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Thursday, January 31st, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 05:58:15 pm
TV Tacoma has just done me – and other deaf or hearing-impaired Tacomans – a big, big favor. Starting Tuesday, Feb. 5, TV Tacoma's cable broadcasts of Tacoma City Council meetings will offer closed captions, otherwise known as subtitles. If Mayor Bill Baarsma declares, "Read my lips," I can read the caption as well as his lips. I'm biased, of course, but I think this is a great step in making city government accessible. Now it would be just perfect if TV Tacoma would televise council study sessions as well. But city staffers say the small room the council uses for study sessions isn't suitable for broadcasts and lacks the necessary wiring. TV Tacoma's web site has details on programs and services.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by Kim Bradford @ 02:48:59 pm
Abandoned pets are overwhelming animal shelters in some parts of the country as home foreclosures lead many families to leave their pets behind, according to The Associated Press. But that's not happening here, at least not at the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County. Staff there report that in the last three months, they have seen a decrease in animals entering the shelter because their owners moved, became homeless, were evicted or abandoned them during a move. The decline comes at a time when total shelter admissions are rising slightly. What's going on? Certainly, our state hasn't been hit as hard by foreclosures as others have, but they are still on the increase. Maybe we just have more responsible pet owners — or more rural places to dump animals.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 02:06:27 pm
"Obama in Tacoma." A guy could elected president with a slogan like that. Pierce County Democratic Party Chairman Nathe Lawver sends word on campaign events this week for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. (What are we to make of the fact that the local chair can't spell Obama's name right?)
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 01:49:54 pm
Tacoma City Councilman Rick Talbert, chairman of the Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health, updates us on the search for a new health director:
Categories: Editorial cartoons
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 01:39:17 pm
We've just learned that state officials have withdrawn its conditional approval for a controversial $1.1 millon grant for housing released prison inmates in Tacoma and Pierce County. The state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development announced the decision today in letters to C4RJ and the Tacoma City Council. The move comes as no surprise to the ed board, which met for two hours with C4RJ leaders Carl D. Jones and Edryce Reynolds Wednesday afternoon. Aside from the descrepancies in the group's grant application, it appeared to us that C4RJ, a small, all-volunteer group with a budget of no more than $25,000, is woefully unprepared to manage a much larger program intended to provide housing and support for 70 ex-inmates. We support the goals of the grant program, which aims to help newly released inmates succeeed on re-entry to the community and reduce recidivism. But it's obvious that the community infrastructure for this kind of initiative is lacking and may need to be built from the ground up -- very carefully and deliberately, with outreach to the neighborhoods where the "clients" will be placed.
Categories: Taking notice
• 7 comments
Posted by David Seago @ 11:11:27 am
1. The legal mess over breath test results from bungling (and dishonest) state patrol lab work has us wondering what kind of oversight the agency applies to lab management. 2. The Tacoma School Board and top officials should forget blaming the messenger -- the state auditor -- and own up to violating the state’s open meetings law and promise not to do it again. About our editorials:
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:24:53 am
Carl Jones and Edryce Reynolds, two leaders of Citizens for Responsible Justice, came in late yesterday afternoon to persuade us that the Citizens aren't bad guys. As in "bad guys who submitted a dubious application that won a $1.1 million grant they'll use to import a bunch of felons to the Hilltop." Jones and Reynolds persuaded us, or me at least, that C4RJ is a well-intentioned group that fervently believes in rehabilitation but is in way over its head. They overlook important things. They bungle paperwork. They forgot to apply for a renewal of their nonprofit status. They didn't know they needed a business license. They have no legal counsel. They've got a frustratingly unhelpful Website that makes it look like they're hiding something. But – most of all – they think they can brush off the Hilltop Action Coalition and get away with it. Jones said the coalition has been on their case ever since they opened a house at 811 S. 11th for released felons. "They wanted us to sign a good neighbors agreement with them," he said, aggrieved. "Why don't they sign a good neighbors agreement with us?" See "overlook important things," above. The first thing anyone needs to know about the Hilltop is that the coalition guards it like a pack of Rottweilers. In the 1990s, HAC ran off the trigger-happy crack gangs who'd all but taken over the streets. It doesn't send the Welcome Wagon out to ex-cons. You want to move a house full of released felons in, even for the best of reasons, you'd better make very nice with the coalition. Does the Hilltop Action Coalition run the Hilltop? Jones demanded to know. Well ... not officially. But asking the coalition to sign a good neighbors agreement is sort of like asking Wyatt Earp to turn over his guns, too, when you ride into Dodge.
