crosscut.com : Rights / Ethics

Sausage Links, Obama waiting game edition

Crosscut — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:00:01 PDT

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. ...

Northern fights

Crosscut — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:00:01 PDT

Next in the Alaska scandals roundup: An errant senator's son and Troopergate. Part 2 of 2

The real games are in Alaska

Crosscut — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:00:01 PDT

How to keep up with all the scandals rocking Alaska's government? A veteran Juneau politics reporter offers this primer. Part 1 of 2

Sausage Links, primary hangover edition

Crosscut — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:00:01 PDT

So, who were the big winners and losers in last night's inaugural "top-two" primary? On the winning side were incumbent Supreme Court Justices Mary Fairhurst and Charles Johnson, who virtually guaranteed their re-election by winning more than 50 percent of the vote. Along with incumbent Justice Debra Stephens, they'll run unopposed in the general election. Last night's losers, however, were easier to spot. ...

Sausage Links, 'Pledge Allegiance to the Top-Two Primary' edition

Crosscut — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:39:01 PDT

Today is the the "top-two" primary, and everyone expects the polls to be packed. But before casting your ballot, take a moment to remember our failed state primary formats of the past. As the editorial board at The Seattle Times writes: "Pause now for a moment of silence in remembrance of the state's defunct blanket primary, which served Washington's voters well for almost 70 years" — that is, until federal courts declared it was unconstitutional. After the blankie went bye-bye, Washington state tried the "Pick-a-party" primary, but voters didn't feel the vibe. Today, we've been blessed with the oft-litigated, much deliberated top-two primary, a format some people say is doomed to fail. But dammit, we might as well try it out. ...

Sausage Links, ice cream man edition

Crosscut — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:22:01 PDT

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. ...

Seattle Public Schools flunks civics

Crosscut — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:01:01 PDT

What does it teach kids to slaughter a grove of mature trees in a city whose urban forest is already in crisis? A city which will need a new generation to help fix serious environmental problems like cleaning up Puget Sound and dealing with cancer-causing pollution?

Bellevue's 'Little Eichmann'

Crosscut — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:00:01 PDT

Finding the banality of Nazi evil close to home.

Sausage Links, endorsement edition

Crosscut — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:03:01 PDT

It turned out to be a lucky weekend for civil litigator and state Supreme Court candidate Michael Bond, who got an endorsement Sunday from The Seattle Times because he is not his opponent.

Unsubstantiated accusations in the Internet age

Crosscut — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:38:01 PDT

Two huge legal principles clashed in last week's Washington Supreme Court decision holding that the privacy rights of teachers trump public disclosure in cases where allegations of sexual misconduct were unsubstantiated. The case, Bellevue John Does 1-11 v. Bellevue Sch. Dist. No. 405, resulted in a 6-3 split on the court.

Behind the scenes, playing no role in the legal ruling but surely on the minds of the nine justices, are two developments of recent years that have changed both the playing field (literally) and the stakes in public disclosure.

Spying in defense of liberty

Crosscut — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:00:01 PDT

Barry Goldwater famously said that "extremism in defense of liberty is no vice." But I suspect even the late Arizona senator and 1964 GOP presidential candidate might be creeped out if he knew about the privatization of Big Brother. Is it OK for private groups to infiltrate domestic citizen's groups? Is spying in defense of liberty a virtue or a vice?

Sausage Links, Uncle Ted's excellent indictment edition

Crosscut — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:52:01 PDT

Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly sounds off on the latest bad apple ousted from the Department of Justice, as well as Ted "series of tubes" Stevens' federal indictment in a corruption scandal. Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman takes a look at what Uncle Ted's indictment means for his chances at re-election, while U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., joins the parade of GOP members promising to rid themselves of Stevens' campaign donations. ...

Is Big Nanny running your town?

Crosscut — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:43:01 PDT

The libertarian magazine Reason has published a list of the biggest nanny cities in the country. The results for the big cities on the Pacific Coast are interesting. Portland is caught in a kind of "nanny sandwich" between Seattle and San Francisco. Apparently, the most ecotopian town in the Pacific Northwest has escaped the worst excess of politically correct fussiness.

Sausage Links, beer for thought edition

Crosscut — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:12:01 PDT

Is beer the sleeper issue of the 2008 election? The folks at FiveThirtyEight seem to think so. Apparently, Cindy McCain's company, Hensley & Co., is set to make at least a million bucks from InBev's takeover of Anheuser Busch — a merger which Sen. Barack Obama called a "shame" and which has already sparked some antitrust interest. ...

Sausage Links, row, row, row your boat edition

Crosscut — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:00:01 PDT

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. ...

Sausage Links, pot, farms, and medicine edition

Crosscut — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:58:01 PDT

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. ...

Sausage Links, fancy-pants luncheon edition

Crosscut — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:21:01 PDT

The Queen of fist-bumps, New Yorker cover girl Michelle Obama, is in Seattle today to headline a fundraiser for Gov. Chris Gregoire. The event is expected to bring in $400,000 for Gregoire's re-election campaign. Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman will have live coverage of the event as it develops, while Eli Sanders at the Stranger already has pictures from the WaMu Theater. ...

Sausage Links, cougar-hunting edition

Crosscut — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:28:01 PDT

Praise the Lord and release the hounds — because our good state Legislature has enacted a law which makes it legal once again to use dogs to hunt cougars. Now, I didn't even know cougar hunting was legal in Washington — minus Cougars wearing crimson — but apparently, it is. While the bill was actually passed by the Legislature in February, the Department of Fish and Wildlife will hold a public meeting on Friday to discuss whether the pilot program should continue for another three years.

Meanwhile, Micheal Reitz of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation has compiled a list of some other curious laws enacted by the Washington Legislature this year. My personal favorite: Violators may face up to $1,000 or up to a year in jail for selling raw or unprocessed huckleberries without a permit.

The geekiest arsonist

Crosscut — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:00:01 PDT

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.

Sausage Links, sex, satire, and rock 'n' roll edition

Crosscut — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:03:01 PDT

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: