By spending nearly a year meeting with neighborhood groups and others to develop an urban farming plan that addressed various concerns before bringing it to a final vote, Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart has created an unexpected new problem. Any plan on almost any…
With the signing of the supplemental operating budget and some other bills Friday, lawmaking by the Legislature officially ended for 2014. But the other kind of lawmaking, by the public, is just heating up. . . To read the rest of this item, or to…
OLYMPIA – Tucked inside the 291-page budget Gov. Jay Inslee signed last week is a paragraph that tells state agencies to ask for money for new-fangled tech gear a better way. It’s what’s known as a proviso, sort of a marching order from the Legislature,…
OLYMPIA – The ink from his signature wasn’t even dry on the Legislature's current budget before Gov. Jay Inslee was challenging lawmakers to do more on their next one. Inslee signed the state’s supplemental operating budget, vetoing some elements such as a section that would…
OLYMPIA -- A proposal to regulate the use of drones by law enforcement and other agencies was vetoed Friday. Gov. Jay Inslee said the bill did not do enough to protect the public's right to privacy and raised questions about public records. In its place,…
OLYMPIA – Washington high school students will need 24 credits to earn a diploma, with an extra credit of math and science, starting in 2019. Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill Thursday that legislators said will help give students a “meaningful diploma” increasing both the…
OLYMPIA – Washington will announce the winners of licenses for its first legal recreational marijuana stores at the beginning of May, after a complicated “double-blind” lottery is held at the end of this month. The first legal sales aren’t likely until the beginning of July,…
For a fake newscast April Fool's joke, it's not bad.
OLYMPIA – Northwest residents need more than vague plans and missed deadlines for the cleanup of nuclear waste at Hanford, Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday. If the federal government doesn’t come up with a more specific plan or agree to one proposed by the state…
Saturday Night Live suggests other places President Obama could try to boost the website for the Affordable Care Act.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers may or may not get the House of Representatives equivalent of 20 lashes with a wet noodle for improperly mixing campaign business with congressional business. But documents released from an official investigation into a disgruntled former employee’s complaint makes one thing clear:…
OLYMPIA – Children will have to have lawyers before a court can sever their parents’ rights. Juveniles will have more protection against self-incrimination in Washington. Marijuana growers won’t get tax breaks that other farmers get. People who sign local initiative petitions more than once will…
Stephanie Holten, center, talks with Rep. Laurie Jinkins and Grace Huang of the state Coalition Against Domestic Violence. OLYMPIA – When her ex-husband pointed a gun at her and threatened to blow her head off while she knelt in her Spokane living room, there was…
Spokane's latest push to expand urban farming opportunities had at least one councilman wondering if TV sketch comedians Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein might be lurking nearby. "Sometimes when I'm reading this ordinance I feel like I've landed in an episode of "Portlandia,'" Councilman Mike…
Gov. Jay Inslee hands the pen used to sign a suicide prevention bill to Zoe Adler, 5, of Seattle, while her brother Jake, age 9, looks on. OLYMPIA – With strokes of a pen, Gov. Jay Inslee approved statewide suicide prevention training for medical professionals,…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee is scheduled to sign more than four dozens of bills this morning, including: -- a bill to raise fees on vehicle tab replacements and transfers for people who do that online or at county auditors' offices to help pay for…
For her first qualification for the U.S. Senate, Joni Ernst of Iowa lists one of the most unusual ever. If the pigs in this commercial look a little nervous, they may have good reason...
Robocalls may be annoying, particularly during campaign season, but for Rep. Kevin Parker, one apparently prompted a death threat. The Spokane Republican contacted the Washington State Patrol this week after someone left a message on his office voice mail with graphic threats to him and…
The Daily Show Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook You can't make up how bad some of the coverage of the Malaysian Flight 370 was. At least Jon Stewart didn't have to as he reviewed some of the low…
OLYMPIA -- State senators will be able to collect an extra $30 a day for expenses during legislative sessions under a rule approved Tuesday by a committee of their members. The Senate Facilities and Operations Committee voted 4-3 to raise the allowance for daily expenses…
OLYMPIA -- The Federal Emergency Management Administration issued a verbal declaration that makes the area around the Snohomish County mudslide eligible for immediate assistance. Gov. Jay Inslee received assurance from FEMA this morning that it will issue a limited emergency declaration for the mudslide area…
OLYMPIA – Coming soon, to a county auditor’s office near you, may be a chance to help pay for a new ferry. Whether you want to or not. Whether there’s a ferry anywhere near you or not. Whether you have ever ridden or expect to…
Not the best March Madness joke ever, but there's no such thing as bad publicity, particularly if they say your name right. And Seth Meyer does do that. It's the first joke of the monologue, after the obligatory commercial from NBC.
OLYMPIA -- The Washington Supreme Court handed serial killer Robert Yates what could be a pyrrhic victory in his appeal of his 408-year sentence for 13 murders and one attempted murder. Yes, the court said in a 7-2 ruling, the two 20-year-sentences for a pair…
OLYMPIA – Washington employers who threaten their immigrant employees with deportation or the destruction of their documents while forcing them to work can be charged with a felony. A new law signed Wednesday stiffens the penalties for coercing workers into forced labor, adding to existing…
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