Categories: Editorial cartoons
Posted by David Seago @ 02:36:06 am
While my colleague Pat O'Callahan was working on today's editorial about the McNeil Island prison chaplain and his religious quandary, I asked UPS religion professor Judith Kay for her thoughts on the matter. For instance, I asked, who decides what is a legitimate religion, and how? Here's Kay's response:
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 08:00:26 pm
Reader Mike Hondorp has an unusual request, aired this letter to the editor that we're publishing in the print TNT Thursday morning. Here's a sneak preview and a response I sent to Mike. Chime in and let us know what you think. No More Political Preference Letters—Please!
Mike, I agree that letters that simply “I like Mike” or “I hate Hillary” don’t add much to the conversation. We try not to run simple “campaign” letters that don’t have much to say. But letters with a strong point of view and a clear point are the spice in the mix. Arguing and speaking up and disagreeing – preferably in a reasonably civil way – about who are best qualified to be our leaders is the very essence of democracy. I love it. Dave Seago
Posted by David Seago @ 07:14:51 pm
Felix Flannigan, director of Tacoma's Martin Luther King Jr. Housing Development Association, came in for an editorial board Tuesday with some financial types to announce the launch of a so-called “double-bottom line” real estate development fund. The association has created a nonprofit subsidiary called Sound Community Initiatives, which Flannigan serves as president and CEO. CSI selected the Kennedy Wilson Fund Management Group of Los Angeles, which plans to raise as much as $90 million to invest in low- and middle-income areas in Pierce, King, Snohomish, Kitsap and Thurston counties. Larry Kopp, a former Citicorp executive and former managing director of the Russell Co., is the chairman of the new nonprofit. Kopp is a heavy hitter in financial and civic circles. See a mini-bio here. Kennedy Wilson says it services more than $8 billion in real estate assets nationwide and acts in investor, developer and management roles. "Double bottom line" refers to the returns for fund investors as the first bottom line, and neighborhood improvement and economic revitalization as the second bottom line. This article describes an abandoned 615-unit housing complex Kennedy Wilson took over and transformed in Alameda, Calif. The Kennedy Wilson representatives said the new fund will have between $65 million and $90 million to invest. Combined with bank financing, the fund's capital could trigger $200 millon to $360 million in development here. No specific projects were announced. K-W's John Pradhu said his firm has some prospects in mind but will also be fielding proposals from developers. Flannigan said the fund has no connection with the housing association's current $30 million mixed-use project at South 11th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. More on that later.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 11:41:04 am
The case of the McNeil Island prison chaplain who took leave rather than serve an inmate who claims to be both Catholic and pagan presents First Amendment conundrum. The priest shouldn’t be forced to violate his religious conscience, but the inmate, in the custody of the state, also – apparently – has a First Amendment right to practice his hybrid religion, which requires the involvement of a priest. Who knows what the answer is? Prison authorities have to see if some kind of practical accomodation can be made. The Pierce County Housing Authority’s record of handling complaints at the mold-plagued Eagle’s Watch housing complex suggests that the agency for a long time was not living up to its responsibilities to provide safe and affordable rental housing. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by Kim Bradford @ 03:15:01 am
Caroline and Ted Kennedy have been making headlines this week for throwing their support to Democratic hopeful Barack Obama, but Robert Kennedy's kids beg to differ. In a less noticed endorsement, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kerry Kennedy backed Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. The family disagreement has played out on op-ed pages on both coasts. Caroline's piece was published Sunday by The New York Times and the Kennedy cousins had their say in The Los Angeles Times. Their arguments fall along now-predictable lines. Caroline writes, "(Obama) has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process." To which Kathleen et al said: "We need a leader who is battle-tested, resilient and sure-footed on the shifting landscapes of domestic and foreign policy. Hillary Clinton will move our country forward while promoting its noblest ideals." Beyond the inspiration vs. experience divide, their dueling endorsements seem to boil down to which candidate most reminds them of their dad. As if the presidential race wasn't exciting enough, now we've got JFK vs. RFK.
