Gov. Inslee pets service dogs Huckleberry and Huey who attended a bill signing with Darly Abbot of Olympia. OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee might want to think about making more trips across the mountains to Eastern Washington. Back from Tuesday's sojourn to Dayton, Starbuck and…
OLYMPIA – “Weed” is not an official weed, at least not in Washington, not now. So says the state Noxious Weed Control Board, which recently discussed whether various forms of cannabis, from recreational marijuana to industrial hemp, should be considered for its list of plants…
OLYMPIA -- Prosecutions of adults for misdemeanor possession of marijuana have practically dropped off the charts since the passage of Initiative 502, the ACLU of Washington said today. Data from the Administrative Office of the Court says there were 7,964 such prosecutions in 2009. That…
In what has become an annual tradition, President Obama filled in his NCAA brackets for ESPN. The clip picks up when the president is at the Sweet 16 level, so you'll have to look at the ESPN website to realize that he dissed Gonzaga, expecting…
OLYMPIA – Palouse Falls is officially the state water fall. In a ceremony this afternoon with the Eastern Washington falls as a backdrop and dozens of Washtucna Elementary students around the table, Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill that bestows the title on the geologic…
OLYMPIA – The federal government's latest plan to cleanup nuclear waste at Hanford is short on details and the state is considering its options to force a better one, Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday. . . To read the rest of this item, or to…
OLYMPIA -- State Supreme Court will lose one of its more conservative members next month as Justice Jim Johnson announce today he will retire at the end of April. Jim Johnson -- the court has also has Justice Charles Johnson -- is a former state…
OLYMPIA – So the Legislature blew Dodge on time for the first time since 2009. Sure, you’re saying “good riddance” now, but that may change if they avoid a special session and don’t show up until next January. Political junkies who have been glued to…
OLYMPIA – The Legislature closed up shop with seven minutes before its constitutionally mandated midnight stopping time Thursday, ending a short session that was short on expectations, and many would argue, short on accomplishments. After passing an updated operating budget that even supporters said contained…
Gov. Jay Inslee says Republicans in the Senate kept changing demands on the amount of sales tax they wanted redirected for transportation projects. OLYMPIA -- Washington faces reduced maintenance on roads and bridges as well as cuts in mass transit because the Legislature did not…
Gov. Jay Inslee and his wife Trudi watch floor action in the Senate on the last night of the session. OLYMPIA -- With time running out, the Legislature agreed to let military veterans attend Washington's public college on in-state tuition, and extended a fee on…
OLYMPIA -- Barely six hours after it was unveiled to the public, the Legislature passed the 2014 supplemental budget and sent it to Gov. Jay Inslee. The budget passed the House 85-13, and the Senate 48-1. For a full report, go inside the blog.
OLYMPIA --Washington's two marijuana systems -- an older one for medical patients and a new one for "recreational use" by adults --may remain separate at least for another year. Legislators involved in negotiations over proposals to merge the two as Washington gets its new legal…
OLYMPIA -- A supplemental budget that raises no taxes, offers no new tax loopholes and provides no state-funded raises for teachers is expected to be pushed through the Legislature today on a fast track. Budget negotiators unveiled their negotiated spending plan to the public at…
OLYMPIA -- On the last day of the regular session, the Legislature has a few things on its plate: A supplemental operating budget, which apparently will be shown to members around 10 a.m., and to the public around noon. It will have to pass in…
OLYMPIA -- The latest version of a bill to end the Innovate Washington program passed the House 97-0 Wednesday evening. In the latest iteration, the Spokane-based agency becomes a program in the state Commerce Department that ends on June 30, 2015. In the meantime, it…
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature will start the last day of its scheduled session without showing the public its supplemental budget. The budget, which is the update of the biennial budget passed last year, is said to be close, with only relatively small things in the…
Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler talks about what will and won't happen during the remainder of the session at a press conference with House Republican Leader Dan Kristiansen and Senate Republican Caucus Chairwoman Linda Evans Parlette. OLYMPIA -- Good news for Spokane motorists: You won't…
OLYMPIA -- Legal marijuana growers in Washington will not get any of the tax breaks other farmers get, under a bill passed today by the Legislature. The House gave final passage to a bill that makes marijuana farming different from any other agricultural product, and…
OLYMPIA -- Here's a bad sign for anyone expecting the Legislature to conclude its business by midnight Thursday: Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler this morning described the supplemental budget, and two controversial bills, as "a work in progress." Budget leaders of both chambers have been…
OLYMPIA -- The penultimate day of the session, or Sine Die Eve, dawned without an announcement on a deal for a supplemental budget, or all the things that might go with it, such as a plan to add statewide student tests to teacher evaluations or…
OLYMPIA – State and local law enforcement agencies would need specific approval from their elected officials to buy drones, and a search warrant to use an unmanned surveillance aircraft for much of the information they might collect, under a bill that passed today. . .…
OLYMPIA — State law would make the Huskies play the Zags in basketball every year under a proposal introduced Tuesday by a Spokane senator. Considering there’s barely time left int the legislative session to negotiate a budget, getting a vote in both chambers on the…
OLYMPIA -- Senate Democrats failed in a parliamentary maneuver to force votes on granting in-state tuition for military veterans and funding for homeless projects. Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, tried to force those two bills -- which have strong support from both parties but are stuck…