Blago and backlash
Posted Thu, Dec 11, 6 a.m.
How the Chicago corruption story and other lavish raids on the public treasury (and trust) could induce an angry populist backlash.
READ MORE 2 COMMENTSCrosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most clicks.
Crosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most reader comments.
Posted Thu, Dec 11, 6 a.m.
How the Chicago corruption story and other lavish raids on the public treasury (and trust) could induce an angry populist backlash.
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Posted Wed, Dec 10, 6 a.m.
The freshman has made varsity in his first year, pulling together coalitions and also drawing the City Council to the center. Some think he should be mayor some day, while others think he is stiffing progressive causes.
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Posted Tue, Dec 2, 6 a.m.
Dispatch from the War on Christmas: Atheists make fools of themselves in Olympia while violence breaks out at Wal-Mart. The sacred season is now a very, very sick season.
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Posted Wed, Nov 26, 7 a.m.
Washington's death row inmates and corporate fat cats are employing strategies that could come in handy for seagoing brigands.
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Posted Mon, Nov 17, 6 a.m.
Mayor Greg Nickels plans to defy state law with a gun ban that is worse than an empty gesture: It puts law-abiding citizens at greater risk.
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Posted Sun, Oct 12, 4:09 p.m.
The strange link between looting Indian artifacts and methamphetamine users.
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Posted Wed, Oct 1, 3 a.m.
A journalist and former Seattle City Council member who led the council's investigation into the WTO riots faults the film for claiming too much for the protesters. More disturbing was the picture of dreamy nonchalance in planning that the investigation revealed about City Hall and Seattle Police.
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Posted Tue, Sep 16, 4 a.m.
Lessons learned from the places where people, animals, and politics collide.
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Posted Thu, Aug 28, 3 a.m.
Dave Edler of Yakima is an unusual politician in a bastion of conservatism.
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Posted Tue, Aug 26, 4 a.m.
The U.S. Forest Service considers changing its firefighting protocol in the wake of sentencing over handling of the Thirtymile Fire, which claimed the lives of four firefighters.
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Posted Fri, Aug 22, 4 a.m.
Next in the Alaska scandals roundup: An errant senator's son and Troopergate. Part 2 of 2
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Posted Tue, Aug 12, 5 a.m.
Finding the banality of Nazi evil close to home.
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Posted Thu, Jul 31, midnight
As the economy shrinks tax revenue, the mayor and City Council are making cuts, with more to come next year. One possible casualty would be 20 to 25 promised new cops.
READ MORE 5 COMMENTSPosted Mon, Jul 28, 4 p.m.
What's to blame for all the anger as cyclists, drivers, and citizens fight over their rights on the streets? Is it $4 gas? Young punks? Class warfare? Poor urban design? It's time to theorize.
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Posted Wed, Jul 16, 3 p.m.
Software engineer Jennifer Kolar is to be sentenced this week in federal court for her role in Earth Liberation Front arsons, including one at the University of Washington. Her time in prison will be reduced because she turned state's witness, but that doesn't mitigate the fact she is now regarded as a snitch by peers and could be labeled a terrorist by the government.
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Posted Sun, Jun 8, 11 a.m.
Following a breakthrough in the case against Seattle's system of cops on the take, the feds jump on the paddywagon. Part 2
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Posted Fri, Jun 6, 1 a.m.
Raids on the Colacurcio family's strip clubs this week conjure images of gambling halls, go-go girls, crooked cops, and a grim chapter of recent Seattle history. Part 1
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Posted Fri, May 30, 6 p.m.
A former staff member of the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture wonders why, seven years later, the crime makes no more sense than it did the morning Merrill Hall went up in flames.
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Posted Fri, May 23, 4 p.m.
Also: Whom to blame for gas prices, kudos for the schools supe, Sound Transit's latest audit, and polygamy's free pass.
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Posted Thu, May 22, 4 p.m.
Invoking the Red Scare of the 1950s, some environmentalists claim the federal government is committing something similar against the green movement of the 2000s. Of course, it could simply be vigorous enforcement of laws against violence and property damage.
