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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control archive for July 2013

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2013


Shea's trip highlighted by MSNBC

MSNBC, though liberal commentator's Rachel Maddow's blog, is featuring Spokane Valley state Rep. Matt Shea after he appeared at a survivalist rally over the weekend. Shea's comments at the rally, as reported by the Coeur d'Alene Press, are similar to ones he's made at other…

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TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2013

Candidates wanted

When filing opened for elected offices in various towns and districts a couple months ago, a few attracted a large crowd of interested citizens and most drew one or two candidates. But some didn't get any takers. As in none. Zippo. Zilch. Empty space on…

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Primary turnout low one week out

Of the nearly 200,000 ballots Spokane County sent to voters this month, only about one in eight has come back in with one week left in the primary election for many local offices. Admittedly the primary ballot in many areas is short. Only two of…

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MONDAY, JULY 29, 2013

Wilbur steps down as state GOP head

Washington State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur resigned Monday afternoon, saying he was taking a job at a conservative youth organization that was too good to pass up. Wilbur, 59, a former conservative talk show host who still fills in on Seattle’s KVI radio, is…

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SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013


Sunday Spin2: A bridge too far out?

Meanwhile, at the Secretary of State’s office, someone filed an initiative to rename the fallen and resurrected Skagit River Bridge for initiative entrepreneur Tim Eyman. . . To read the rest of this item, or to comment, continue inside the blog.

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SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2013

Sunday Spin: The Boeing blame game

OLYMPIA – These are the dog days of the summer around the state capital. It’s not as uniformly sunny as Eastern Washington. But morning fog and low clouds – a pattern Seattle’s television weather heads describe with the more elegant-sounding title of “marine layer” –…

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FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2013


WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013


TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2013

Breaking Ground at Huntington Park

Flanked by earthmovers and pickups, with the Riverfront Park gondolas gliding overhead, Scott Morris talked fondly Tuesday of the year 1889, city parks, Spokane and the company he runs, Avista. “We, in a sense, grew up together,” Morris said to a gathering of about 50…

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Map from the tax foundation shows growth in state spending between 2001 and 2011. (Tax Foundation)

Washington spending grew relatively slowly 

OLYMPIA -- Listening to the discussions over state budgets over the last several years, one might have thought that Washington state spending was growing faster than Usain Bolt on steroids. At least, that seemed to be the position of some Republicans who pointed to rising…

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MONDAY, JULY 22, 2013

Retail sales up in Washington

OLYMPIA – Retail sales in Washington jumped 8 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2012, hitting about $26 billion for all taxable sales, the state Department of Revenue reported Monday. Double-digit growth in taxable sales for construction,…

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2013

TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

5 tax advisory votes this fall

OLYMPIA — Washington voters will be asked in November what they think about five tax increases. What legislators do with that knowledge is pretty much up to them, because the taxes are already law, and the election itself won’t change that. . . To read…

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MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013


No. 3 for McMorris Rodgers will be a first

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and her husband Brian Rodgers are expecting their third baby in December. A reader called to ask if that will make the Eastern Washington Republican the first member of Congress to have a third child while in office. We suspected…

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SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013

FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2013

Washington: We're No. 2...in cell phone taxes 

From this morning's paper: The next time you change the ring tone on your cellphone, consider choosing the sound of a cash register ringing. Or maybe The Beatles’ song “Taxman.” Washington cellphone users have the dubious distinction of paying the second-highest taxes in the country.…

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The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.



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