Crosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most clicks.
Crosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most reader comments.
Posted Sun, Mar 2, 5 p.m.
He's got even more authority now, thanks to a voter-approved initiative that provides for evaluations of public-agency performance. The state auditor is effecting change inside institutions like the Port of Seattle.
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Posted Wed, Jan 7, 6 a.m.
The new year will be challenging for historic preservation in Seattle, but there are great opportunities and new initiatives ahead, too. Here's a breakdown of six front-burner issues for 2009. First of 2 parts
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Posted Tue, Jan 6, 6 a.m.
With some politicians calling for slashing funds for performance audits, consider all the money Auditor Brian Sonntag has been saving, and the dogs he's been watching.
READ MORE 6 COMMENTS
Posted Tue, Dec 30, 5:33 p.m.
Delaying the decision was supposed to allow a consensus version to appear magically. Didn't happen. Instead there are three new champions and three new variants. This baby seems headed for the big scary Legislature.
READ MORE 9 COMMENTS
Posted Mon, Dec 15, 6 a.m.
The state makes it almost certain that ferry bids will come in way over budget, in a misguided attempt to keep the jobs in state. Here are the latest sad figures.
READ MORE 27 COMMENTS
Posted Thu, Dec 11, 6 a.m.
An artful, if fragile grand compromise has emerged, late in an exhaustive process. Here's a look at its components and its politics — and what could blow it apart.
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Posted Mon, Dec 8, noon
The Puget Sound Partnership has an Action Agenda, but so far no Answer Agenda. Here are some tough questions.
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Posted Mon, Dec 8, 6 a.m.
Some would like to cut these performance audits from the state budget, supposedly saving money. Now is when we need them most.
READ MORE 10 COMMENTS
Posted Mon, Nov 24, 6 a.m.
Our local politicians are coping with austerity by sharing the pain and keeping nearly all programs alive for a future return. But what about the chance to be rid of programs that don't work?
READ MORE 17 COMMENTS
Posted Mon, Nov 17, 6 a.m.
Mayor Greg Nickels plans to defy state law with a gun ban that is worse than an empty gesture: It puts law-abiding citizens at greater risk.
READ MORE 34 COMMENTS
Posted Mon, Nov 3, 10:53 p.m.
Got time to read the state's hulking voter guide at the last minute? Neither do we. Here's the two-sentence version, our quick-and-dirty recap of the presidential, federal, statewide, and local races.
READ MORE 2 COMMENTS
Posted Thu, Oct 30, 7:35 p.m.
In light of PSE's acquisition by an overseas holding company, residents of Skagit and Jefferson counties and Whidbey Island will decide next week whether to form their own public utility districts.
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Posted Sun, Oct 26, 6:37 p.m.
Our senior political writer has been disappointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire. He explains why and outlines the other picks on his mailed-in ballot.
READ MORE 26 COMMENTS
Posted Tue, Oct 21, 8:58 p.m.
Notwithstanding increasing mass transit ridership and more prudent use of cars, automobiles will dominate U.S. transportation for decades to come. So how do we pay for roads? Variable tolling is one answer, and in the age of GPS the logical next step should also be explored: a fee on miles traveled everywhere by individual vehicles.
READ MORE 6 COMMENTS
Posted Tue, Oct 21, midnight
Our veteran politico says initiatives and their kin merely make elected representatives lazy. But if we must make policy that way, here's how he views the major issues.
READ MORE 30 COMMENTS
Posted Wed, Oct 8, 3 a.m.
Mossback attends archeology training and becomes steeped in historical context. He learns how to knap, tries his hand at raft-weaving, and finds out that "discovery" is not always a good thing. Part 2
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Posted Tue, Oct 7, 3 a.m.
Making arrowheads, tossing spears, wandering old homesteads, and studying petroglyphs: All are part of a Washington state program designed to ensure that material progress doesn't completely obliterate the past. Part 1
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Posted Mon, Oct 6, 4 p.m.
With so many Republicans bringing suit against the GOP gubernatorial candidate and two builders' groups, it's not easy to dismiss the widening case as mere partisan politics. Move the needle for incumbent Gov. Chris Gregoire, and score points for Attorney General Rob McKenna.
READ MORE 16 COMMENTS
Posted Thu, Sep 25, 1 a.m.
The state House speaker finally goes public with a dramatic idea for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Seattle's waterfront. It involves a long, block-wide structure with a highway within, commercial development below, and an intriguing park on top.
READ MORE 33 COMMENTS
Posted Sun, Sep 21, 7 p.m.
The rat-a-tat format of the KOMO-TV debate allowed the GOP gubernatorial challenger to position himself as the change agent, the pragmatic post-partisan guy.
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Posted Thu, Sep 11, 3 a.m.
Because of fuel prices and out-of-sync regulatory bodies, it's actually cheaper right now to take a taxicab to or from Sea-Tac Airport than a shared van, which until recently was always the cheaper choice. But cab fares, too, will be going up, on Oct. 1. Here's how airport transportation pricing works.
READ MORE 18 COMMENTS
Posted Wed, Dec 17, 9 a.m. 2008
One mild surprise: closing a bunch of state parks. One non-surprise: nixing the film office.
MOREPosted Thu, Dec 11, 11:51 p.m. 2008
Are you on the Apiary Advisory Committee or the Migratory Waterfowl Art Commission? Report to the budget office immediately.
MOREPosted Thu, Dec 11, 1:19 p.m. 2008
Here's an early look at what might be the final two or three options for the Viaduct. The key meeting is 4:30 pm today at City Hall.
MOREPosted Fri, Nov 14, 2:40 p.m. 2008
With a looming $4 billion budget shortfall, the state seeks to keep the next biennium's budget as thin as possible. Here's a list of items likely to be cut.
MOREPosted Fri, Nov 7, 10:58 a.m. 2008
Don't just tweak the tests, advises this former Seattle School Board member. The new state schools chief should shift dramatically to a more content-based tests.
MOREPosted Wed, Nov 5, 10:47 a.m. 2008
Late-morning update: Dino Rossi plans an announcement, and Peter Goldmark pulls ahead of Doug Sutherland in the Washington lands commissioner race.
MOREPosted Wed, Nov 5, 2:01 a.m. 2008
While the final votes for governor are still coming out of the woodwork, there were several contested races that were easily won.
MOREPosted Tue, Nov 4, 10:02 p.m. 2008
The race for Superintendent of Public Instruction and Public Lands Commissioner are still too close to call, but so far, challenger Randy Dorn and incumbent Doug Sutherland lead.
MOREPosted Tue, Nov 4, 9:39 a.m. 2008
Their absence from the general election, because of Washington's top-two primary, makes protest-voting a lot harder.
MOREPosted Thu, Oct 30, 11:40 a.m. 2008
The editorial board at the P-I has penned eight op-eds on why voters should reject Initiative 985, Tim Eyman's traffic congestion relief measure. Overkill? Apparently not — there's a new op-ed against I-985 on the way.
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