Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is under fire from both Democrats and tea party conservatives for her votes in recent weeks, said there were valuable lessons learned or relearned from the government shutdown. Chief among them, the Eastern Washington Republican said Thursday, is that politics is the “art of the possible,” but things are possible only if people keep talking.

Starting next year, Gonzaga University Law School will make it easier for students to get a law degree in two years instead of three. Announced Monday by GU Law School Dean Jane Korn, the change is a reaction to the continuing decline in law school enrollments nationwide.