crosscut.com : Washington Legislature

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.

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:

Sausage Links, tree-cutting edition

Crosscut — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:09:01 PDT

Timber! The Seattle Times has a series of special reports about the lack of oversight in the logging industry and the cost to state taxpayers. According to the report, no one checked when Weyerhaeuser started clear-cutting unstable slopes, some of which eventually slid and cost millions of dollars to clean up. Naturally, David Goldstein at Horse's Ass blames Republican-led deregulation. ...

Sausage Links, gas cards for bad guys edition

Crosscut — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:20:01 PDT

Alright everybody. Let's head to Tacoma. If we hurry, we can help Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers catch sexual predators, gangsters, domestic violence abusers, and violent criminals. Why? Because they're giving away $250 gas cards and up to $1,000 in exchange for information that would lead to arrests. Here's the list of criminals. Start hunting. After all, what better incentive is there to dodge outrageous gas prices than to catch perverts? Don't answer that.

Sausage Links, blame-game edition

Crosscut — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:05:01 PDT

David Goldstein at Horse's Ass says everyone has missed the boat about the latest mess surrounding the "top-two" primary. The Seattle Times blamed the parties. The parties blamed the state. Others blamed the lawyers. Goldstein, however, says the person to blame for what could be the "most monumental legal fuck up in state history — one which puts the legitimacy of our entire 2008 election in jeopardy" — is state Attorney General Rob McKenna.

Sausage Links, mayor-about-town edition

Crosscut — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:49:01 PDT

Oh, Greg. You are trying to break our hearts! Just when we vilify you for airballing the Sonics all the way to OKC for a cool $45 million — you show you're a real Mayor-about-town houses and plastic bag taxes.

For better or worse, everybody's talking about Mayor Nickels' proposals today. Erica C. Barnett at The Stranger says she spotted a "Plastic Monster" at last night's public-comment meeting about the proposed plastic bag tax, while Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat warns if we don't choose paper the plastic bag police will get us. Meanwhile, the folks at Sound Politics rail against Nickels for the new town house plan, which they argue will regulate affordable housing "out of existence." ...

Sausage Links, top-two headache edition

Crosscut — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:23:01 PDT

David Postman had a busy morning. First, The Seattle Times chief political writer reported the proper way to describe the ~~death with dignity~~ "assisted suicide" initiative. Then he dropped a political firebomb, reporting the state's political parties haven't yet given up trying to ax the "top-two" primary, with both Republicans and Democrats claiming the entire '08 election won't count. I thought that headache was over. Turns out it's just getting started. ...

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

Crosscut — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:23:01 PDT

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.

As the Sonics leave town, it may help the arts

Crosscut — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:17:01 PDT

In all the reporting about the Sonics decision, we tend to overlook the intense clamoring over a taxing source, the so-called "stadium taxes," that bedevils the politics. A lot of groups want to lay claim to those taxes, which are supposed to go away after the Kingdome, Safeco Field, and Qwest Field are paid off, but are really catnip to politicians for their pet causes. The taxes have two attractions: they are not really an "increase" if you just extend their life, and they fall mostly on visitors, who don't vote locally.

One of the main supplicants is the arts. Thereby hangs an interesting story.

Sausage Links, sonic-bust edition

Crosscut — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:07:01 PDT

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. ...

The Sonics sitcom

Crosscut — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:01:01 PDT

The Sonics-City of Seattle settlement announced yesterday is what might have been expected had the parties not settled and U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman made a likely ruling that this landlord-tenant dispute should be settled monetarily. (See my Monday article).

Both sides eliminated risk, though, by settling before her ruling. The Sonics, of course, cleared out promptly for Oklahoma City. The press-conference description of the settlement by Mayor Greg Nickels, with City Council members serving as props, was a comic classic.

Sausage links, Seattle SuuuuuuperSonics edition

Crosscut — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:00:01 PDT

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. ...

Sausage Links, potty-humor edition

Crosscut — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:59:01 PDT

Democratic congressional candidate Darcy Burner's home was "severely damaged" by a fire this morning. Horse's Ass has the coverage, while NorthWest Cable News has the video. ...

Sausage Links, hammer-time edition

Crosscut — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:00:01 PDT

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. ...

Seven premonitions you can take to the bank

Crosscut — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:00:01 PDT

Predictions at mid-year regarding sweet deals for developers, a Sonics boon, the precarious viaduct, a Boeing handout, Sound Transit, Pat Davis, and cleaning up Puget Sound.

Sparks in Spokane: a GOP odyssey

Crosscut — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:00:01 PDT

The definitive report on the Washington State Republican Convention, as witnessed by Crosscut's resident elephant. There was a little friction, and it will be a tough autumn, but the GOP looks forward to a competitive gubernatorial race.

Sausage Links, attack-ad edition

Crosscut — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:24:01 PDT

Gov. Chris Gregoire unleashes her latest "hit" campaign on GOP challenger Dino Rossi today, primarily attacking Rossi's state Senate record. Now, of all outlets that would come to the defense of a Republican, the first place not to look would be a local left-leaning blog like Horse's Ass. But after yesterday's political circus surrounding Gregoire's previous ad, backhandedly comparing Rossi to TV mob boss Tony Soprano, Horse's Ass blogger David Goldstein rushes to Rossi's defense. ...

Sausage Links, gun-ban edition

Crosscut — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:00:01 PDT

It's too soon to tell if gun enthusiasts will henceforth consider June 26 "Possess a Pistol Day," but here's the immediate reactions to the Supreme Court ruling rejecting the D.C. gun ban, from both sides of the aisle: Goldstein, Earling, Obama, McCain. ...