And from the cousins:
Categories: Taking notice
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 02:05:39 pm
An effort to revise the Pierce County ethics code is stuck in "Park." Word from council chambers is that the council will once again postpone action on ethics code changes that were tabled in December for "further study." Councilmen Tim Farrell and Calvin Goings, both Democrats, were frustrated by a raft of new proposed amendments that appeared today with no previous review. It looks to me like the ethics code is caught up in election-year politics. (See our Sunday editorial). Both Goings, D-Puyallup, and Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, are running for county executive. I suspect Republicans don't want Goings to be able to claim credit for a stronger ethics code. (see response from Councilman Roger Bush, R-Graham) below.) Which leads me to another thought: Perhaps a wiser and less partisan approach would have been to appoint a reputable, broadbased and independent citizen panel to review the code and propose changes. Maybe it will take a citizen initiative to get the job done right. County Councilman Roger Bush responds I want to let you know that I believe that you have misunderstood what took place today regarding the proposed Ethics ordinance discussions. First, in your third paragraph, you state that Farrell and Goings, "both Democrats, were frustrated by a raft of new proposed amendments that appeared today with no previous review." This would lead readers to a false conclusion. Specifically, out of the four amendments, three were sponsored by Mr. Goings. Three other draft documents were included in the packet for discussion that have not as yet received sponsors (they were there for informational and discussion purposes...one from the Prosecutors, one from the Ethics Commissioners, and one from the Auditor.)
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 11:45:37 am
The ed board talked this morning about today's Page One story on the McNeil Island prison chaplain who's conflicted about serving an inmate who claims to be both pagan and Catholic. We debated the First Amendment issues involved and plan an editorial later this week. But we were also intrigued by the chart giving a breakdown on the religions claimed by state prisoners. Why are there more pagans than Catholics in the state prisons? Is Washington a hotbed for pagans? Are Catholics on the wane here? Do the rankings simply mean that pagans are more likely to be sinners – i.e, convicts – than God-fearing Catholics? The pagan inmate cited in our story says he's Asatru. According the Asatru Alliance web site, that means following "the old Norse gods." There's our answer: It's all those Norse heathens in Ballard.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 10:17:18 am
The Alcohol Impact Area designation sought for Tacoma’s East Side and South End would be the state’s larget, but the communities have a rock-solid case for it. The state Liquor Control Board should approve this tool to fight public drunkenness. The Puyallup City Council would be foolish to stymie plans for a bandstand in Pioneer Park, especially given the Rotary club’s promise to put up $50,000 for it. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:05:20 am
We were shocked by a a number of details in The Seattle Times' investigative series on criminal activities by members of the Rose Bowl-winning 2000 Husky football team. See today's editorial. One was King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng's decision not to charge tight end Jerramy Stevens with the rape of a 19-year-old in a Greek Row alley. Athletic director Barbara Hedges took that decision as an "exoneration" of Stevens, but it's hard to believe anyone is that naive about the criminal justice system. Prosecutors decline to prosecute wrongdoers for any number of reasons, including tight budgets, calculations about the difficulty of convincing 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt, and – perhaps in this case – a little too much sympathy for a dynamite football team. Read Sunday's story, and it's hard to doubt that Stevens did it. Of particular interest is one of the things prosecutors told police after they dropped the case:
It seems the prosecutors also thought Stevens was guilty; they just didn't want to try to prove it in court. Maleng died last year, so he can't defend his decision in this case. We respected him a lot, but can't help noting that he was a Husky ('60, economics; '66, law). As, for the record, am I.
