Posted Thu, Mar 22, 9:08 a.m.

Big Coal - SSA - Patty Murray This is the person I voted for several times to protect Washington State. If she is silent and does not oppose this bad idea that will be her legacy. Another moral compass with some type of magnetic disturbance.

Posted Sat, Mar 10, 12:39 p.m.

What is the impact of ship traffic in Puget Sound. Will it get too crowded or impact marine life. Is Greys Harbor a better option for ocean shipping?

Posted Thu, Mar 8, 11:23 a.m.

For the world outside Bellingham, increased rail traffic will be an economic loser. Edmonds, Marysville, Stanwood, Mt. Vernon, Burlington will get more noise and congestion which will decrease property value. The loads carried may be unprecedented, which could affect masonry buildings and foundations. Western Washington absorbs the losses, Warren Buffett ...

Posted Wed, Feb 29, 9:18 a.m.

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to permit helicopter trips in a wilderness area. A worse idea would be to fly another dozen helicopter trips to take it down. The desecration to the wilderness isn't the lookout, it's using a machine like a jet helicopter. If Wilderness Watch dismantles the ...

Posted Mon, Feb 27, 12:36 p.m.

"far right Christian crazy train" That pretty well sums up the 2012 GOP presidential bid. But yes, Starbuck's is a sugary hedonists coffee plyed with jazz music. Whereas a real Christian brew will come from a stainless steel decanter, placed on a fold up laminate table, in a modest room ...

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 8:18 a.m.

Not all the water is coming off of roads and buildings. Septic systems are leaching dirty water into the sound. Grazing lands and agricultural lands cover vastly more area than roads and buildings and contribute dirty water and sediment load as well.

Posted Tue, Jan 31, 9:50 a.m.

What did Gil Scott Heron say, "a rat just bit my sister Nel, but whitey's on the moon". Let's see, Gingrich the Machiavellian wordsmith, Romney the money making automatron, or crazy Ron. I'll take crazy Ron any day. Maybe Paul is a racist, I really have no idea, but one ...

Posted Sat, Jan 28, 1:20 p.m.

He ought to go town to town in a wagon as the Newt Gingrich Medicine Show.

Posted Sat, Jan 28, 10:01 a.m.

The coal trains will have an negative economic impact and environmental impact, so they should pay economic impact fees. This way, by the free market, they would choose the most economic and logical route to conduct their business. And, every party who was economically harmed would be made whole. They ...

Posted Sat, Jan 28, 9:21 a.m.

What extra rights does marriage have that domestic partnership doesn't get? Or, is this simply a fight over the definition of the word marriage?

Posted Fri, Jan 27, 11:11 a.m.

I think Eisenhower warned about the legal-environmental complex taking over and existing solely for its own perpetuation. Really? A rebuilt fire lookout in Darrington? This is what environmental groups are spending money fighting?

Posted Thu, Jan 26, 8:45 a.m.

Why is the ferry listing? Gregoire has one side loaded with plundered gold bullion which she will escape the state with when her term is up. The fix to levelling the ferry? Seattle Art Museum has a bunch of Ford Tauruses hung up on the ceiling. Weld a forty foot ...

Posted Tue, Jan 24, 9:53 a.m.

"the money follows the child" Is that true? If you take any school in Washington and divide the total staff compensation by the number of students, is that number the same everywhere in the state? If induvidual schools aren't getting their proportional share of staff dollars, you have a flawed ...

Posted Mon, Jan 23, 9:04 a.m.

"The school would select students for enrollment" What if the situation were reversed and the public schools got to select students and the charter schools were responsible for the underachievers. How about a charter school for the developmentally disabled students with the guidlines and funding that the state allocates? Good ...

Posted Fri, Jan 20, 2:35 p.m.

Superintend For America. If you can make a teacher out of a college grad in a few months, add another month, and you have a newly minted superintendent at a bargain price.

Posted Fri, Jan 20, 2:13 p.m.

If Boeing had decided to build a new small airplane, how much of it would have been built in Wichita? Who knows. With the decision to build the 737 MAX, billions of dollars of work was secured in Wichita for decades to come. The tanker work pales in comparison to ...

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 9:44 p.m.

What's the point of a superintendent? A county can run with an elected group of county commissioners, a city can run without a mayor and just an administrator. Why not give more power to the principles, the PTA, or the teachers. Putting the braintrust into one brain, the superintendent, isn't ...

Posted Wed, Jan 18, 10:33 a.m.

@bkochis "Why punish the children? What did they do?" I'm just suggesting that with the staggering cost of educating, feeding, and providing for a child, there needs to be an honest debate on how much of that cost is the responsibility of society and how much belongs to the parent. ...

Posted Tue, Jan 17, 7:05 p.m.

