Ticket-Writing Robots?
Robots that take pictures and issue speeding tickets?
Spokane motorists may start seeing them (in time, if we’re lucky) if the Legislature gives its OK.
Fans of the so-called “photo-cops” say they not only would free flesh-and-blood police for more serious crime-fighting, but they also would write tickets much faster than their uniformed counterparts can.
State Sen. James West, R-Spokane, says the robots are a great idea if you want to generate more fines - but not so great if you want to slow speeders.
Good point: Is the driver who just received a ticket from a police officer likely to keep tearing down the street where your child plays? What about the driver whose picture was just taken but who won’t know it until the mail arrives in a couple of days with a ticket?
Your opinion is invited.
Higher education - emphasis on “higher”
In every measurable way, tuition at Washington’s state colleges and universities is climbing fast.
You name it: In raw dollars. As a share of the actual cost. Compared with the cost of living. The story is the same. Students are paying more while the share of the state budget that goes to higher education declines.
Given that both the state and students benefit from an educated populace, where should the balance lie?
Answer quickly. Your lawmakers are making decisions in Olympia now.
Author! Author!
Those who criticize first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a publicly financed Air Force plane to promote her book, “It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us,” are making it sound as though she’s being enriched at taxpayers’ expense, says Gloria Nicol of Spokane.
“I think it’s an outstanding message that this book is giving to our country,” said Nicol, “and the profits are going to children’s hospitals, which I think hasn’t been mentioned.”
Nicol isn’t the only reader on Clinton’s side.
“Book tours are necessary for continued sales of a new book, and security is undoubtedly the reason for the use of an Air Force plane,” said James Nelson of Spokane. “I believe the trip is necessary and not out of line.”
But Charlie McCollim of Spokane says the first lady “could have saved a lot of words by naming the book ‘Welfare.”’
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