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Ferries

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Keeping King County's tiny Navy afloat

Posted Mon, Sep 28, 6 a.m.

Is seemed like a good idea back when there was money sloshing around, but now the county's promises for foot ferries are proving hard to honor.

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The classic ferries that got away

Posted Fri, Sep 11, 6 a.m.

The state should have found a way to save its 1927-vintage Steel Electric-class boats, ultimately sold to Mexico for scrap. Sinking one to create artificial reefs for divers, as B.C. has done, was one big missed opportunity.

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Humor: Beware of kids bearing gifts

Posted Sun, Sep 6, 11:44 a.m.

The estate tax is scheduled to zoom back up in 2011. This requires a code-red state of alert during 2010, watching out for things like gift pigs from children.

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The Great Vancouver vs. Seattle Debate

Posted Mon, Jun 22, 6 a.m.

Is the civic grass greener on the other side of the border? Two urban experts each make the case for the others' home town.

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Ferries: Why we should float our own boats

Posted Fri, Feb 13, 6 a.m.

A former Washington ferry inspector says there are real benefits to buying locally when it comes to state ferries. That said, the system could be improved.

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Ferry workers' wage freeze: mostly smoke and mirrors

Posted Mon, Feb 9, 6 a.m.

The workers scored a photo-op for helping the state in a fiscal crisis. But the reality is they just postponed receipt (with interest) of increases.

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A process that needs to progress: decision-making in Seattle

Posted Wed, Jan 14, 6 a.m.

As Seattleites react to the announcement that public officials agree on a bored tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, it's time to assess the process that makes a decision like this one drag on for eight years.

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Puget Sound foot ferries migrate to San Francisco

Posted Mon, Jan 12, 6 a.m.

The Bay Area makes use of our former foot ferries, and then some, all paid for by tolls.

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We need new ferries. So why don't we get them?

Posted Mon, Dec 15, 6 a.m.

The state makes it almost certain that ferry bids will come in way over budget, in a misguided attempt to keep the jobs in state. Here are the latest sad figures.

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A state agency eyes public-private transportation funding

Posted Tue, Sep 2, 2 a.m.

No less than the Washington State Investment Board, which oversees public pensions, is giving serious consideration to government-business partnerships to make infrastructure improvements. Experts identify several possibilities, including the Highway 520 bridge rebuild, I-5 across the Columbia River, and improvement of ferry service.

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Sailing into oblivion

Posted Sat, Jun 14, 8 a.m.

Seattle's last old Pacific schooner is about to be dismantled. The Wawona's impending "death" this summer offers a lesson in the challenges of maritime preservation. It's a tough end for a landmark ship that people have worked so hard for so long to save.

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At City Hall, a showdown over historic preservation

Posted Wed, Mar 19, 10 p.m.

Trouble is brewing as critics and defenders of Seattle's landmarks process prepare to face off at a public meeting. Meanwhile, a lawsuit over the recent designation of a Ballard diner hangs over the debate.

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Traffic's so bad, we might actually be willing to pay a toll

Posted Tue, Mar 4, 5 a.m.

Puget Sound policy-makers have been taking the public pulse. Their surveys reveal that people are generally pessimistic about the future, frustrated with traffic, and willing to pay to cross Lake Washington in a car – as long as it's really cheap.

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The Border Patrol swoops in on a domestic ferry run

Posted Fri, Feb 1, 3 p.m.

Last week, cars and passengers disembarking the San Juan Islands route at Anacortes were met by feds who inquired about everyone's citizenship. Normally, no big deal. But this checkpoint was for a boat that had not been to Canada. The government isn't saying much about it, but islanders are buzzing.

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Should King County be in the ferry business again?

Posted Fri, Dec 21, 8 a.m.

The county once before ran ferries, only to be rescued by the state. Now the state is too broke to keep the passenger boats running, and the county has got the bug again. It's expensive, there are other solutions, and Vashon Islanders were once dead set against passenger-only ferries. But hey, nostalgia springs eternal.

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Putting on the Doggerel: All the news that's fin to print

Posted Thu, Sep 13, 1 p.m.

What do Paul Allen, a gray whale, and the Washington State Ferries have in common? They all displace a lot of water. Or two of them are running out of gas, and one of them is all gas. You decide.

