A new lawsuit was filed Tuesday by child care providers, asking a court to force the governor to ask lawmakers for more money for the workers.It's the third such suit involving a proposed union contract. After negotiating agreements covering thousands of state-paid workers last summer…
The state is deploying up to 200 soldiers and airmen to Spokane to help remove snow from school roofs and other structures, Gov. Chris Gregoire's office said a few minutes ago.State officials (see the full press release below) are particularly worried about "a warm, moist…
Gov. Chris Gregoire had dinner with troops at Camp Prosperity, in Baghdad's Green Zone.Thanks for reader Patrick McDonald, a deployed Army reservist from Washington, for sending the photo.
From the governor's office this a.m.:Gov. Chris Gregoire this week met with Washington Army National Guard troops in Iraq. The governor is visiting Iraq with a delegation including Governors John Corzine (D-NJ) and Rick Perry (R-TX). “In August, I had the honor of participating in…
Good grief. The search for out-of-state-but-no-one's-saying-where Gov. Chris Gregoire continues, with thinly sourced reports saying that she's not quitting Olympia for a D.C. job and lots of speculation about an announcement planned by Gregoire's office tomorrow morning.Kudos to the Bellingham Herald's Jared Paben, who actually…
Homeowners unhappy with property taxes have filed a second citizen's intiative Monday, trying to virtually freeze tax valuations.Linda Courtney Cox of Chelan and Kenneth Sinibaldi, a doctor from Lopez Island, filed a measure today on behalf of Washington Voters for Fair Property Tax.For property bought…
Gov. Chris Gregoire, who was supposed to be giving a pre-session talk to capitol reporters in Olympia tomorrow, is somewhere, but not here. She's cancelled, and is out of state. Her office won't say where.This, coming on the heels of Gregoire friend Bill Richardson bowing…
Undeterred by voters' rejection of his last ballot measure at the polls in November, initiative pitchman Tim Eyman -- baby in hand -- today filed his "Lower Property Taxes Initiative" for this year.The measure caps the total revenue from taxes and fees at this year's…
State Rep. Bill Grant, who had been quietly battling lung cancer, has died.He was 71.Grant, D-Walla Walla, was a rare Eastern Washington Democrat in the statehouse, and late into the night, his raspy voice would call House Democrats into caucus meetings."Bill was one of a…
If you just have to have that novelty cigarette lighter shaped like a rubber ducky, grenade or a certain part of human anatomy, you'd better buy soon.Washington's legislative session won't begin until Jan. 12th, but lawmakers already filed a long list of proposed changes in…
Lots of meetings, apparently. Sixteen times a day. Here's the daily to-do list for Jan. 21st, posted by Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown on her blog:9:00 a.m. Meet with Sen. Jim Kastama and Rep. Hans Dunshee to discuss their scholarship bill9:30 a.m. Meet with Sen.…
Trying to get a weekend story done, so I'll let others do the talking:-Joe Turner, on why big tuition hikes at Washington's state colleges may be in the works,-Rich Nafziger, on why that would be a bad, bad idea,-Jim Camden, on how Peter Goldmark is…
Stan Marshburn, a longtime state official, has been named interim head of the state Department of Social and Health Services. Marshburn takes over Jan. 5, when the agency's current chief, Robin Arnold-Williams, switches hats to become the new director of Gov. Chris Gregoire's stable of…
It will be a happier new year, at least for some Washington workers.Tomorrow, Washington’s minimum wage will rise to $8.55 an hour from $8.07, a full $2 an hour higher than in neighboring Idaho.“Washington’s is still the highest, followed by Oregon, California and Massachusetts,” said…
Rep. Steve Hailey, R-Mesa, died Sunday, about a year after he was diagnosed with colon cancer. He would have turned 64 next month.A farmer and rancher from the Franklin County town of Mesa, Hailey was elected on his second try in 2006, narrowly beating fellow…
Gov. Chris Gregoire has declared a state of emergency in Washington due to winter storms."Snowfall has reached record or near-record level in 30 of the state's 39 counties," Gregoire said in a written statement released Christmas Eve." With Eastern Washington and other parts of the…
Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, a festive Festivus, wonderful Winter Solstice, etc. to all of us. And may it be a happy new year.
From tomorrow's paper:Citing the state's budget woes, prison officials want to close Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women, Washington's only women's prison east of the Cascade Mountains.As early as next summer, the state would start transferring roughly 350 inmates to a prison near Vancouver. About…
The largest state-workers' union, the Washington Federation of State Employees, filed a lawsuit today against Gov. Chris Gregoire for not including workers' cost-of-living increases in her budget proposal.This fall, Gregoire's office negotiated cost-of-living increases averaging about 2 percent a year for workers over the next…
"Compact snow and ice" is a familiar cautionary refrain to winter drivers, but in Seattle, it's apparently what city road crews are striving for.The Seattle Times has a story about this today, quoting a city transportation official as saying that the goal in hilly Seattle…
Several state offices have shut down today, as the Olympia area is blanketed with dense wet snow from yesterday and several previous days. Of the four capitol reporters who made it in to my office this morning, three got their cars stuck in the parking…
As my son rejoices at the closure of school for the day, I am thinking about the people in the homeless shelters and using food banks, and the families who created the longest line ever for the Christmas Bureau sponsored annually by the Spokesman-Review. So…
Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget plan doesn't include the money to pay for an initiative approved by voters just last month. I-1029 -- like the governor herself -- was heavily supported by members of the Service Employees International Union. Here are the details, from the TNT's…
Washington Federation of State Employees president Carol Dotlich had some words of advice for fellow union members at a recent banquet in Spokane:"When you see that budget, I don't want you to overreact to it," she reportedly told the crowd. "I don't want you to…
From the print paper:Think back to the last time you renewed your driver’s license. Do you remember the shoes on the person behind the counter?Of course not. But you probably paid for them. Taxpayers provide a $97-a-year “shoe allowance” for the 330 folks working at…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
