Thu., Feb. 5, 2009
Former state Rep. Mary Skinner died this morning at her home in Yakima, less than a year after announcing that she was stepping down from her legislative seat to battle colon cancer. She was 63.Elected to the House in 1994, Skinner served 14 years in…
Wed., Feb. 4, 2009
State Sen. Pam Roach is apparently under investigation again by the state legislative ethics board."Yes, Dear Readers...they are on the hunt. And, they intend to find SOMETHING...ANYTHING to punish me," she writes on her personal blog today. Roach has been involved in a long-running battle…
Wed., Feb. 4, 2009
The White House has posted a list of what President Obama's stimulus plan would mean for Washingtonians. It doesn't detail some of the major investments in education and transportation infrastructure that's being planned. It's more of a consumer's-eye-view of the plan.From it:•Creating or saving 79,700…
Tue., Feb. 3, 2009
As long as we're looking at silly videos, here's another, from Talking Points Memo.(hat tip: Camden.)
Tue., Feb. 3, 2009
I'll stipulate at the outset that this is juvenile, but it's funny nonetheless.Yesterday, Bill Robinson, with the state chapter of the Nature Conservancy, was testifying about legislative efforts to revamp the state Fish and Wildlife Commission to defuse a perceived impasse among commercial and sport-fishing…
Mon., Feb. 2, 2009
Flags across the state will be flown at half-staff Tuesday, in memory of Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin H. Todd, a soldier and Colville resident who died last week in a helicopter crash in Iraq.
Sun., Feb. 1, 2009
Declaring that dogs "are neither a commercial crop nor commodity," several senators are proposing legislation to require humane practices in commercial dog breeding."Without proper oversight, puppy mills can easily fall below even the most basic standards of humane housing and husbandry," says Senate Bill 5651,…
Sun., Feb. 1, 2009
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate want to let child care workers collectively bargain with the state over how much the state pays to subsidize low-income families, professional development for the workers, benefits and grievance procedures.Low state reimbursement for care makes it hard for…
Sun., Feb. 1, 2009
Two years ago, the state Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that even after felons are released from prison, the state can bar them from voting until they pay off all their court-ordered fines and fees.For poor people with big bills and few options for employment, this…
Sat., Jan. 31, 2009
Sen. Val Stevens, re: a proposal to require kids under 18 to have a driver's license to ride an ATV on certain roads. (The law now: anyone 13 or older can ride one on those roads.)
Sat., Jan. 31, 2009
House Bill 1835 would replace old references to mental retardation in state law with the gentler phrase "intellectual disabilities."
Sat., Jan. 31, 2009
A senator from a struggling timber district has come up with an interesting idea: a tax on plastic.The money would go into a special "climate protection forestry account," which would be used to pay for incentives to the forestry industry. The goal: to reduce carbon,…
Sat., Jan. 31, 2009
Interesting stuff from the latest newsletter from the Building Industry Association of Washington: Rep. Brendan Williams, D-Olympia, has replaced former Sen. Brian Weinstein as the building group's great Satan. Weinstein drew the builder's ire by championing legislation that would have made it easier to sue…
Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
Planned Parenthood has managed to un-do a budget cut, convincing lawmakers and the governor to overrule a state agency's decision to ctop paying for 70 family planning nurses across the state.The Department of Social and Health Services had decded to end those contract positions today.…
Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced bills to broaden the rights of couples who register with the state as domestic partners. So far, nearly 5,000 couples have signed up for the registry. Many are same-sex partners; others are heterosexual senior citizens. (The latter…
Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
I spent a couple of hours yesterday sitting in on meetings between state officials and a large group of business/political/community leaders from Spokane. Among the things that came up:-Gov. Chris Gregoire said she expects the state's revenue picture to keep getting worse for a while.…
Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
There's another interesting farmers-versus-environmentalists water battle shaping up in the statehouse this year.Farm groups are backing a reform that sounds utterly common-sense: changing decades-old laws that require farmers to use every drop of their water allocation or, after a few years of failing to do…
Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
Environmentalists and cattlemen clashed Thursday over a decades-old law that allows largely unlimited pumping from wells – with no permit – as long as the water is used for livestock.To ranchers, that’s a common-sense exception that helps agriculture and dates back many decades.To environmental groups…
Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
More from the print paper:In 2007, jubilant Democratic lawmakers approved $250-a-week stipends to workers who take unpaid time off to bond with a new baby.Two years, later without paying anyone a dime, paid family medical leave has stalled. Gov. Chris Gregoire halted computer work on…
Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
Lawmakers, unhappy with a recent court ruling saying that it's not illegal for a teacher to have sex with a student, so long as the student's 18, are trying to now make it illegal.The recent court ruling “opens the door for this being open season…
Fri., Jan. 30, 2009
Fascinating and depressing, here's a 1981 look at a quirky new technology: reading your newspaper on your "home computer" via signals transmitted over phone lines.The news report has Tomorrowland feel to it, fat monitors with tiny screens, clunky keyboards, a guy setting a phone handset…
Thu., Jan. 29, 2009
Gov. Chris Gregoire is asking the federal government to declare a statewide "economic injury disaster" for Washington's businesses due to the heavy snow storms in December.The move by the federal Small Business Administration would free up low-interest loans for businesses at a time when credit's…
Tue., Jan. 27, 2009
Echoing similar plans in the other Washington, Senate Democrats in Olympia Tuesday detailed their plans to combine “green jobs” with a renewed push for conservation and alternative sources of power.“We now have a partner in the federal government in a way that we haven't had…
Tue., Jan. 27, 2009
The American Heart Association, cancer society, and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids are calling for $1-a-pack tax hike on cigarettes, saying that less smoking saves the state a lot of money on health costs."It's not about revenue, it's about health savings," state Sen. Rodney…
Tue., Jan. 27, 2009
The state attorney general's office says that a Dec. 29 legal settlement between the power utility Avista, state regulators and others contains critical flaws that cost ratepayers millions of dollars more than should be allowed.The AG's Public Counsel Section is appealing the deal, today filing…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
