Washington state Republicans have been looking for circumstances to assist Dino Rossi in his bid to unseat Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire this year. Some believe the slowing economy will favor the GOP by highlighting excessive state spending and high taxes. Another hope: that Hillary Clinton heads the national Democratic ticket. Why? Because, they believe, a Clinton candidacy will put Washington in play with John McCain as the Republican nominee. A new survey shows that they have a case for the latter hope. In fact, the results show that Washington and Oregon could both turn red in the fall.
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All you folks seething with envy over the fabulous wealth in the region, you can calm down a little. Not only is Bill Gates III demoted to No. 3 on Forbes' recent list of the world's billionaires; the Northwest, by my count, only places eight folks in the top 500.
Nor does America hog all the wealth, as you might have imagined. Of the top 25 billionaires, only four are from the U.S. of A. They are: Warren Buffett (tops the list at $62 billion), Gates (third at $58 billion), Sheldon Adelson (the Las Vegas developer, 12th at $26 billion), and Oracle's Lawrence Ellison (14th at $25 billion). The country with the most billionaires in the top 10? India (with four).
The Seattle mayor's office has scheduled a 3:30 p.m. news conference. Says the press release: "Mayor Greg Nickels will hold a press conference this afternoon to discuss a new proposal to improve KeyArena and Seattle Center. The mayor will be joined by a representative of a new, local professional basketball ownership group."
Earlier coverage has Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Western Wireless founder John Stanton involved. Crosscut's David Brewster speculates about a KeyArena remake in an earlier blog post.
Update, 2008-03-06, 13:13: State House Speaker Frank Chopp says any notion of legislative action on a KeyArena renovation proposal is DOA in Olympia this year.
Having outgrown its headquarters building, the company needs new digs for 1,100 employees. A bigger issue, though, is the possibility Russell has outgrown Tacoma. State and local politicians are scrambling to keep the 72-year-old company there, but Russell's employees live in a big world.
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