Posted Fri, Aug 15, 12:22 p.m.
2008
by
Clark Fredricksen
Despite the near-record temperatures predicted for the weekend, officials from around the state are asking agencies to "freeze." Last week, Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered a hiring freeze for state employees in an attempt to ease Washington's mounting budget deficit. Yesterday, the Snohomish County Council ordered a hiring freeze for all of their county's agencies. Not to be outdone, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proposed a $5 million spending freeze for the City of Seattle yesterday. On a related note, Seattle's fleet of ice cream carts are expanding their service around the city, in a move experts say could result in widespread brain freezes. ...
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Posted Fri, Jul 25, noon
2008
by
Clark Fredricksen
Gov. Chris Gregoire spent yesterday on Puget Sound, touting her environmental record while bashing her Republican opponent, Dino Rossi. Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly rode along (you can even see him to the left of Gregoire in the Everett Herald's photo of the boat tour), but remained unconvinced of her ability to connect with voters. Here's Sound Politics' take on the story. ...
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Posted Fri, Jul 18, 2:58 p.m.
2008
by
Clark Fredricksen
Count on the alt-weeklies to provide blow-by-blow coverage of the recent medical marijuana bust illegal search and seizure. Dominic Holden at The Stranger has the story about the incident — along with copies of the police report and the arresting officer's search warrant. According to the reports, Seattle Police officers tore down a wall while searching for an illegal pot-growing operation that didn't exist, while seizing bags of marijuana and medical records. The folks at Seattlest would like to remind the SPD that medical marijuana has been legal in Washington for nearly 10 years. ...
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Posted Tue, Jul 15, 3:03 p.m.
2008
by
Clark Fredricksen
At Horse's Ass, David Goldstein has a lengthy investigative story detailing a case of sexual harassment at the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR). According to a 62-page document obtained from public records, a young woman who worked at the DNR quit her job after being harassed by 68-year-old Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland. The story goes on to say:
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Posted Thu, Jul 3, 1:07 p.m.
2008
by
Clark Fredricksen
Let the mourning begin about the Seattle SuperGoneics. Everyone's in tears. That is, except the editorial board at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. They think the settlement was a good deal. Hmmm. Are you kidding me? Heck, even the basketball gods thundered their disapproval throughout the night. ...
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Posted Wed, Jul 2, 1 p.m.
2008
by
Clark Fredricksen
Today's the day of reckoning for the city of Seattle and the SuperSonics. Judge Marsha Pechman will rule at 4 p.m., and we'll know who wins this OK Corrall shootout. Mayor Greg Nickels will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. to discuss the decision (live on the Seattle Channel). Here are the pre-announcement perspectives: state Rep. Bob Hasegawa, Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat, Stranger writer Josh Feit, Crosscut writers Ross Anderson and Sue Frause. ...
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Posted Mon, Jun 30, 1 p.m.
2008
by
Clark Fredricksen
Tri-City Herald reporter Chris Mulick digs deep into Washington state's bungled attempt to land a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant, along with its 400 high-paying jobs. According to Mulick, Gov. Chris Gregoire chose not to pursue bidding for the plant, deciding instead to play it cool politically. As a result, Idaho got the plant. Washington lost the money. And Dino Rossi just got more ammo for his campaign. Still, Gregoire's got a sizable lead in the polls, at the moment. ...
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Posted Mon, Jun 2, 5:06 p.m.
2008
by
Clark Fredricksen
The Washington State Republican Party adopted an aggressive new platform over the weekend. There are some key differences between the new platform and the stances of the party's presidential candidates, especially that of presumed nominee John McCain.
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Posted Tue, Feb 26, 10 p.m.
2008
by
CaseyCorr
Tonight's debate was the second time I was struck by Sen. Hillary Clinton's claim about her role in the peace process in Ireland.
As a Claddagh wearing son of Irish citizens, I took note. Her claim reminded me of a lunch I once had with a literary hero of mine, the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, who praised Bill Clinton for helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland. Alluding to the kneecappers and killers of the tribal wars, he said: "We take our politics seriously." I agree. Bill Clinton moved that process forward, to his lasting credit.
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Posted Sun, Feb 24, 12:42 p.m.
2008
by
Ted Van Dyk
Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ended their televised Austin, Texas, debate last week on a high note. But, since then, their campaigns have been outrightly confrontational. The tone is likely to carry over into their Cleveland, Ohio, debate late this week and into March 4 voting in Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island. Clinton, facing elimination from the race, has adopted an angry campaign persona and Obama is not turning the other cheek.
Ironically, the hottest debate has been over an issue where both candidates have been trimming and grandstanding: the North American Free Trade Agreement and international trade (see below).
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