Yes! Croatia. That's right.So we discover in this latest offering from Strange Maps : a comparison of U.S. states to nations with similar-sized economies. (As the authors note, it can be a misleading statistic, since the map doesn't account for population, and Ecuador has lots…
There's some interesting speculation about candidate pros and cons in a future potential Chris Marr-Cathy McMorris faceoff in the Spokane-area 5th congressional district on the Spokompton blog.
Poo in the Senate, perhaps as a protest...Witnesses said they couldn’t believe that a single culprit could have produced the volume of poo present or that a person could have, well, deposited it the normal way without attracting attention. Several witnesses speculated it had been…
State revenue forecaster Chang Mook Sohn now predicts that an extra $484 million will roll into state coffers over the next two years.The state's economy "continues to outperform the U.S. economy" particularly in construction and real estate, Sohn said. And despite his repeated cautions that…
Open-records activists have set up a free do-it-yourself records-request site through which you can easily request FBI records on yourself or deceased relatives. It's called...www.getgrandpasfbifile.com.(Thx to boingboing for the heads-up.)
For the past couple of weeks, former gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi's "Forward Washington Foundation" has been soliciting ideas for improving life in the state. It's on the Web -- see below -- and the group is also hosting a series of idea-soliciting meetings around the…
In an often-terse interview, 9th District Democratic Congressman Adam Smith meets Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert.Perhaps Smith -- who is visibly tense in the video -- had seen the unfortunate sausage incident in Colbert's meet-up with fellow Washington Congressman Brian Baird.
Is the subject line on a press release this evening from the state Department of Natural Resources (that would be DNR, BTW.)Also discussed: a revised rule about DFCs, and approval of a new CMER member.Thought you should know.
In what's becoming a day of linking to other people's work (I'm putting together a filing-week database of many, many, many local candidates), here's another good story: The Olympian's Brad Shannon's enterprising preview of a presidential primary-date meeting Monday.As I reported in March, a state…
...is the Tri-City Herald's Chris Mulick's take on Eastern Washington being ignored by campaigning presidential candidates. Mulick takes particular umbrage at "campaign kickoff" non-events for campaigns that the print media's been covering for months:Of course, the candidates themselves play along as if it were fresh…
On Friday, the MacArthur Foundation announced that it plans to pour $10 million into Washington to try to spur effective juvenile justice reforms. Among the group's goals: less reliance on incarcerating kids and more on reforming them.Gov. Chris Gregoire, backed by Supreme Court Justice Bobbe…
Washington State Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge said a few minutes ago that she'll step down from the state Supreme Court at the end of the year to serve as president of the Center for Children and Youth Justice, a non-profit group.The Seattle-based center, founded…
A month after releasing 199 hand-raised rare butterflies as caterpillars, about a dozen of the insects have emerged from coccoons.So reports the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is trying to restore the endangered Taylor's Checkerspot Butterfly, which favors prairie of the kind that…
Chad at Democracy for Washington is doing some interesting work mapping out the political leanings of counties and precincts.
We're still well over a year away from the primary in most statehouse races, but already, folks are starting to file.As the Tri-City Herald's Chris Mulick mentioned last week, Rep. Bob Sump, R-Republic, has decided not to run again when his term expires at the…
The three top-read Spokesman-Review stories of the past week:1) "Data on Sasquatch Piling Up"2) "17-year Cicadas Soon to Cover Midwest"3) "ABC adds `Cavemen' to its Fall Lineup"
Maybe, in five years.Brown talked about future political possibilities with Crosscut's Austin Jenkins for a story published today.The short version: On running for the open seat for state treasurer -- seemingly a good fit for an economist and a much higher salary than senate majority…
Fired U.S. Attorney John McKay said Sunday that the 2004 razor-thin governor's election in Washington "smelled really bad," but that an extensive, little-publicized investigation by FBI agents and federal prosecutors found no evidence of a federal crime."As a citizen and as someone who watched it,…
Two years after suffering a bitter political defeat in the apple capital of Wenatchee, some of the state's best-known Republicans gathered here Saturday to discuss their party and the battle for independent-minded voters."This is the future of the party," said Secretary of State Sam Reed,…
The clock is ticking, but if you paid for a video subscription from Movieland.com, bought "Spyware Cleaner" software or ran into problems with several other products, you may be owed cash.The state attorney general's consumer-protection division says thousands of Washingtonians are potentially eligible for refunds…
"You have 1 New Secure Message!" reads an email sent to reporters statewide this afternoon from a listserv distributing press releases from Attorney General Rob McKenna's office.The message, purporting to be from the recipient's "Military Bank Online" was, of course, a "phishing" scam aimed at…
After months of study, the state's Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials has concluded that the hundreds of state politicians and judges for whom it sets the salaries are all underpaid.The prescription: Substantial raises for all, ranging from 7 percent for appellate, district and…
Two days after two "incendiary devices" were thrown through a window at the state Department of Corrections field office in Bremerton, the department's Longview office was evacuated briefly today after a bomb threat.A search of the Longview office found nothing, according to the department, and…
Somebody left a Sine Die surprise in a fountain pool near the state capitol recently...
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
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