Newly appointed state Rep. Leonard Christian will take his oath of office Sunday during the morning service at New Life Church in the Spokane Valley. Christian was appointed this week to fill the seat left open by the retirement of Larry Crouse. The 2014 legislative…
Photo courtesy of Sen. Patty Murray's office. Russell Wilson has been the key to the Seahawks' success this season. But he has also had a role in something a bit bigger -- the agreement on the federal budget worked out by Sen. Patty Murray of…
#TDSBreakingNews Washington State faces "too many pot growers" problem. In related news, Washington State wins award for "Best Problem". — The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 10, 2014 As reported earlier this week in Spin Control: OLYMPIA — Washington is seeing a green rush of sorts…
If it's playoff season, that can mean only one thing in politics: Elected officials from Washington will make bets with elected officials in other locales over the outcome of Saturday's game between the Seahawks and the Saints. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell made a…
Yesterday, I asked readers to guess which Spokane leader uses this signature. It belongs to City Councilman Jon Snyder. The above example comes from this letter. Snyder claims the signature is simply a big J. Me: "Is it a backward J?" Snyder: "I'm left-handed." He…
OLYMPIA -- Problems with a pair of Seattle area "mega projects" could make it harder for Washington residents to swallow tax increases for transportation, some legislators said today at a preview for the 2014 session. Expected cost overruns for the new 520 floating bridge across…
Hint: It belongs to a Spokane City Council member. (The three dots that are at the bottom of this image are not part of this official's signature.)
We're halfway through the 113th Congress, and legislative watchdog GovTrack.us has handed down its marks for lawmakers based on multiple indicators of legislative success. Inland Northwest legislators had their fingers in several pieces of sweeping, high-profile federal legislation enacted in 2013, including an update to…
Applications for marijuana stores in Spokane County Applications for marijuana growing licenses in Spokane County OLYMPIA — Washington is seeing a green rush of sorts in marijuana, with far more people wanting to grow and sell the drug legally than the state will allow. State…
The Daily Show Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook Jon Stewart takes on the people who take on global warming because of this weekend's cold snap in the Midwest and East. Not to say "told ya so," but check out Prediction…
OLYMPIA -- There is, in fact, no crying in baseball. Or so Dorothy Roth, a real-life version of the women baseball players portrayed in the movie "A League of Their Own", confirmed to Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday as he issued a proclamation honoring her. Back…
OLYMPIA -- Paull Shin, an Edmonds Democrat who served in the Senate since 1999, said today he will retire his seat immediately because of health problems. In a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee and his Senate colleagues, Shin said he was resigning "with the deepest…
Applications for marijuana stores in Spokane County OLYMPIA -- Washington has many times more people who want to sell or grow marijuana that the state will allow, and all the applications have yet to be processed. The Washington Liquor Control Board today released the names…
Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart will soon be handing out duties to the city’s six other council members. The Spokane City Council on Monday unanimously agreed to give Stuckart the power to chose which members serve on what boards. But Stuckart abandoned his proposal…
Spokane once again has a permanent leader for its water department. The Spokane City Council on Monday unanimously approved Mayor David Condon’s appointment of Dan Kegley as the water director. The city was without a water director from June 2012, when previous director Frank Triplett…
OLYMPIA -- Two senators from Southwest Washington were admonished to use "professional, business language" and the caucuses should help members deal with "interpersonal conflict," a special Senate committee said today. Put in plainer language, Sen. Ann Rivers should not have called Sen. Don Benton a…
OLYMPIA -- For years, Tim Eyman and company proposed initiatives to require a super-majority for taxes. Voters approved them even though opponents said they were unconstitutional. Turns out opponents were right, or so said the state Supreme Court in last year's ruling that such a…
OLYMPIA -- Sen. Andy Hill has some ideas to speed up the budgeting process that may not endear him to his colleagues. Everyone else who waits on the Legislature to cobble together a budget might cheer them, however. The Redmond Republican who will repeat last…
As it has in some past years, Spin Control looks into the crystal ball for the first Sunday of 2014 to predict the year ahead. Regular readers might notice that some predictions seem familiar, like they’ve read them before. They have, but it doesn’t mean…
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature almost certainly will have two chances to enact gun legislation in the upcoming session. It will almost just as certainly ignore both, and pass the question on to voters. Supporters of Initiative 594 turned in an estimated 95,000 additional signatures this…
PHOTO CAPTION: Marcus Riccelli, then a staffer for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, runs the 2009 Bloomsday with Cantwell. Picture provided by Riccelli. I got an unusual news release yesterday from state Rep. Marcus Riccelli. Riccelli, D-Spokane, announced that his New Year’s resolution is to run…
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
| Dec. 2014 | Nov. 2014 | Oct. 2014 | Sept. 2014 |
| Aug. 2014 | July 2014 | June 2014 | May 2014 |
| April 2014 | March 2014 | Feb. 2014 | Jan. 2014 |