Saying Washington is a regressive system is an oversimplification of what is going on. Divide the people into five equal income brackets. Caluculate the benefits they receive minus the income they pay. Look at the middle bracket which should have equal income to benefit. If the middle bracket is paying ...

Posted Mon, Jan 9, 10:14 a.m.

The taxpayers need more control how the money is spent. Every levy should have the budget set it stone. Basically every school district just plays the emotional card, vote for the good of the kids, and then the educational "experts" in administration and educational consulting come in and squander the ...

Posted Sat, Jan 7, 9:32 p.m.

Just curious, is it the super's job to set policy and budget or is that the job of the school board?

Posted Tue, Dec 27, 9:29 p.m.

Statistically drivers are worse than bikers or walkers which is seen by huge amount of car on car accidents. A bike is not a 3000 pound vehicle and is not a pedestrian, so the bike needs its own subtle set of rules. Based on the principle, stay out of the ...

Posted Fri, Dec 16, 9:24 a.m.

I know that skiers can be the trigger for avalanches, so it is not completely improbable that a passing train could trigger a mud slide. A freight train would have a greater risk since it is longer and produces more ground vibration than a lightweight Talgo passenger train.

Posted Fri, Dec 16, 8:55 a.m.

When the ILWU protested in July and September, there were hundreds of union members with baseball bats, blocking trains, and doing some vandalism. This was met with a few security guards. In contrast, when a bunch of pacifists protest, the police respond with overwhelming force. What does that say?

Posted Thu, Dec 15, 11:21 a.m.

Maybe the railroads should start tolling at all state highway crossings. Since after all, its their property which they let the public cross according to whatever rules the railroads want to stipulate.

Posted Thu, Dec 15, 9:47 a.m.

BNSF "owns" the tracks. That is an interesting concept. No airlines own the air. I would submit that the railroad corridor is owned by the needs of the many through eminant domain. Yes, the railroad gained part of that ownership through the need to move freight, but passenger rail still ...

Posted Tue, Dec 13, 2:22 p.m.

Using a crosswalk as a pedestrian should have two requirements, coming to a full and complete stop and looking into oncoming traffic to act as a human yellow light for two seconds so that traffic can pass or come to a reasonable stop. The people who don't break stride or ...

Posted Tue, Dec 6, 10:42 a.m.

I'd be curious to compare in the State of Washington, Boeing to Walmart to Agribusiness. Boeing pays for health care for its employees. How much of the multibillion dollar social safety net ends up as corporate welfare? Why should citizens of the state of Washington pay for food or health ...

Posted Tue, Dec 6, 10:06 a.m.

Here's an idea for a sculpture for one of these parks. Buy a surplus F-117 stealth fighter and give it the Chia Pet treatment. It should mimic the landscaping pretty well.

Posted Thu, Dec 1, 9:27 a.m.

I'd like to see a rendering of a new single deck viaduct over the northbound lanes, for a trolley with a walkway and bikeway and some shrubs. It could be connected to the higher grades to the east and have bridges over to the waterfront. Any design must make the ...

Posted Mon, Nov 21, 5:56 p.m.

Is Everett deep enough for cape size ships? With Kimberly Clark leaving, seems like they would be looking for more industry.

Posted Sat, Nov 19, 12:08 p.m.

The National Flood Insurance Program NFIP, through its rate structure, continues to encourage people to live in the flood plain. By grandfathering in high risk houses at low rates, there is no incentive to move. NFIP needs to slowly raise all grandfathered rates to current rates over a period of ...

Posted Thu, Nov 17, 12:21 p.m.

A typical aircraft flight is 120 people going 500 miles for 1000 gallons, or 60 miles per gallon per person. Typical car is 1.5 people in a 20 mpg car, or 30 miles per gallon per person. Air travel is twice as energy efficient as exotic car travel. How much ...

Posted Wed, Nov 16, 10:38 p.m.

"The trains enter the state at Spokane, and run through Tri-Cities, down the Columbia River Gorge, and through Vancouver and along the BNSF tracks through Longview-Kelso, Centralia, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Mount Vernon, Bellingham, and Ferndale." Are they too heavy to go over the pass routes? In any case, a circuitous ...

Posted Wed, Nov 16, 10:27 p.m.

I thought their grand experiment with the 787 bit them. If history is any guide, moving out of Renton will cost them twice as much as they save. In one of those 747 books, they tell of how there were two lines, and some customers figured out there was a ...

Posted Wed, Nov 16, 7:10 p.m.

All new cars should be taxed at the full rate. All used cars should be taxed at 2% determined by year and model. As for all the state low income benefits, those need to be audited and under stringent verification, not to mention heavily reigned in. More money for education ...

