Column

Dear Kiantha,

Brian Heywood is feeling a bit like David standing up to Goliath, or maybe that’s two Goliaths. Let’s Go Washington is facing not only a No on 2117 campaign funded by left-wing billionaires, but a grant program from the state of Washington using taxpayer dollars.

When Robert Marbut first joined the production team for the movie “No Address,” it was as a subject matter expert. It wasn’t because of his PhD in international relations and political behavior, it was 30 years’ experience in researching root causes of homelessness in America. Lack of an address is not one of them. Untreated mental illness and substance abuse are.

Dear Kiantha,

It’s rare to hear praise for the Department of Licensing from the small-government conservative chorus, but this time DOL gets to be the hero. The Department of Ecology dropped the ball on its duties under the Climate Commitment Act, and DOL picked it up.

Dear Kiantha,

In 1970, Washington voters passed Referendum 20 and made abortion safe, legal and – let’s hope – rare in the state. Subsequent legislatures have added additional protective language to satisfy the pro-choice majority.

Dear Kiantha,

It was the most significant Washington state court case you’ve never heard of, affecting one of our most consequential local news stories of 2023-2024. More than 820,000 Washington voters almost had their votes thrown out last week.