Categories: Editorial outtakes
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 04:56:37 am
The Battle of the Foss begins tonight at 5:30 in the Phoenix Room at Freighthouse Square. Maybe I shouldn’t hype it as a fight, because Foss Waterway Development Authority officials are hoping they can work out a happy compromise. Tonight's public meeting is the first of two "community planning sessions" on the future of what has been dubbed Waterway Park. But the bone of contention is whether a new children’s museum should be allowed on a Foss shoreline site the City of Tacoma purchased with a Conservation Futures grant intended for open space and recreation. (News story). Dan Voelpel, our business columnist, set the stage with a column Friday hoping for a solution that will include the museum. On Wednesday, we’ll publish an oped piece from local rowing and paddling enthusiasts with a different vision:
It looks like Citizens for a Healthy Bay, an environmental group that has promoted cleanup of Commencement Bay, also prefers a no-development plan. CHB’s Leslie Rose sent around a Jan. 25 article from the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard making the case that downtown parks help drive economic development. I couldn’t locate a link, but hit "Read More" to get the text. Finally, if you’d like to see ideas Metro Parks came up with last year for the Foss, go here.
Categories: Taking notice
• 2 comments
Monday, January 28th, 2008
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 04:55:35 pm
We aren't fans of Tim Eyman's initiatives, but we are fans of the right of initiative guaranteed by the state constitution. He and others have been crying foul over attempts in the Legislature to intimidate signature-gatherers by allowing opponents to find out their names and addresses. Now he says a whistleblower has given him several internal memos purportedly from the Washington State Council of County and City Employees (AFSCME - AFL-CIO). One reads: "If you see a signature gatherer, we suggest you ask signature gatherers if they are being paid, find out their names and take their pictures (alone). 'We would like to identify as many as possible.'" And Eyman offers this genuinely disturbing account of actual physical intimidation, from a woman named Danielle. She has an obvious interest in signature-gathering, but it is a sworn affivadit from a 2004 lawsuit in King County Superior Court:
Categories: Taking notice
• 12 comments
Posted by David Seago @ 03:24:53 pm
A reader sounds off on one of our editorial topics for Tuesday. Feel free to chime in. I sure think this is news, and it doesn't have anything to do with the stadium funding issue. The reader must have missed our Saturday editorial urging the Legislature to give the Husky stadium pitch a fair hearing. I think we were more supportive than any other newspaper around here. We're not anti-sports at all. We're just appalled that the Neusheisel regime was even worse than we thought.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 09:52:32 am
For Tuesday, Jan. 29 1. The state dropped the ball by “temporarily” revoking local government authority to restrict where sex offenders can live. If lawmakers aren’t going to come up with a statewide policy, they should restore the local power, as the Pierce County Council is requesting. 2. A lot of people, including former Husky coach Rick Neuheisel, apparently covered up serious criminal acts star UW linebacker Jeremiah Pharms. Those glory years hid the ugly side of big-time college football in Seattle. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:14:10 am
Our editorial today defended the secure driver's licenses required by the REAL ID Act of 2005 – a position that won't win us any prizes from the ACLU or Libertarian Party. In fairness, there are many rational people who are scared of the new license. But one old trick of sneaky journalists who want to stack the deck in favor of one side of a debate is to go to outright wackos to provide "the other side" (which is thus automatically discredited). I don't practice this kind of journalism, by the way, and neither do my colleagues. But for the sake of entertainment, I offer a taste of the debate between those who don't think the "real ID" is the Mark of the Beast and those who fear it's at least a forerunner of the Mark. Only in America.
Categories: Editorial outtakes
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 02:07:51 am
Steph Farber, your man to see in Tacoma for cubic zirconium, offers this one: Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the U.S. Constitution needs to be amended to conform with the Bible. This means, presumably, that if Huckabee were to win the GOP nomination, he would name Jesus as his running mate. Consider the implications: If Huckabee were to expire in office, the nation would have its first Jewish president.
