OLYMPIA – In the list of threats a Washington governor can hurl at a recalcitrant Legislature, “I won’t sign your bills” has proven to be among the least menacing. Gov. Chris Gregoire kept threatening not to sign bills if the Legislature didn’t cough up a…
OLYMPIA – Charities like the Union Gospel Mission can soon resume distributing used eyeglasses to people who can’t afford to buy them, under a bill signed into law Friday. The legislation, which protects charities like the Mission and the Lions Club International from lawsuits for…
OLYMPIA -- Responding to a shot from Gov. Chris Gregoire that she doesn't need a "monkey wrench" thrown into budget negotiations, a campaign spokesman for Rob McKenna said the GOP candidate won't be releasing a full-blown budget on Monday. Rather, it will be a statement…
OLYMPIA -- Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt will undergo surgery Monday to remove a tumor from his thymus. Senate Republicans announced this afternoon that Hewitt will have surgery in Seattle for the recently discovered tumor. With the Legislature still struggling to solve a problem with…
How close are they to reaching a budget deal? About this close, Gov. Chris Gregoire said today. OLYMPIA -- Legislative negotiators are closer to a comprehensive agreement on the state's General Fund budget, but some of the hardest decisions remain, Gov. Chris Gregoire said today.…
OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire lifted her self-imposed boycott of bill signings Thursday and said legislators could be close to reaching a deal on cuts to the state’s operating budget. Or not. “In the next 48 hours, we could have an agreement,” she said. “Then…
OLYMPIA -- In the lists of possible inducements a governor can offer to legislators to break a deadlock, "I won't sign your bills" might rank pretty near the bottom. Or so it would seem today as Gov. Chris Gregoire prepares to sign 112 of the…
The likely Republican and Democratic candidates for governor will debate this June in Spokane. An on-again, off-again match up of state Attorney General Rob McKenna and former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee in front of a major state business group appears on again, for good. The…
The campaign to extend two taxes to pay for the expansion of the Spokane Convention Center and Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena has pulled a TV ad featuring Spokane City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin. Citizens for Jobs Now has developed a series of commercials each featuring two…
Protesters cross a downtown intersection in Olympia on their way from the landing near the Port of Olympia to the offices of Attorney General Rob McKenna. OLYMPIA – As the U.S. Supreme Court questioned lawyers about the constitutionality of making Americans buy health insurance, a…
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature's special session continues apace, which is to say there are no public meetings or hearings and nothing to tell whether there is any progress on solving the budget problems. We have crossed into the second half of the session with nary…
Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin confirmed this evening that she will run against state Senate Democratic Majority Leader Lisa Brown. She plans to make her official announcement at a press conference on Tuesday. McLaughlin has been on the record as considering a run against Brown for months.…
Spokane Mayor David Condon has added his name to the list of local leaders opposed to the Spokane Tribe of Indians’ proposal for a casino on the West Plains. Condon joins Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and state Senate Democratic Majority Leader Lisa Brown…
OLYMPIA – Lisa Brown, the top-ranking Democrat in the Senate, will seek another four years in central Spokane’s 3rd District. Brown, who was widely expected to seek re-election to another term, was first elected to the Legislature in 1992 and now serves as Senate Majority…
OLYMPIA – In Washington and Idaho, there is no statute that gives a person the right to “stand your ground” and use deadly force in public when faced with a perceived threat. Both states have fairly standard laws covering justifiable homicide or self-defense, particularly when…
OLYMPIA -- Today is Day 15 of the Legislature's 30-day Special Session, so we are at the midway point of...what? Top budget writers reportedly continue meeting behind closed doors to look for a way to craft a budget that doesn't spend more than the state…
</p> <p> Whether there’s a War on Women being waged by politicians around the country is open to debate. There is definitely a War over the War On Women, and Washington has a top commander on both sides of the battle lines. To read the…
OLYMPIA – Jet planes may someday fly on fuel made Eastern Washington grain, cars will sport license plates celebrating 4-H and rhododendrons and drivers licenses will last longer but be more expensive under bills signed Friday. A $100 fee for electric cars, an easier alternative…
Gregoire signs Health Insurance Exchange bill. OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire and other Democratic officials marked Friday’s second anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act – which Republicans prefer to call Obamacare – with a signing ceremony of their own. Gregoire signed legislation…
... At least according to Inlander readers. Former Mayor Mary Verner took second place in the Inlander's annual reader survey in the category, "best local villain." That's a tumble for a woman who usually polled well when the Inlander asked readers for their favorite politician.…
OLYMPIA -- A proposal to free up about $238 million for the state's troubled operating budget reported earlier today isn't a gimmick, it's a "business modernization proposal" that is made possible by the change of technology from hand-written account books to electronic funds transfers. Basically,…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire will sign more than two dozen bills tomorrow. Considering the gov has been using not signing bills as a figurative cattle prod to get legislators to come up with a budget, could this be a sign they are close to…
OLYMPIA -- The budget negotiations remain in an ice jam, but the political temperature in the Capitol may have gone up to 33 degrees with a new accounting maneuver -- some may dare call it "gimmick" -- on the table. It involves the state holding…
OLYMPIA – For 15 years, Washington has helped thousands of people the federal government wouldn’t, providing food assistance to legal immigrants struggling to survive in America. That includes residents of the Marshall Islands who come to this country seeking jobs and medical care after the…
OLYMPIA -- Discussions between the Legislatlure's top budget writers are "going good," one of the participants said Wednesday, but don't get your hopes up for a compromise soon. "We haven't reached an agreement," Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said before Senate Democrats gathered for an afternoon…
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