Posted Thu, Oct 21, 12:55 p.m.

"James Mantone, owner and winemaker at Syncline Wine Cellars in Lyle, who describes himself as a libertarian, warns that offering restaurants and retailers payment terms and variable volume discounts would increase his business and accounting costs and force him to raise prices." Doesn't this say it all when it comes ...

Posted Mon, Aug 30, 3:55 p.m.

I use City parks daily, sometimes twice a day. I agree with those above regarding their importance to quality of life/community, but I think Jordan makes an important point. I often combine my walk with a visit to the branch library, adjacent to my local park. Today, my park is ...

Posted Fri, Aug 20, 12:08 a.m.

During the entirety of my 30+ years as a daily bicycle commuter between Ballard, downtown, and the U District, I've watched businesses selfishly, shamelessly, and (unfortunately) successfully oppose bicycle commuting safety improvements. It's time for a change. Businesses and bicycles can co-exist in ways that improve Seattle for everyone. I ...

Posted Fri, Jul 30, 8:30 a.m.

Mr. Vance, while you're reacting/answering questions, any insight on why the House R caucus continues to choose Richard DeBolt as their leader while he leads them off the cliff year after year, evidenced once again by his inability to raise funds to support his candidates, particularly in winnable districts? Is ...

Posted Mon, Jul 5, 10:14 a.m.

First and foremost, thanks to Senator Cantwell for demanding transparency and accountability from Secretary Locke and Ms. Lubchenko regarding this decision. She smells this dirty deal and is not going to let go until she understands how this absurd decision was made. SimplyPut and Ms. Godden, thanks for continuing to ...

Posted Fri, Jul 2, 8:33 a.m.

Bob, thanks for your continued great reporting on this story. A major loss for the Puget Sound maritime economy, as well as the oceanographic and atmospheric science clusters at the UW. Sure looks like some Oregon types cooked this, not surprising as current NOAA Director is from Oregon State and ...

Posted Fri, Jun 18, 9:22 a.m.

Holmes' comments a study in sanctimonious second-guessing. In four paragraphs he takes four separate and somewhat conflicting positions, representing: 1: prosecutor; 2: experienced/insider critic of SPD and Police Chief wannabe; 3) holier-than-thou educator/administrator and 4) ambitious politician. Granted, very nuanced stuff so maybe #4 accounts for any conflicts in his ...

Posted Thu, May 20, 7:37 a.m.

Notwithstanding the unwarranted backhand slap to Ken Burns in this book review, he's a fabulous documentarist and responsible for millions of people having a far greater appreciation of our history, AND he's the featured speaker at this year's Historylink luncheon, to be held in Seattle on September 17! I hope ...

Posted Thu, Apr 29, 8:16 a.m.

Two Olympia pros above weigh with the "business as usual" perspective, which, while useful, doesn't address Joe's point. The Legislature had a role in driving this guy out of town, who given his position and his relative success in it, played a huge role in the state's economic development strategy. ...

Posted Fri, Apr 9, 7:23 a.m.

Mike, Woods has won the Masters four times. Go Freddie, you make us all proud.

Posted Fri, Mar 12, 7:58 a.m.

Good discussion of real world trade-offs Mr. Royer, and bravo to Burgess for his efforts likely to yield few political dividends. How'd our city go from picking leaders based on their understanding of community social issues with their complex roots and politics to electric bike activists obsessed with transportation planning ...

Posted Mon, Feb 15, 11:24 a.m.

Thanks Austin. A look at the internal political dynamics of the caucuses is really refreshing. Since Ammons took to the bureaucrat's life, we're relying on folks that seem more concerned about meeting word quotas and deadlines than providing any insight into the politics of the place. Your efforts to cover ...

Posted Wed, Feb 10, 8:46 a.m.

Congrats to the Partnership for creating benchmarks to measure progress that we can understand and use to measure progress. Finally we're moving past broad rhetorical statements to better defining the specific problems. To Cameron's point above, there seems to be literally thousands of people working on these issues at taxpayer ...