Categories: Taking notice
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
Posted by Cheryl Tucker @ 02:34:55 pm
A news brief Sunday noted that 23 trees have been marked for removal along Five Mile Drive in Point Defiance Park. Tree removal at the park has been a sticky wicket in the past, so I thought I'd check out the candidates for culling on my weekly Sunday morning walk at Point Defiance. And I have to say, I completely agree with the park forester's choices. All the trees I saw that are marked for removal looked either dead or at death's door. Most of them are on the section of Five Mile Drive between the entrance and the Gig Harbor overlook. Each is marked with a white, horizontal stripe; some also are pointed out by white arrows on the pavement. Anyone who remembers the disruption caused by the last big windstorm, which shut down Five Mile Drive to bikes and cars for weeks and made many of the trails impassable, should welcome the culling.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 08:26:40 am
When former Tacoma City Manager Erling Mork died last year, friends and admirers launched a scholarship fund in his name at Pacific Lutheran University. Contributions totalled nearly $70,000. PLU has announced the first recipient of the Erling O. Mork Scholarship for Excellence in Leadership and Diversity. He is senior Joshua Cushman, an English major. For the past two years, Cushman has mentored high school students at the Peace Community Center in Tacoma. Of the students he worked with, Cushman says, "They are my family, and they are the future."
Categories: Taking notice
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 05:41:13 am
The ed board took a coach tour of the Port of Tacoma this week, listening to Port Director Tim Farrell do a stand-up guide routine. Those cranes are BIG. Now we know where NYK will move in, where some nifty yachts are being built, and where the port would like to see a couple more overpasses (on Lincoln Avenue and Taylor Way). Farrell was particularly proud of a new wetland the Port is creating next to the existing Gog-le-hi-te wetland near the Puyallup River. But the big news of the day was Farrell confirming that he'll become a first-time father sometime around May 1. Mom is Jessyn Farrell, director of the Transportation Choices environmental group based in Seattle. I met Jessyn F. last year not long after she moved to Tacoma. As you might expect, she doesn't drive to work. In fact, Tim F. sold his North End home so the couple could live closer to convenient bus routes. It's not Carville-Matalin, but the Farrells are a bit of political odd couple. Last year, Transportation Choices fought inclusion of the Cross Base Highway in the roads portion of Proposition 1 (which failed anyway). The highway was a top priority of RAMP, a Pierce County transportation coalition; Tim Farrell is one of its three co-chairmen.
Categories: Taking notice
Friday, January 25th, 2008
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 04:40:06 pm
These e-mail exchanges can be fun. Read Dave Seago's item just below before reading this. I kind of like being called a troll. Reader:
Me:
Reader:
Categories: How we work
Posted by David Seago @ 01:02:36 pm
An online reader (I presume, since his email address suggests he hails from California) didn't care for today's editorial on Bill Clinton's aggressive attacks on Barack Obama.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 11:01:40 am
Editorial hotsheet For weekend, Sat, Sun and Monday. Saturday: Sunday: The Pierce County Council will take up the proposed revisions of ethics rules again on Tuesday. Roger Bush has a striker amendment that would make them toothless. Pass a real ethics code. The main question about the national economic stimulus package is how soon it can be put in place. The faster the better. Monday: The Pierce County Council’s bid to regain authority to restrict where sex offenders can live may be doomed in Olympia. State Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, says it’s not that simple. We're getting new information on this issue and may table it for further discussion.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 09:15:04 am
The New York Times editorial page today endorsed Hillary Clinton and John McCain in the state’s presidential primaries. But the juiciest part of the McCain endorsement is what the Times had to say about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The Times didn't pull any punches:
Categories: Taking notice
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 09:26:07 am
Pierce County is a far more logical owner of the Narrows Airport than the City of Tacoma. Bill Clinton is lowering himself by becoming the chief mudslinger for his wife's presidential campaign. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by David Seago @ 05:14:53 am
An unhappy reader in Fircrest emailed to complain that Sunday's lineup of syndicated columns from David Broder, David Brooks and Kathleen Parker, along with an oped piece by former Republican U.S. Sen. Jack Kemp, tilted too far to the right. My response:
Reader's response:
Categories: How we work
• 1 comment
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 07:40:31 pm
I'm all for mentoring, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters does great work. But couldn't the congressional communications machine be a little more discriminating?
