris Gregoire and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln…
OLYMPIA – In the wake of a campaign season that saw a single donor spend nearly $21 million on an initiative to change state liquor laws, a House panel approved a proposal that requires political ads for or against a ballot measure would have to…
OLYMPIA -- By a single vote, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Washington, turning down a pair of amendments by a Spokane Valley legislator. Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane Valley, argued that all business owners with a religious objection to…
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's campaign released its campaign contribution reports from the last quarter of 2011 which shows it had just over $4 million "on hand" as of Dec. 31. (On hand makes it sound like the money is sitting around on someone's desk, or…
OLYMPIA -- The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the same-sex marriage bill this afternoon. Expect a repeat of last week's hearing in Senate Government Operations: some efforts by Republicans to modify it, but enough votes to send it to the full House.…
OLYMPIA – Gestures are important in politics. They can be grand, even when seemingly made on a small scale. Or they can just be small. Among the small gestures considered most legislative sessions are requests to add some emblem or design to state license plates,…
Addressing the crowd at his inaugural ball, Spokane Mayor David Condon said he will strive to be like Jim Chase, the popular mayor who led the city when Condon was a boy. More than 400 people attended Condon's $75-a-plate Our Town Gala on Saturday night…
OLYMPIA -- A proposal to place the same limits on campaign contributions to school board candidates that apply to legislators and other city and county candidates passed the House overwhelmingly Friday. But not before some grousing by a few Republicans who thought the Legislature has…
OLYMPIA -- A measure that would decriminalize use and possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults was sent to the Legislature today after the Secretary of State's office certified it has more than enough signatures. Initiative 502 had a slightly higher than normal error…
If you're a voter in Spokane County, chances are there's a ballot with your name on it somewhere in the U.S. postal system. Spokane County mailed some 260,000 ballots this week for the special election on Feb. 14 (possible slogan: Mail your ballot when you…
OLYMPIA – Washington residents quickly discovered something they didn’t like about the Discover Pass when it was introduced last year to raise money for parks and other state lands: It was only good on one vehicle. So if you drove your pickup to go hunting…
OLYMPIA -- A proposal to allow same-sex marriages in Washington cleared its first hurdle this morning as a legislative panel approved it on a 4-3 vote and sent it to the Senate for a full debate. Supporters beat back several attempts to change SB 6239,…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate Government Operations is scheduled to vote this morning on the proposal that would allow same-sex marriage in Washington. The bill was the subject of two contentious committee hearings on Monday, one in Senate Government Ops and the other in House Judiciary.…
OLYMPIA – Some $35 million to finish the Riverpoint medical school building may flow into Spokane as the top priority for the area’s business community finds itself on a list of projects to address one of the Legislature’s top priorities. Jobs. Or the project may…
OLYMPIA -- The Riverpoint Biomedical and Health Sciences Building, a.k.a. the Spokane Med School building, is on lists in the House and Senate for big projects the state would do if the Legislature passes a major bond package. The school is slated for $35 million…
Did you miss a piece of the State of the Union address while you were eating dinner, doing the dishes or making sure the kids brushed their teeth. Or maybe you skipped it entirely. In any case, if you want to read what he had…
Gerry Alexander, who retired last year as the chief justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, will serve on the city's Use of Force Commission. The commission was created last year by former Mayor Mary Verner to review the city's handling of the police confrontation…
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook For those wondering about how Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina GOP primary, Jon Stewart explains.
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, vice chair of the House Republican Conference, gave Fox News a preview of the GOP's rebuttle to tonight's expected themes in President Obama's State of the Union address. The congresswoman from Spokane took repeated shots at Obama's rejection of the…
OLYMPIA – As supporters and opponents packed hearing rooms around the Capitol Monday, Washington moved a step closer to legalizing same-sex marriage when the proposal gained its crucial 25th vote in the Senate. Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, announced she would vote yes on…
The City of Spokane issued about 20 parking tickets to the owners of vehicles who didn't obey the city's snow emergency rules late last week. The city declared a stage 2 snow emergency Thursday, which set into motion a plowing of residential streets and an…
OLYMPIA -- A proposal to give same-sex couples the ability to marry in Washington state may have the25 votes needed to pass the Senate. Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, a Camano Island Democrat who was officially undecided on the bill, announced this morning she would vote…
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