Scenes from Day 1: Troopers await orders 4
OLYMPIA -- Washington State Troopers stood on the steps above protesters Monday evening, awaiting orders to clear the building.
OLYMPIA -- Washington State Troopers stood on the steps above protesters Monday evening, awaiting orders to clear the building.
OLYMPIA – Fasten your seatbelts, to paraphrase Bette Davis. It’s going to be a bumpy month. Amid chants in the hallways and rallies on the Capitol steps, the Legislature began its 30-day emergency session to close a $1.4 billion gap in its operating budget. Social…
OLYMPIA -- The Washington State Patrol has ordered protesters out of the Capitol, warning them that anyone who doesn't leave will be subject to arrest and a 30-day ban from state property. "We respect your right to free speech and protest," Lt. Mark Arras, acting…
OLYMPIA -- Several hundred protesters, many of them chanting slogans from the "Occupy" movement, are in and around the Capitol rotunda. But perhaps only for the time being. The director of Enterprise Services said just minutes ago that the protesters will not be allowed to…
OLYMPIA -- Most Senate Democrats oppose a plan that closes the state's $1.4 billion budget gap solely with cuts, but there's no agreement at this point on where to find more tax revenue, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said Monday. "It's going to take a…
OLYMPIA -- Members of the "occupy" movement are interrupting the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on a plan to help the struggling Wenatchee Public Facilities District by demanding a "citizens arrest" of the Legislature. Chairman Ross Hunter has tried several times to get a…
OLYMPIA -- If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there, does it make a noise? If the Occupy movement occupies the Senate gallery, and no senators are there, does it make its point? When some 200 "occupiers" crowded into the Senate…
OLYMPIA -- After marching around a Capitol rotunda decorated with a Christmas tree and chanting "We are the 99 percent", some 200 protesters decided to "occupy" the Senate gallery this afternoon. They filled the benches on both sides of the chamber and demanding the Legislature…
OLYMPIA -- With protesters outside on the Capitol steps and more expected later today, the Legislature started its special session shortly after noon with limited pomp and circumstance. The Legislature is generally without its army of teen-aged pages for this emergency budget session. The pages…
OLYMPIA -- Protesters filling the north steps of the Capitol seem united in their call for at least some new taxes to help close the gap in the state budget. But the source of those taxes may lead to disputes among the protesters as well…
OLYMPIA -- Several hundred protesters, some in wheelchairs and others being escorted by home care workers, are gathered on the north steps of the Capitol to protest further cuts in payments for Medicaid services. They're also voicing support for the half-cent increase in the state…
OLYMPIA -- Legislative caucuses meet at 10 a.m. while home care workers will gathering on the steps outside the Capitol Building. Large tents have been set up on the lawn to the east of the Legislative Building, and protesters with signs are already moving across…
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