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 01:19:20 pm
A couple of Hillary Clinton signs have appeared on the North End arterial that I watch for possible (and possibly meaningless) campaign trends. I noted earlier that a forest of signs appeared before November's election on the broad median of North 21st Street between Stevens and Proctor streets in Tacoma. After the election, only Calvin Goings for county executive signs were left. Then those mysteriously disappeared, and a few Obama signs cropped up. Now there are two Clinton signs to Obama's four, if I counted right. What does that portend? You tell me. The presidential caucuses are Feb. 9. The state's presidential primary is Feb. 19. Good info, including a FAQ, on the caucuses is available on the Pierce County auditor's website at this page.
Categories: Taking notice
• 2 comments
Posted by David Seago @ 11:45:24 am
Our friends over on the Politcal Buzz blog have already noted state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen's proposal to put Sound Transit in charge of regional road projects as well as regional transit. More details and reaction emerge in this Seattle P-I news story today. Haugen is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Her bill, SB 6772, would reduce Sound Transit's board from 18 members to 12, with seven elected by voters. Another Haugen bill, SB 6771, would eliminate the Regional Transportation Investment District that Pierce County Councilman Shawn Bunney chaired last year. The RTID, which devised the roads portion of November's unsuccessful roads-and-transit measure, is moribund anyway. But Haugen wants to allow some regions to form some transportation entities, which might leave room for Pierce County to form some kind of transportation district either by itself or with Thurston or Kitsap counties – an approach that has gained some support among county leaders. Reality check: House Transportation Chairwomanb Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, doubts Haugen's bills will get through the Legislature in this year's short session. Our editorial stance on regional transportation governance is not yet well-defined; we have a kind of wait-and-see attitude. But we are concerned that any regional governance proposal not give King County interests the ability to run roughshod over Pierce County interests. Parochial? Guilty as charged!
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 09:50:02 am
1. The Federal Reserve’s breathtakingly dramatic interest-rate cut Tuesday, likely to be followed by another rate cut next week, was meant to shore up the financial markets. But it also all but confirms fears that the nation is headed into a deep recession and uncharted economic waters. 2. We reverse-publish a Patrick O. blog item as an editorial criticizing Democratic presidential candidates for pandering to anti-Yucca Mountain sentiment in Nevada. Nuclear power is part of the solution to climate change, and the nation needs a place to safely store nuclear waste. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:50:25 am
Every time a presidential candidate stumps through Nevada, it seems, this state gets further from a solution for Hanford's radioactive waste.
Categories: Editorial cartoons
Posted by David Seago @ 05:02:21 am
This looks like an off-year for school levy requests. Federal Way, Yelm and Carbonado are taking four-year "replacement levies" to the voters on Feb. 19. Clover Park plans to do the same on March 11. The only other local measure on Feb. 19 that I'm aware of is Valley Regional Fire Authority's construction bond issue. Most of the district is in the Auburn area, but part of it extends south into Pierce County. Federal Way School District Superintendent Tom Murphy visited Monday to outline his district's proposal, which will be the first to face the new simple-majority requirement state voters approved in November. Previously, school levies required 60 percent approval to pass. Federal Way's 2003 levy measure passed with a 63 percent yes vote. But Murphy said he's a little nervous about the measure being on the same ballot with a state presidential primary that will attract more voters than usual. Tidbit: The district's web site offers information in Russian, Spanish and Korean as well as English. Find Pierce County voter pamphlet info on the Yelm, Carbonado and Valley Regional Fire Authority measures here.
Categories: Taking notice
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 06:49:58 pm
Why make enemies in an election year? It might be different if Gov. Chris Gregoire felt she was home free in November, but all signs point to a competitive rematch with Republican Dino Rossi. Rossi lost to Gregoire in 2004 by the narrowest margin in state history. Which is why Democratic leaders in Olympia have quietly shelved so-called “labor neutrality” legislation this year. Business leaders strongly oppose several proposals that would forbid employers to require workers to hear company arguments against union organizing. One bill backed by the Washington State Labor Council takes aim at Boeing, saying that any company benefiting from aerospace-indusry tax incentives must agree to stay neutral on union organizing efforts. Defeating such measures was one of this year’s top priorities for the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable, which represents the state’s largest employers. All sides are expecting the fight to be renewed next year, however.
