Jim Camden

All Stories

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Major police reforms become law in Washington after Inslee signs bills he calls ‘just the beginning’

UPDATED: Tue., May 18, 2021

A week shy of the one year anniversary of the death of George Floyd during a Minneapolis police arrest that prompted protests in Washington and all over the country, Gov. Jay Inslee signed sweeping legislation Tuesday to reform law enforcement policies and oversight.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Is it too early to talk about the 2024 election in Washington state? How about 2022?

UPDATED: Sat., May 15, 2021

May 2021 is a bit early to talk seriously of the 2022 elections, let alone those in 2024, so take the following with a grain of salt.

News >  Local Government

Supreme Court considers challenge to speed cameras in Spokane school zone

UPDATED: Thu., May 13, 2021

OLYMPIA – A Spokane motorist should have the right to a trial over a speeding ticket he received in 2016 from an automated traffic camera in a school zone that he contends wasn't properly set up, the Washington Supreme Court was told Thursday.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Why is Washington so behind on vaccine freebies? Here’s some of the incentives it could offer

Sun., May 9, 2021

As a person who went through more than a month in early 2021 trying to get an appointment anywhere within 30 miles for a COVID vaccination, I confess to scratching my head at reports there is currently more vaccine than people willing to sit down and roll up their sleeves.

News >  Business

Restaurants worry about new plastics restrictions in Washington

Sat., May 8, 2021

While it continues to reel from the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington’s restaurant industry is worried about recently approved legislation it fears could significantly increase the cost of takeout, which has become the primary – and for some the only – type of business.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Why a bill to designate Chinese American history month hit a brick wall this session

Sat., May 1, 2021

Of the roughly 1,000 bills introduced in the late, great 2021 session, most of the conversation and conflict right now centers on those that survived the gauntlet of multiple hearings and votes to reach the governor’s desk.

News >  Education

Supporters say equity training bill for schools in Washington has no link to critical race theory, but conservatives cry foul

Sun., April 25, 2021

The recently passed bill requiring public schools to provide annual “equity training” to staff is controversial with some groups, but it is expected to have little to no impact on Spokane Public Schools.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Walter Mondale was the last visitor of Spokane’s 1984 campaign season. Here’s who else used to stump in town

Sat., April 24, 2021

The passing of former Vice President Walter Mondale last week turned the final page on a time when Spokane seemed to be a must-stop on the presidential campaign trail. He was the last of the seven top tier candidates or their surrogates to come through town before the 1984 election, and was the last surviving visitor from that busy campaign

News >  WA Government

Walter Mondale made a late campaign pitch in Spokane in 1984 presidential race

UPDATED: Mon., April 19, 2021

The political winds were strongly against Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale when he came to Spokane on Oct. 30, 1984 for a rally at the old Davenport Hotel.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Vaccine passports aren’t really a thing, but here’s an alternative

Sat., April 17, 2021

Although apparently no one in authority is proposing Washington issue COVID vaccine passports to those who get the shot, there are people fired up enough about such an edict that they are proposing such documentation be banned.

News >  WA Government

‘Only going to get tougher from here’: Spokane County redistricting committee deadlocks on picking leader

UPDATED: Thu., April 15, 2021

The special bipartisan committee tasked with dividing Spokane County into five new commissioner districts hit a brick wall Thursday in its first big task, picking a nonvoting chairperson to run the process.

News >  WA Government

Former legislator, Spokane Board of Realtors director Dick Barrett dies at 91

UPDATED: Wed., April 14, 2021

As a legislator, Dick Barrett had a reputation of being able to get along with everyone.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Want a few fixer uppers? It’s likely auction or destruction for these historic Washington capitol buildings

Sun., April 11, 2021

State may auction off press houses, but will demolish them if there are no takers.

News >  WA Government

Spin Control: Who decides whether a politician’s COVID violations are worth a recall? The courts

Sun., April 4, 2021

The way some local elected officials do or don’t follow pandemic guidelines has kept the Washington Supreme Court busy in recent months deciding what would warrant giving voters a chance to bounce them out of office for not following COVID protocols.

News >  Military

The Washington National Guard has been on COVID-19 duty an entire year now. Here’s how its work has evolved

UPDATED: Sun., March 28, 2021

When members of the Washington National Guard were called up to help the state deal with COVID-19, they thought they were looking at a short-term assignment.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Can ‘bipartisan’ mean whatever a politician says it means?

Sun., March 28, 2021

Sometimes in politics, it seems as though we are through the looking glass like Alice, where Humpty Dumpty contends that when he uses a word “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” That’s how I feel when I hear the term “bipartisan legislation”, which seems to mean exactly what the politician speaking wants it to mean.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: The 26th Amendment meant registering twice in 1971

Sun., March 21, 2021

When editors asked me to write about the 50th anniversary of the passage of 18-year-olds being able to vote, it was partly because as a Baby Boomer I was the only person available who remembered it happening.

News >  WA Government

We the People: 50 years ago, Congress backed voting for 18-year-olds. Here’s how some of the first teens to vote feel now

UPDATED: Fri., July 22, 2022

Five constitutional amendments describe who can vote, although the 14th Amendment – which says voters must be 21 and male and was actually stating the standard practice for the first 80 years of the country – has been changed by the other four.

News >  Education

Spokane-area school districts waiting for word from the state on shorter distances for students

UPDATED: Fri., March 19, 2021

Spokane area school districts are waiting for a signal from state officials to determine how they will implement less stringent restrictions for separating students in their classrooms.

News >  Local Government

New boundaries, bigger board could mean big shift in Spokane County commission

Sun., March 14, 2021

Local Republicans’ 12-year lock on the Spokane County Board of Commissioners could be broken next year or cemented for another decade, depending on the outcome of a historic change in county government.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: If capital gains tax fails, how about one for clichés, pharma jargon or robo-calls?

Sun., March 14, 2021

The House will soon hold hearings on a proposal to institute a state capital gains tax, which means we will revisit the arguments of whether it’s an unconstitutional income tax or a permissible excise tax.

News >  ID Government

Will Idaho’s loss of Powerball be Washington’s gain?

Sun., March 14, 2021

A decision by an Idaho legislative committee that may end the sale of Powerball tickets in that state later this year might wind up being a boon to Washington stores along the border every time the major multistate lottery has a big jackpot.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Biden’s ‘Neanderthal’ jab has a familiar ring to it for Washingtonians

Sun., March 7, 2021

If he hasn’t already, President Joe Biden may come to regret using the word “Neanderthal” to describe decisions by a couple of Southern governors to drop their states’ mask mandates.

Opinion >  Column

Spin Control: Native American mascot bill points to something Spokane did well

Sat., Feb. 27, 2021

Although I’ve never been a big believer in the Cascade Curtain, more than a decade in Olympia has taught me that there is a certain West Side bias that results in somewhat rare recognition, let alone praise, for things Eastern Washington does right.

News >  Nation/World

McMorris Rodgers: Effort to block disinformation really tries to silence conservatives

UPDATED: Fri., Feb. 26, 2021

As some in Congress try to rein in disinformation they believe is “fanning the flames of extremism” that led to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and other Republicans contend it’s really an attempt to silence conservative voices.