OLYMPIA – The state of Oregon has some good-government types agog and aglow over its new law on voter registration. Perhaps that’s because the good-govs have had little to celebrate on the voter registration front recently that they jumped on a law to automatically sign people up. In fact, it's a terrible idea.
Washington's senior senator is demanding answers from the state's largest health insurer on a data breach that could affect as many as 11 million people around the country.
OLYMPIA -- The proposal to raise the state's minimum wage to $12 over four years is set for a Senate hearing March 30. Senate Commerce and Labor Committee Chairman Mike Baumgartner said that bill, along with the sick and safe leave bill, would get a hearing a day before cut-off.
President Obama doesn't think Gonzaga or Eastern Washington will last long in the tournament.
Gov. Jay Inslee is fielding questions on Reddit, where it seems the most pressing issue for the state's citizens is the proposed tax on e-cigarettes.
OLYMPIA -- Restrictions on alcohol during charter tours will come up this afternoon in a House Transportation Committee executive session. Bipartisan groups in both chambers introduced bills that would allow adults in Washington to "grow their own" marijuana, up to six plans per home.
Following last week's City Council decision to place a six-month moratorium on cell phone tower construction in Spokane, a noted land-use attorney is in town tonight to publicly discuss the issue. Dave Bricklin, a Seattle attorney, will speak at the Woman's Club, 1428 West 9th…
OLYMPIA – Residents of Eastern and Central Washington should prepare for dust storms as well as wildfires this spring and summer, state officials warned Wednesday.
OLYMPIA – Elk antlers can bring top dollar when sold as a boost to a person's love life, but a bill in the Legislature would crack down on people who trespass onto private property to hunt them.
OLYMPIA -- Note to students planning a civics trip to the state Capitol: You never know what you'll find there. The governor. Legislators. Lobbyists. Zombies...
Karen Stratton, who was appointed to the Spokane City Council in August, will officially begin her effort to keep that seat with a fundraiser later this month. Stratton has already raised about $5,000, mostly from friends and family, but she'll likely need more than that...
OLYMPIA – With a fourth of high school seniors in a recent survey saying they use e-cigarettes, health experts urged the state to tax and regulate the new way of delivering nicotine to the body.
OLYMPIA – Proposed rules for trains carrying oil across the state don’t put enough responsibility on the railroads and should include oil pipelines, a Spokane city councilman told a House committee Monday.
New website pitches UW's proposed Spokane expansion as more cost-effective option than a separate WSU medical school.
Two men who have mounted unsuccessful political campaigns in recent years, and who were both turned down to fill a vacant Spokane City Council seat last year, have filed to run in this year's council elections. David B. White and Kelly Cruz were among the…
Senate committees begin to take up bills the House passed, and vice versa.
OLYMPIA – Spend any time listening to the debate over proposals to let WSU open its own med school and you will hear about the big bad university on the other side of the state having a nearly 100-year-old monopoly on doctor training. A 1917 law is denounced as waaaay too 19th Century by folks who sound like they were around for the debate...
OLYMPIA -- Here's the downside to that mild winter: Gov. Jay Inslee declared drought conditions for three mountain regions because of low snowpack.
OLYMPIA -- Some of your legislators could be appearing at an event near you this weekend.
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee hinted he will sign a bill giving WSU the permission to start its own medical school in Spokane. But he also said funding decisions in the budget lay ahead.
OLYMPIA -- Having run through as many bills as time allowed Wednesday afternoon, legislators are back in committee-hearing mode today, starting to sort through all the stuff the other chamber passed and sent their way. And, as the above photo shows, the early cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
Spokane County Commissioner Todd Mielke said Wednesday he's filed the paperwork to be considered as replacement for longtime county CEO, Marshall Farnell.
OLYMPIA -- Many non profit organizations that give large sums of money to political campaigns in Washington would have to report their largest donors under a bill that passed the Senate unanimously.
OLYMPIA -- Barely more than a half day after the House, the Senate also passed a bill to give WSU the permission -- but not the money -- to start a medical school in Spokane.
Two new candidates have thrown their names in the hat to join the Spokane City Council. John Ahern, a former Republican legislator and failed Spokane City Council candidate, has filed to run again in the south of town for the seat recently left vacant when...
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