Categories: Taking notice
Posted by David Seago @ 05:23:16 pm
If you have a serious addiction to Internet poker, or perhaps just an inordinate fondness for it, Lee Rousso is your candidate for governor of Washington. Rousso, a Renton attorney who says he’s state director for the national Poker Players Alliance, is running as a Democrat in hopes of undoing the state’s ban on Internet poker. Gov. Chris Gregoine signed a bill in 2006 making it a Class C felony. Under this law, Rousso says,
Rousso filed a lawsuit last year challenging the Internet poker ban as unconstitutional. See an account of his legal fight here. He’s also representing three men who were extradited from Washington to face Internet gambling charges in Louisiana. He blames Gregoire for signing the extradtion papers.
Rousso urges Republicans favoring Dino Rossi to vote for Rousso in the August primary. With Gregoire out of the way, Rossi would be home free, Rousso claims.
Categories: Taking notice
• 1 comment
Posted by David Seago @ 02:50:19 pm
State officials should revoke a $1.1 million grant to Citizens for Responsible Justice to house released inmates in Tacoma’s Hilltop district. Kathleen Merryman’s Saturday column detailed a lot of things wrong with the group’s bid -- including a misleading grant application. Shame on Tacoma School District administrators for not following up on safety improvements that were supposed to be made after one student shot and killed another at Foss High School last year. About our editorials:
Categories: What's coming
• 3 comments
Posted by David Seago @ 01:41:03 pm
I can tell you one way that David Dicks is not a chip off the old block – in this case, his dad, Norm Dicks, the Sixth District's Democratic congressman for life: You can get a word in when you meet with David Dicks. Dicks the younger visited the ed board today in his role as executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership. Unlike his old man, he actually stopped for a breath now and then and gave us a chance to ask questions. Dicks is making the rounds to introduce himself and the work of the partnership, the organization created by the governor and the Legislature to devise an action plan for restoring Puget Sound. The plan is due Sept. 1. Dicks, previously an environmental lawyer in Seattle, said that besides developing an action plan – "emphasis on action," he said – the partnership needs to find a way to convince the public that Puget Sound needs help – without exaggerating the threat. According to surveys, he said, "97 percent of the public says saving the Sound is critical, but 73 percent don't know it's in trouble." Next month the partnership will release its first major work product, a scientific risk assessment that will help partnership leaders decide priorities for action. Former EPA director Bill Ruckelshaus chairs the partnership's Leadership Council. Dicks himself is a member of the governor's cabinet.
Categories: Who's visiting, Taking notice
Monday, January 21st, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 05:45:30 am
Thanks to Bill Casper, unsuccessful Tacoma Port Commission candidate in November, for tipping me to this news report.
Did you just go "hmm," like I did? The ports of Tacoma and Seattle had conniptions last year when a key legislator proposed a tax on containers to help pay for highway projects that would improve "freight mobility." The proposal didn't go anywhere. Port officials argued the tax would disadvantage them in competing with the California ports. Like I said .... hmm.
Categories: Taking notice
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
Posted by David Seago @ 05:13:13 am
Pennsylvania may become the latest state to adopt a WASL-style test for high school graduation. Pennsylvania’s state Board of Education voted unanimously last week to require students pass a series of state exams to graduate, beginning in 2014. Twenty-two states already have similar requirements. Three more will have them by 2012. This spring is the first time Washington high school students must pass the reading and writing portions of the WASL or alternative requirements. But not if some of Washington's legislators can help it. Check out our editorial today criticizing legislators who claim delaying WASL requirements would be a favor to low-achieving minority students. Can you believe it? And one of them is Pierce County's Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, a co-sponsor of SB 6540. Rasmussen's anti-WASL stance is further proof she has outlived her usefulness in the Legislature.
Categories: Taking notice
• 2 comments
Saturday, January 19th, 2008 |
