A $20 tax on vehicles owned by drivers living in the city of Spokane won't be approved this year.The Spokane City Council voted unanimously on Monday to postpone a vote on the tax until Jan. 10. The decision ensures that if the tax is approved,…
OLYMPIA -- The list of state senators and their years of legislative service came out today and, while it's not unexpected, it does offer a reminder that state Sen. Bob McCaslin, R-Spokane Valley, is the most senior member of the Senate.By quite a bit.McCaslin took…
OLYMPIA -- The state should cut off automatic increases to some state retirees and keep others from retiring then being rehired for their old jobs, Gov. Chris Gregoire said today.It should also revamp health insurance programs to find savings from large purchase and reductions in…
OLYMPIA -- Less than 48 hours after the special session to trim what's left of this year's budget, Gov. Chris Gregoire will release the first piece of her first proposal for the 2011-13 budget this afternoon at a 1:30 p.m. press conference. It deals with…
Set next Tuesday aside for marking something other than the Winter Solstice. It will also be the day Washington state finds out whether it will add one more congressional district.The U.S. Census Bureau will announce the national headcount and the state-by-state breakdowns. From that, states…
In a close vote on Saturday, the Spokane County Republican Party replaced it chairwoman with the former mayor of Airway Heights. Precinct committee officers voted 91-85 for Matthew Pederson, a current Airway Heights city councilman, over the incumbent leader, Cindy Zapotocky. Heading into the race,…
Former City Councilman Steve Eugster said Wednesday that he no longer plans to run next year for Spokane City Council president. Earlier this week City Councilman Steve Corker announced that he will run for the seat. Eugster filed to run for council president last year…
Council President Joe Shogan took the lead this year on the plan to create a vehicle tab tax while others on Spokane City Council examined other ideas -- including a parking lot tax. Shogan's plan is pretty much the only tax left that might be…
Spokane's 2011 street budget was slashed by $1.5 million on Monday in a move that may mean extra city layoffs.The Spokane City Council voted 4-3 on Monday to shift $1.5 million in street money to the city's rainy-day fund where it could be used to…
Spokane City Councilman Steve Corker announced Monday that he will run for Spokane City Council president next year. Corker, 69, is a former advertising and marketing executive who was first elected to the council in 1999. Rather than run for re-election, Corker ran unsuccessfully for…
Compare the map of voters above with the maps below of the way votes stacked up in key races.Statistics may be for losers, as Scotty Bowman once said. But losers who don’t pay attention to statistics may be destined to keep losing.So it might be…
Data from Spokane County Elections Office/Computer analysis by Spin Control
Data from Spokane County Elections office/Computer analysis by Spin Control
Data from Spokane County Elections Office/Computer analysis by Spin Control
Data from Spokane County Elections Office/Computer analysis by Spin Control
OLYMPIA -- Three recounts of West Side legislative races were completed Friday and Republicans held on to win all three of them, defeating incumbent Democrats in each case.Hans Zeiger finished ahead of House Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Dawn Morrell by 30 votes after Morrell picked up…
OLYMPIA -- State officials and the state employees unions have a tentative agreement that bumps the amount workers pay for health care coverage up slightly.Right now, the state picks up 88 percent, and the employees 12 percent of the cost of medical insurance. Just a…
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray agreed recently to take the job of chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a group dedicated, as its name suggests, to getting more Democrats elected to the Senate.Considering last month’s election results, it’s not surprising there wasn’t a long line…
OLYMPIA -- The state's naughty and nice list for charities and fund-raisers is out today, and state officials are suggesting that people be careful as well as generous this holiday season.About $1.4 billion was donated to charities in the last year, but about $400 million…
OLYMPIA -- As it has for several years, a Seattle-based Jewish group erected a menorrah at the Capitol. A menrrah was inside in 2005-8, but all private displays were moved outside in 2009 after controvery involving a sign by atheists and requests to put a…
OLYMPIA -- After nearly two hours behind closed doors, legislative leaders and Gov. Chris Gregoire broke their huddle over budget problems but emerged with no consensus on a special session to close at least some of a gap of $1.1 billion projected for the remainder…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire and top lesgislative leaders are meeting behind closed doors this afternoon, looking at ways to cut the state's budget.Some leaders are here in Olympia, while a few like Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and Minority Leader Mike Hewitt are on…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire meets at 1:30 p.m. today with Democratic and Republican leaders of the state Senate and House to discuss the state's budget problems and their suggested solutions.And the prospect of a special session to address them.Meanwhile, Senate Republicans released their list…
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers gave birth to an 8 pound, 4 ounce baby girl just after midnight today in Washington, D.C.McMorris Rodgers, who is among the House Republicans' leading users of social media, announced the birth with a message on Twitter and a Facebook post…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire is blasting the makers of Camel cigarettes for its use of Seattle as one of 10 "cool" locations in an ad campaign.The "Breaking Free" campaign, which will use 10 locations on which the iconic dromedary and standing in front of…
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
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