Posted Tue, Nov 15, 9:58 a.m.

that would be "landscape architect" Based on my knowledge from Seinfeld, I know it goes, city planner, then architect. Not sure where landscape architect fits into the hierarchy. "What I see in this design is fashion devoid of substance." Was there a design competition? I missed it. I followed the ...

Posted Mon, Nov 14, 5:29 p.m.

"by your deliberate omission of Mr. Corners title" And what would that be, 'head of field operations with a pretty good say in what goes on in the office too'.

Posted Thu, Nov 10, 12:03 p.m.

"I love that there are NO vagrants or street people on the viaduct" Or sand people (Star Wars). But there are lots of places for marauders to hide in a tunnel. It's not too late to stop it. Like the Kingdome, it's a soulless mistake.

Posted Thu, Nov 10, 9:30 a.m.

It's not about the camera, it's that the cities don't control the rules of enforcement, the camera operation company does. Democracy versus corporate totalitarianism. Eyman got this one right.

Posted Wed, Nov 9, 12:59 p.m.

Education is like health care in that it gets more top heavy and bureaucratic every year. Race to the top, my district took the 1/2 million dollar bribe for the low school, replaced the principle as required. Of course it wasn't the principle's fault, so the district invented another administrative ...

Posted Tue, Nov 8, 2:47 p.m.

I think there is a bigger issue, does the railroad have unlimited rights along their trackage? An unlimited right to as much time as they want at road crossings? An unlimited right to air pollution? An unlimited right to noise pollution? Airlines have stringent noise regulations and many airports have ...

Posted Tue, Nov 8, 1:58 p.m.

Steve Jobs was entirely right to protect his product. What do you think Frank Lloyd Wright thinks of a remodel of his work. What do you think Mozart would think of editing his work. Oh ya, and Kenny G. did a little overdub of Louis Armstrong, here's what Pat Metheny ...

Posted Tue, Nov 8, 10:52 a.m.

For me, at its core, it is still a circulation problem. The waterfront arterial, and the ferry traffic and pedestrian traffic that needs to cross it. I'm voting for several grade separated structures for cars or pedestrians. Boulder Colorado built a pedestrian underpass under Broadway which might be a similar ...

Posted Mon, Nov 7, 1:53 p.m.

Question, if funding a lazy 55 yr old retiree for 30 years is leftist crap, what is funding a 38 year old retiree for 50 years? Answer, military intelligence.

Posted Wed, Nov 2, 9:41 a.m.

From Oympia to Blaine, a good portion of the rail lines are built directly beside Puget Sound. One of the state's greatest assets is waterfront, with corresponding real estate values. Every train will further industrialize prime land and erode its value, leading to a net loss. A very poor economic ...

Posted Wed, Nov 2, 9:16 a.m.

Got their fidge magnet, "Overshop Underspend". Having all fruits and vegetables unit priced is the way to go. Saves me the time of going to Safeway or the Co-op, putting a watermelon on the scale and do some rough math to find out it is 7 dollars and then put ...

Posted Mon, Oct 31, 11:20 p.m.

How much does it cost to relocate the entire 737 final assembly operation plus build a new facility? Before they jack up the bill on the MAX, they need to come to grips with the real breakeven point on the 787. For production systems, every time they tried to reinvent ...

Posted Fri, Sep 23, 8:10 p.m.

In recent history I'd rate Obama and Carter as the best. Next in line would be Clinton and Bush the father. Reagan and Bush/Cheney set back civilization.

Posted Thu, Sep 8, 3:12 p.m.

Give me a break. Thomas Jefferson is rolling over in his grave. This is about the inalienable rights of man versus if your life is owned by the state. What about Christian Scientists who don't believe in health care? What about the guy 100 miles from civilization in Alaska who ...

Posted Wed, Aug 31, 10:15 a.m.

One thing that made the suburbs attractive to people with children was that there was a free ride to school. The shift is coming quick where people will have pay for their choice of where they locate. The money is drying up to send the welfare bus out to the ...

Posted Sun, Aug 21, 12:13 p.m.

"and growing class of incredibly rich people who will invest in the future" The state is broke and the future is not in driving more cars. The idea to spend several billion dollars on a short car tunnel is "incredibly rich", that much I'll give ya.

Posted Sat, Aug 6, 8:53 p.m.

I think the tunnel that Boeing wants is one between Renton and South Carolina so they can move all of their tooling out of sight.

Posted Fri, Aug 5, 2:48 p.m.

I wonder if coal dust is good for Orca whales? The tracks are right next to the water and the Orcas are an endangered species. This is a bad idea.

Posted Mon, Jul 25, 1:19 p.m.

Many tons of coal will end up in Pueget Sound. Orca whales are an endangered species that will not benefit from a coal terminal.

Posted Wed, Jul 20, 12:21 p.m.