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Beware of the feds bearing gifts

Posted Thu, Aug 16, 5 a.m.

New grants for congestion relief in Seattle and New York have big strings attached. And implementing road tolling is not as E-Z as it looks.

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In search of passenger-only ferry service that pencils out

Posted Thu, Jul 5, midnight

A 'return of the mosquito fleet' might make sense, but finding the right combination of public and private money to float a useful and economical service has proved elusive.

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1. Highway tolls are inevitable in metro Puget Sound

Posted Sun, Jun 10, 11 p.m.

King County Executive Ron Sims has his own inconvenient truth to convey: Tolls are inevitable on all major Seattle-area freeways. And he already has a plan for us to discuss.

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2. Avoiding a collision of transportation decisions

Posted Sun, Jun 10, 10 p.m.

Mere talk about road tolls is seen as a threat to an unrelated $14.5 billion transportation ballot measure in November. That's why a proposal for widespread tolling has been secret until now.

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Other media

Enough already! Another attempt to restore the Kalakala The Flying Dutchman of Washington's ferry fleet won't go away. The owner of the derelict hulk tries yet again to milk nostalgia by selling the former ferry flagship to Port Angeles.

State floats idea of selling naming rights to ferries The fleet is sinking in the Red Ink Sea.

Ferry fares to go up 2.5%, but summer surcharge will stay flat It's the first boost since 2007, and it goes into effect on Oct. 11.

King County tries to extricate itself from the ferry business Logs were rolled to keep the Vashon passenger ferry running when the state got out of that route. Now that decision, made in the days when raising taxes for pet projects was more acceptable, is turning into a blame game.

Danny Westneat: King County's ferry fleet is sinking fast An idea born of boom times runs into election politics

Blog posts

Survivor's guilt at Boeing

Posted Wed, Oct 28, 3:38 p.m.

News at the company isn't good, and that's for those "lucky" enough to still be there

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Name that boat!

Posted Tue, Sep 15, 6 a.m.

If our ferries are going to have corporate names, we might as well have some fun. Lusty Lady: now boarding!

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Who needs Google?

Posted Sun, Aug 2, 1:06 p.m.

Overheard conversations in summertime Seattle.

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The dumbest Smart Car

Posted Sun, Aug 9, 1:10 p.m.

They may be good for the environment, but they aren't exactly seaworthy

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Ferries etiquette 101

Posted Tue, Jul 7, 6 a.m.

No fanny packs. No white pants. And don't eat the food on the boats.

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Save the ferry!

Posted Tue, Jan 13, 8:10 a.m.

There's talk of eliminating the Anacortes-Sidney ferry line.

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BC Ferries offer better fare

Posted Fri, Aug 8, 5:01 a.m. 2008

Even though I'm a Washingtonian, if I had to choose between the Washington State Ferries (WSF) and the BC Ferries, the Canucks win by a kilometer. Granted, BC Ferries has had its share of mishaps. In 2006, the Queen of the North sunk while cruising the Inside Passage on its 18-hour journey between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert. One hundred and one passengers were on board, and two are still missing and presumed dead. Human error was blamed for the sinking. Two years later, the Queen of Oak Bay lost power and plowed through dozens of boats at a marina in West Vancouver while attempting to dock at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal.

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Sausage Links, bag fees and phone ban edition

Posted Fri, Aug 1, 11:37 a.m. 2008

Plastic bag fees are so rive gauche. First, Seattle instated a 20-cent fee on disposable plastic bags. Then Portland decided to consider a similar idea. Now, the residents of Pullman say they want a bag fee, too. ...

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From Whidbey to Seattle via ferry and rail

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 6:12 a.m. 2008

As a Whidbey Islander living in Langley, Wash., I won't be able to vote for the Sound Transit levy in November. But as somebody who uses mass transit whenever possible, I'm hoping it passes. I worked for Metro Transit three decades ago when voters turned down an important levy, one that could have changed the face of transportation in our region.

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Sausage Links, "freedom to get drunk and blow stuff up" edition

Posted Mon, Jul 7, 1:23 p.m. 2008

Chris Mulick at the Tri-City Herald has today's top story, reporting this morning that Tim Eyman's Initiative 985 and the Service Employees International Union-backed Initiative 1029 would – if passed by voters in November – increase the state's budget deficit by an estimated $300 million.

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