Posted Sat, Feb 6, 9:02 a.m.

Bluelight, you're right. This is one of the few dedicated funds (and very best, most successful state program to remediate past sins), created by initiative, that over the past 20 years has flowed to its intended purpose, although it has required large expenditures of political capital by local governments and ...

Posted Wed, Feb 3, 7:47 a.m.

While this discussion has quickly veered back into the usual Seattle-style transportation design charette, Royer's most compelling point relates to the character of the city, and how the economy relates to it. Our neighborhoods were built for working people with modest incomes, many of whom worked, and still work, in ...

Posted Thu, Jan 14, 8:29 a.m.

Joe, what were they paid for the story? Ms. Hibbard obfuscates the facts, and apparently you accede to the obfuscation. It's a very obvious question, relevant to this story, one that would help us all understand the underlying issue better. I think you've been on the editorial side for a ...

Posted Wed, Jan 13, 4:15 p.m.

Interesting subject but sure wish it related more directly to our region. Obama strategy has been in place here for years, and we're now seeing the consequences. Washington has invested heavily in the community college system for the past 15 years. In fact, the rate of growth in investment in ...

Posted Tue, Dec 22, 7:46 a.m.

UW's approach in Olympia has failed badly over the past 10 years and Mark Emmert is trying to recover from the damage done by his predecessor, but at $1 million per year, I'd like him to shake up his state outreach and Olympia advocacy program and start getting results! Community ...

Posted Mon, Dec 21, 8:23 a.m.

Thanks Knute. That's a big do-list, all relevant but all somewhat overwhelming given the option subsets you describe. As Art says above, it's leadership now, and given your experience and understanding of the issues, would you please write a followup piece advocating a path forward. Right now, you're part of ...

Posted Tue, Dec 8, 12:01 p.m.

What's the revenue loss to the state from this transfer? These timber sales support higher ed. Why no compensation by county to the state's citizens' for their forever economic loss?

Posted Tue, Dec 8, 11:33 a.m.

Reuven, you're absolutely right about systems change. Thanks for picking out a few prime contenders for reform (all called out in past years by D's as needing reform). Licensing, liquor, transportation funding have all been protected by the team you've signed up with, so best of luck inside your caucus. ...

Posted Mon, Nov 23, 11:50 a.m.

Since early on in the Booth Gardner Administration, we've had steady revenue growth, and state budgeteers have built very expensive programs for education, corrections, ecology, fisheries, natural resources, parks, health care, while promulgating rules on any social or economic activity to come along not operated consistent with bureaucratic (and they're ...

Posted Wed, Nov 4, 9:11 a.m.

The notion of the Governor that it's "nobody's fault" will be our undoing. Notwithstanding the Lazy B's management shortcomings, they're our best bet for retaining our extremely high cost government lifestyle choices in Puget Sound. They can not be replaced once departed. We need a truth commission to figure out ...

Posted Wed, Oct 28, 8:51 a.m.

Great discussion Knute but as in all reporting on candidates, not much mention of administrative abilities. Given falling revenues, an operating background desperately needed to get more out of fewer dollars, as well as sophistication around labor issues. Both candidates grossly lacking in both areas, and have made no useful ...

Posted Thu, Oct 22, 7:47 a.m.

Austin, the Bill Gates Sr. you refer to is actually named Bill Gates Jr. Thanks for this overview of Olympia from the 50...no 70000' level. Any chance you'll dig deeper into some of the underperforming programs that you suggest we "rip the Band-Aid" from?

Posted Thu, Oct 15, 4:14 p.m.

Austin, wasn't it odd seeing the Gov at the Swedish Hospital groundbreaking in Sammamish last week, essentially hanging with the folks responsible for wild inflation in health care costs, celebrating their new money factory? There's tremendous excess hospital capacity in the region already, and Governor Gregoire is toasting a gang ...