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Washington state voters must soon make up their minds about I-1000, a measure supporting physician-assisted suicide, which appears on the ballot this November. Former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts championed a similar law in her home state and supports I-1000. Here's a look at the results of Oregon's law, passed in 1997, and the issues surrounding it.
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Lessons learned from the places where people, animals, and politics collide.
READ MORE | 2 COMMENTSA source "tight in the Obama campaign" has sent out a memo, meant to reassure anxious supporters by deflecting attention from national polls, where McCain is rising, and to the state-by-state electoral tally, where the election will be settled. While there might be some disinformation in such a message, and things are obviously still fluid, it makes for interesting reading. Washington and Oregon remain firmly in the "Obama solid" category, while Montana has joined Idaho in the "McCain solid" group.
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWThe 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. ...
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWGeov at Horse's Ass is making his case for Initiative 1000, or the "death with dignity" measure. It is powerful stuff. He was diagnosed with a terminal disease in 1991, and through various surgeries and transplants he has managed to stay alive, though one or both of his non-native organs could fail any day.
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWIn the governor's race, Gov. Chris Gregoire understandably often cites the state's recent rating by Forbes magazine, which names Washington as the third best state for business. The magazine's annual ranking put Virginia first and Utah second; Idaho retains its high rank, this year as 7th. Oregon finished 16th, Colorado is 6th, Minnesota is 11th, Montana is 24th, California is 40th, and Alaska is 48th.
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWIt's a sad day for state journalism. Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman, the author of the ever-popular Postman on Politics, announced today that after some 14 years at the paper, he will leave to join Vulcan Inc., a company founded and run by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The Capitol press corps appears to be devastated. I sure am. ...
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is hardly the first from this corner of the country to run for one of the highest offices, but those who made it to the general election are relatively few.
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWAlthough I wouldn't have picked the name myself, I have to admit it makes me grin just looking at it: Le Tour des Plants. Start your hybrid and bicycle engines running, my gardening friends, because more than 35 locations throughout Oregon and southern Washington are going to be hosting "plantastic events" beginning on September 13th and lasting through the following weekend. We're talking gardening tours, scavenger hunts, accessible experts, workshops, rare plant findings, and, why not? Bluegrass music.
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWAlaska governor and John McCain running mate pick Sarah Palin is raising eyebrows over her ties to the Alaska Independence Party. The AIP wants to put Alaska statehood up for a public vote. Some party members would like Alaska to secede from the United States. Whether Palin was once a party member, supporter, or merely sympathetic to the states' rights cause, she would not be the first pro-secession politician from the Northwest to run for vice president on a major party ticket. It has happened before.
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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.
READ MORE | 2 COMMENTSBetween national party conventions, I took an advance look at Joseph Miller's upcoming memoirs, The Wicked Wine of Democracy, to be published next month by University of Washington Press. The book provides an almost too-candid portrayal of politics and lobbying in the Northwest and nationally over 50 years and is an intriguing chronicle of some of the main figures in Northwest political life.
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Biding time until coach Tyrone Willingham is gone, cranky University of Washington football fans at least get to watch an NFL quarterback prospect excel. Jake Locker does so in spite of those around him.
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWPortland is one cool town. As a lifelong Washingtonian, I've always considered Seattle my city, whether growing up in the rural community of Arlington or living on Whidbey Island for the past 33 years. But after spending a weekend in Portland, defection is not out of the question. I'm not surprised that a growing number of our South Whidbey "kids" have decided to make Portland their new home town.
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWToday 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. ...
READ MORE | COMMENT NOWThe latest from news outlets and blogs around the Northwest and beyond, chosen by Crosscut editors.
Oregon's steadily improving economy delivered a pleasant surprise to state lawmakers Thursday in the form of a $271 million windfall that can be spent on schools and safety net programs.
"Software jobs are growing at a double-digit percentage rate, even as the rest of the state's economy remains sluggish. Although software jobs represent a tiny fraction of the total work force -- just 0.8 percent -- Oregon has the third-highest concentration of software developers of any state, according to the employment department, trailing only Washington and Massachusetts."
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