Dan Hansen

The president of the United States told people in Republic, Wash., that it was “time to fight.” They gave that a try, until their livelihoods swirled in the toilet. Now, they’re trying something that isn’t so popular in this era of hate politics: compromise.

This was supposed to be the year for schools. After years of struggling with an increasingly inadequate and complex system of funding education – “system” is perhaps too charitable a word for what one lawmaker recently termed “an accumulation of patches” – the governor and Legislature in early 2007 assembled a task force to consider how much is really needed, and for what.

This was supposed to be the year for schools. After years of struggling with an increasingly inadequate and complex system of funding education – “system” is perhaps too charitable a word for what one lawmaker recently termed “an accumulation of patches” – the governor and Legislature in early 2007 assembled a task force to consider how much is really needed, and for what.

Washington schoolchildren will have to find something new to hate.

Spokane knows a little something about the tough economics of zoo management. Walk in the Wild, a zoo that was run by the nonprofit Inland Northwest Zoological Society, shut down in the mid-1990s after 23 years of financial and public relations struggles.

For the second consecutive winter, Inland Northwest schools must decide how – and whether – to make up the days that were missed because of snow. Most districts canceled school both before and after winter break, as the region was hammered by one storm after another. Now, the question is whether that means shorter vacations, the loss of some three-day weekends, lengthened school days – or perhaps no change at all.

For the second consecutive winter, Inland Northwest schools must decide how – and whether – to make up the days that were missed because of snow. Most districts canceled school on days both before and after winter break, as the region was hammered by one storm after another. Now, the question is whether that means shorter vacations, the loss of some three-day weekends, lengthened school days – or perhaps no change at all.