From the print paper:OLYMPIA _ On Monday in the Washington state Capitol, Christians on one side of the rotunda will erect a Nativity scene, with a 3 1/2-foot-tall Joseph and Mary and a baby Jesus in a manger.On the other side of the echoing dome,…
Calling for "an immediate, firm and direct response," the governor's budget director, Victor Moore, today called for $260 million more in state budget cuts.Now.Among the new cuts: another $4.5 million from Washington State University and $1 million from Eastern Washington University. The Department of Social…
Someone heckled U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week during Mukasey's speech before The Federalist Society in Washington, D.C. (About 15 minutes after the incident, Mukasey slumped at podium and fainted.)Who was the person shouting "Tyrant! You ARE a tyrant!" from the audience?Allegedly Washington State…
From the print paper:OLYMPIA _ The specter of layoffs is looming over a sector of the economy that rarely sees it: state workers.As Olympia struggles to bridge a record budget shortfall of $5.1 billion - or more - over the next 2 1/2 years, lawmakers…
House and Senate Republicans have picked their leaders for what's going to be a very interesting year.-Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, remains House Minority Leader.-Rep. Joel Kretz, who's putting Wauconda back on the map, is deputy minority leader.-Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside: floor leader.-Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish:…
Excerpts from this morning's paper:Facing an unprecedented budget shortfall, Washington state officials are scrambling to shave billions of dollars in state spending.That likely means layoffs and deep cuts in state programs.“We are not immune to these immense headwinds that are buffeting the economic landscape,” said…
Feeling the pinch from a dramatic slowdown in consumer spending, state revenues will likely be far less -- down $5.1 billion -- between now and the end of fiscal year 2011.That's a huge hit."We are not immune to these immense headwinds that are buffeting the…
Last week and again this week, a small group of lawmakers, school officials and others have been grappling with ways to re-tool K-12 education in Washington.The primary mission of the state's Basic Education Finance task force is to rewrite the complex formula through which the…
Senate Democrats re-elected Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, to the same post at a meeting this weekend in Sea-Tac. Under a variety of scenarios (minority, slight majority, and big majority), Brown has headed up the Senate Democrats since 2002.Also re-elected: Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way,…
Quick: who or what got the most votes on Washington's November ballot? Was it:a) Barack Obamab) Gov. Chris Gregoirec) Initiative 1029, requiring more paid training for home health aides, d) or Initiative 1000's assisted-suicide measure.Yup, C. In a year of fierce election battles, I-1029 got…
County election officials are nearing the end of the tidal wave of ballots they processed this November, and Secretary of State Sam Reed's office is saying that about 85 percent of registered voters will have cast a ballot in this election."That would be a modern…
From my e-mail in-box:-The state penitentiary in Walla Walla is hosting “a press tour of its execution chamber” later this month. The guided tour, including security screening, apparently takes about five hours.-Among the things the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to consider this week, the…
Rep. John Ahern, R-Spokane, continues to slightly trail Democratic challenger John Driscoll in the close race for a legislative seat representing western Spokane.In a reversal of an earlier trend, Driscoll improved his lead slightly in the latest round of ballot counting. He now leads Ahern…
In a post-election memo to campaign staffers, Gov. Chris Gregoire's campaign manager, Kelly Evans, laid out some of the apparent reasons that 2004's narrow race between Gregoire and Republican challenger Dino Rossi went decisively for Gregoire this time."In both public and private polling, we saw…
Here's our print story on former state treasurer Dan Grimm's recommendations for school reforms, some of them pretty dramatic.From it:"The status quo will be vigorously defended," former state treasurer Dan Grimm writes in the new report. "The challenge before us is to resist the temptation…
The document has yet to be posted on the state's Basic Ed Task Force website, but has been posted by the Washington Policy Center here.Another helpful document is here, detailing the suggestions contained in other major recommendations to the task force.Here, the way, is the…
Up by more than 33,000 votes, Democrat Peter Goldmark has declared victory over Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland.Sutherland, a Republican, trails Goldmark 49.2 percent to 50.8 percent."I am humbled by the opportunity to serve in this important role and look forward to the opportunities…
Two years after ousting an incumbent to claim a seat in the state House of Representatives, Rep. Don Barlow finds himself on the opposite end of the equation. After an expensive, close race, Barlow, D-Spokane, has lost to Republican challenger Kevin Parker.A second race in…
David Goldstein's www.horsesass.org blog has an interesting rumor-control item posted.According to Goldstein, a transition-team list from President-elect Obama includes the name "Lisa Brown."Could that be Washington's Senate Majority Leader, Spokane's Lisa Brown? She's a liberal Democrat with plenty of political experience -- and was an…
Spokane-area races:-District 3: (Central Spokane) Incumbent Democrats trounced Republican challengers. Sen. Lisa Brown and Reps. Alex Wood and Timm Ormsby coasted to re-election, winning by 67 percent or more.-District 4 (Spokane Valley area): Incumbents Bob McCaslin and Larry Crouse were well ahead of challengers. In…
Speaking in Phoenix, John McCain has conceded that he's lost the election."These are difficult times for our country," McCain said, pledging his help to President Obama. He called on his supporters to offer Obama "our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come…
As the Spokesman-Review's Jim Camden reports, state Rep. Larry Crouse is still very much alive, despite a rumor to the contrary.A longtime local nursery owner, Larry Krause, passed away recently, Camden reports. The similarity in their names apparently spawned some confusion.