READ MORE 3 COMMENTSPosted Fri, Nov 28, 7:40 a.m. 2008
Also, there's a new initiative and the SPD promises to work more closely with other departments. Please stop worrying.
MOREPosted Wed, Nov 26, 9:39 p.m. 2008
Two cases link the suburban city with Hitler and the holocaust.
MOREPosted Wed, Nov 5, 1:59 p.m. 2008
Seattle's high-tech buffalo hunter pleads to a felony.
MOREPosted Thu, Oct 2, 11:06 a.m. 2008
Someone's got to be hashing out the film rights to this right now. In a heist reminiscent of The Thomas Crown Affair and the Joker's crew of lookalikes in the Dark Knight's opening bank robbery, a thief in southern Snohomish County apparently recruited unwitting decoys on Craigslist to aid his escape.
Police told the Everett Herald that a man who robbed an armored-car guard in Monroe Tuesday posted a job ad on Craigslist to flood the scene of his escape with hopeful workers. According to a witness, the man dressed in a blue shirt and dust mask. After pepper-spraying the guard, he fled toward a nearby creek, where he may have used an inner tube to escape in Woods Creek, toward the nearby Skykomish River.
MOREPosted Wed, Sep 10, 1:16 p.m. 2008
The Oregonian reports that a popular driving range in Oregon is asking golfers to cast their "swing votes" by aiming practice shots at 8-feet-tall metal likenesses of John McCain and Barack Obama. While no one is exactly sure whether people are trying to hit candidates they support or oppose, so far, McCain is in the lead. ...
MOREPosted Mon, Sep 8, 12:29 p.m. 2008
There's an interesting guest column in today's edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. It's written by Gov. Chris Gregoire's driver during the Democratic National Convention, a Colorado State Trooper and lifelong Republican, who says Gregoire may be "a strong advocate for her party, but she is not a 'partisan' in the way the term has recently become defined." Naturally, some Gregoire supporters see the story as a good example of the governor as an appealing post-partisan politician. But not everyone thinks non-partisanship is a good thing – for Washington state politics, that is. Liberal blogger David Goldstein at Horse's Ass sees it a little differently, saying Gregoire actually needs to be more partisan if she wants to get things done in Olympia. ...
MOREPosted Tue, Aug 26, 3:01 p.m. 2008
Michelle Obama's speech last night at the Democratic National Convention has the pundits praising – and rightly so. Like Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial cartoonist David Horsey wrote: She "hit it out of the park." But as Camp Clinton prepares to take the stage in Denver tonight and Wednesday, the convention buzz has turned to back to speculation about Hill and Bill. And I'm getting tired of it. ...
MOREPosted Fri, Aug 22, 5 p.m. 2008
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Has Barack Obama texted you yet? He sent me a text message two days ago that read: "Barack Obama is proud to announce Wash. Sen. Patty Murray will be his VP nominee in the November elections. Yes We Can." But it was not to be. ...
MOREPosted Wed, Aug 13, 2 p.m. 2008
Angie Vogt at Red County Washington has posted an exclusive one-on-one interview with Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi. However, don't expect attacks like those seen in Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire's interview with the Stranger last week – this one is fairly vanilla. From the start, Rossi channels the Obama-patented change mantra, saying "this election is not about me, it's not about Christine Gregoire; it's about changing the culture and direction of state government for a generation." It may be a sign Rossi is looking to court more independent voters like this. Or that he's sticking to the high road for now. His campaign, however, isn't so sure he'll be ahead after Tuesday's primary election. But they aren't worried. ...
MOREPosted Mon, Aug 11, 2:08 p.m. 2008
It may come as no surprise that Republican U.S. Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings isn't a real doctor – but did you know he's a college dropout? The folks at McCranium discovered that juicy detail in this Daily Record story about Hastings' recent commencement speech at Central Washington University. Since then, the blogosphere – comme d'habitude – has pounced.
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