A picture is only worth a thousand words if it’s the right picture for the intended words. When it’s the wrong picture, it’s worth considerably fewer words, and more trouble, as demonstrated in two separate instances last week on the West Side. One involved an…
~~OLYMPIA – More than 800 potential new businesses have signed up to grow, process or sell legal marijuana in the first week Washington accepted applications for its new industry. Rick Garza, director of the state Liquor Control Board which will award the licenses, told a…
OLYMPIA – Senate negotiators will begin the push today for a package of new road projects and improved maintenance that could complete the long-discussed North Spokane Corridor and raise gasoline taxes by 11.5 cents over three years. The package of 10 related bills, with a…
OLYMPIA -- Submitted for your approval, as Rod Serling used to say at the beginning of "Twilight Zone." Or disapproval, as the case may be. Until this morning, this was the photo the Senate Republican Caucus web site used to illustrate last week's hearing by…
The Associated Press is reporting former Washington Gov. Gary Locke is stepping down next year as ambassador to China. Here's their report: BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, who oversaw the handling of potential crises over the flights to U.S. diplomatic missions…
OLYMPIA -- Washington lost 8,100 jobs last month and 1,400 in September when employment statistics are adjusted for seasonal variations. The changes left the state's unemployment rate almost unchanged. It was 7 percent in August, 6.9 percent in September and 7 percent in October. The…
OLYMPIA -- Ed Murray will keep two titles -- state senator and mayor-elect -- through the end of the year in case he has to return to the state capital for a special session on transportation. In a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, Murray said…
If you got tired of the talking heads saying problems with Obamacare and the web site roll out were Barack Obama's Katrina moment, you might like this clip from the Daily Show.
OLYMPIA -- Would-be marijuana entrepreneurs began Monday filing applications for state licenses to grow, process or sell recreational marijuana. In the six hours after the state Department of Revenue's web site began taking applications, 299 had been filed online and the non-refundable fee of $250…
Saturday Night Live recommends doses of second-term strength anti-depressants for Barack Obama. (It's from the NBC website, so it starts with a real commercial. Sorry about that.)
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee will return from his belated trade trip China on Tuesday, rather than today. Inslee's office said this morning the governor was extending his stay in China an extra day to make a trip to Beijing for meetings that were postponed…
Somewhere in the great beyond, James “Big Jim” Farley is having a good day. The former Tammany Hall boss and political strategist for Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have been pulled out of celestial poker game late last week when word drifted heavenward about a press…
Sam Calvert has a dream of getting in on the ground floor of a historic change in retail commerce that begins Monday. But it’s a struggle, he acknowledged. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Calvert, 50, who has managed commercial real estate…
The Daily Show plays the Racist or Not Racist game.
In the wake of the Boeing machinists’ rejection of a contract extension the company said would assure the 777X would be built in Washington, a Spokane legislator said the state needs to take a bold step to become more attractive to manufacturing. Make Washington a…
OLYMPIA -- The three-day special session cost the state $8,460 in per diem expenses for members of the state Senate. That's the tally released today from the Secretary of the Senate's office, from per diem requests filed by senators from last week's Thursday-through-Saturday session. Legislators…
Last week’s off-year election isn’t even certified yet, and now 2014 already is heating up. Spokane police Detective Doug Orr is gearing up for a run against Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. Orr, who also serves as an adjunct criminal justice professor at Gonzaga University, has filed…
Legislators from Spokane's 3rd District will hold a "mobile office" session Wednesday afternoon at the Northeast Community Center. Sen. Andy Billig, along with Reps. Timm Ormsby and Marcus Riccelli, will be at the center, 4001 N. Cook St., from 3:30 to 5 p.m. to talk…
OLYMPIA -- There's an axiom in politics that anything worth saying is worth repeating, sometimes ad infinitum. Based on the late great special session, it would seem that even things not worth saying are worth repeating. That would be the only explanation for something Sen.…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee travels to the Museum of Flight this morning to sign legislation passed over the weekend in the hurry-up special session. Probably an appropriate backdrop, considering the session was all about luring a new Boeing assembly line and wing manufacturing plant…
In elections, victory is usually well-defined. You got the most votes. Period. So it was a bit odd Thursday to get a post-election email from initiative guru Tim Eyman describing the results of the election as “7 measures, 7 votes, 7 victories". . . To…
Spokane County’s effort to raise property taxes failed on Tuesday, but it could have won. John Smith could have beat Brian Dansel in Northeast Washington’s 7th Legislative District, Linda Thompson could have beat Rod Higgins for a seat on the Spokane Valley City Council and…
OLYMPIA — The Legislature gave overwhelming approval to bills designed to convince Boeing to build a new jetliner in Washington, rejecting calls Saturday to spread the benefits of tax breaks and streamlined permit approvals to all businesses in the state. Then it quit, without any…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate gave overwhelming approval to bills designed to convince Boeing to build a new jetliner in Washington but rejected calls to spread the tax benefits and streamlined permit approvals to all businesses in the state. On a 42 to 2 vote, the…
OLYMPIA -- The Englemann spruce that was cut last week near Usk to serve as the national Christmas tree at the U.S. Capitol made a stop by the state Capitol in Olympia Friday afternoon. Obviously, someone forgot to look at the map. Only something connected…
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
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