What's the big deal about the waterfront without a grade separated road? The property owners will win the lottery at the taxpayer and citizens expense. The view, which is currently owned by the public in the form of driving on the viaduct, is about to be given away to the ...

Posted Tue, Jul 19, 9:34 a.m.

Where's WSDOT? Asleep at the wheel?

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 7:19 p.m.

If you have to pay five bucks to be in the HOV lane, why not have the railroad pay for all the crossing time they back up. Trains may not back up traffic in Wyoming, but for western Washington it is an issue. Will these trains pass through Seattle and ...

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 9:25 a.m.

"cars-uber-alles Viaduct"? Versus spending billions on a relatively short tunnel designed to carry, cars... The tunnel is the next Kingdome, pure from an engineering perspective but cold, expensive, and not a human friendly addition to the built world. My personal preference, spend the money on a smaller one deck 4 ...

Posted Thu, Jul 14, 12:14 p.m.

I don't see the logic in this. I save all my bags and recycle them, just like I recycle all my other packaging which fills a GIANT CAN. Point 1, anyone could put their recyclables in the garbage just like these bags. Point 2, by weight and volume, when I ...

Posted Tue, Jul 12, 3:11 p.m.

How do you close the achievement gap? Just end the apartheid. Low performing schools need better facilities and more money per student than high performing schools. Teachers at low performing schools need a 5K per year bonus to teach there. The principle needs to have the authority to transfer them ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 10:05 a.m.

Time to take out some buildings and make a first class transit corridor design. This is a failure of imagination. You can't do a good remodel if you are afraid to take a few things out. Above ground, grade separated 45 mph roadway. Underpasses, overpasses, lids, sheds, green spaces. Modern ...

Posted Wed, Jun 29, 10:15 a.m.

I'm not opposed to coal. I'm opposed to increased rail traffic in congested western Washington. If it is ten to twenty more trains of tofu, it is the same problem. If you're trying to ship something from east to west, why make a 300 mile detour to the north?

Posted Tue, Jun 28, 8:28 a.m.

"Rob McKenna, who has been hungering for the governorship almost as long as Inslee (which is to say since college)" Good one. When I grow up, I want to be, the governor of Washington. This story could be a great musical.

Posted Sun, Jun 26, 10:20 a.m.

The wild and scenic river was marred by the construction of the highway. The vehicle traffic is the environmental degregation. Just call it what it is, highway users who don't want to wait for industrial use transportation delays. The biggest impact on the serenity of the river is the people ...

Posted Tue, Jun 21, 6:25 p.m.

I don't mind driving in a tunnel through a mountain, but under a city I see less sense in it. I favor a mix of at grade and stacked highway. In the north section where there is a hill, all the crossings could go over it. In the south, it ...

Posted Sun, Jun 19, 10:23 a.m.

"top-flight research university" What's the flight part refer to, flying or attrition? Just kidding, I know, top-hole, top-drawer, cheerio.

Posted Sat, Jun 18, 5:37 p.m.

Right now Boing and Airbus can't build planes fast enough to keep up with demand. Mid term and long term making the right move is important so what's the rush?

Posted Sat, Jun 18, 9:46 a.m.

If you are an educational consultant, a principle, or a dean... you better have ten years in the classroom under your belt. Larry Bird, Magic, The Beatles, even Bill Gates put in the required 20,000 hours to attain their expertise.

Posted Sat, Jun 18, 9:33 a.m.

The Seattle Center is probably my favorite public space in America. It's had an interesting evolution as the Stadium and the Armory building were there before the Fair and there has been much built and improved since. One of the better people interactive public fountains in America too.

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 3:23 p.m.

Well, it's not a done deal yet. Just like going to Airbus for a tanker, everything about this deal defies common sense. Burning coal, apparently bad since they are crowing about shutting down Washington's only plant. Giving coal to China to burn with even less polution control, which is air ...

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 10:09 a.m.

Conversely, it is a waste of scarce public money to educate ten times more foresters, geologists, or wildlife biologists than are needed, just for them to work as carpenters or waiters and then retrain for something where there are jobs.

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 9:52 a.m.

I think McKenna is sharper than the Dinosauross who almost won last time. I always vote democratic, but I applaud McKenna's health care challenge. Because the government mandates free care for the poor, indigent, and illegal, the only question was who pays for it. Obama was too gutless, once again, ...

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 9:27 a.m.

For me it's not a coal issue, it's a train traffic issue. If it was 100 grain trains a day or something, does the railroad have exclusive right to the right of way at all vehicle crossings in Washington? Time is money for all the cars and trucks waiting for ...

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 9:06 a.m.

As per usual, write the poor a blank check, and for the working people who are above a certain income threshold, they get hung out to dry.