A healthy park system contributes to a healthy state, and a larger portion of public tax support is needed to ensure the public receives the full range of benefits Washington’s iconic state park system can provide.

What do the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day have in common? Well, they’re both in the month of February (this year) and …anecdotally, they’re also days when rates of domestic violence (DV) increase. Amid the hubbub of the big game and the romantic holiday, one can be easily lulled into believing DV is a rare or a far-away occurrence, but we need to recognize we have a significant problem in our own backyard. Domestic violence in Spokane, just like in many U.S. cities, is a public health crisis. On average, 3,300 domestic violence victims are identified annually in Spokane County. In one year, domestic violence in Spokane resulted in $6.7 million in hospital charges and constituted one-quarter of all criminal cases. Two thousand children were either witnesses or victims of DV in Spokane County between 2016 and 2017.

We should not allow the private sector to control the security of our critical air traffic control system without fully understanding the risks.

The Legislature believes its work funding Washington education is finished; we disagree.