A team of experienced reporters keep you updated on what's happening in political arenas at the city, county, state and federal levels. From presidential campaign visits to who's running for city council, we've got it covered.
Contributors
Peter Callaghan is a local columnist. He’s covered the
statehouse and state politics since 1981. Before joining The News
Tribune in 1985, the Stadium High grad worked for newspapers in Everett
and Lewiston, Idaho, and for The Associated Press in Olympia and
Seattle. Email
Peter
Joe Turner has covered state government and transportation
issues since 1990. Since the Bellarmine grad’s arrival in the newsroom
in 1978, he’s covered police, suburban cities, Tacoma City Hall,
Federal Way City Hall and the Pierce and King county governments. Email Joe
David Wickert covers Pierce County government. Before coming to
The News Tribune in 1998, he covered local government for newspapers in
Illinois, Virginia and Tennessee. Email David
Ian Demsky is a general assignment reporter who specializes in
database-driven reporting. He's been at the News Tribune since 2007 and has
previously worked in Nashville, Tenn. and Portland, Ore. When he's not at
work, he enjoys hiking and science fiction. Email Ian
Les Blumenthal has been covering Washington, D.C. for The News
Tribune since 1990, focusing on issues and politicians involving the
state. Before joining The News Tribune, he spent 13 years working for
The Associated Press in Seattle, Illinois and Washington, D.C. Email Les
John Henrikson is a local news editor who oversees political coverage. He's worked as a journalist in the
Northwest for 19 years, supervising coverage and reporting on local and
state government, the environment and growth. Email John
• Adam Wilson (The Olympian)
• Politics Northwest (Seattle Times)
• Sound Politics
• Horse's Ass
• Richard Roesler's Eye on Olympia (Spokesman Review)
• P-I's Strange Bedfellows (Seattle PI)
• Crosscut
• Statewide School Employee Pay
• City of Tacoma Employee Pay
• Pierce County Employee Pay
• King County Employee Pay
• Metro Parks Employee Pay
• City of Lakewood Employee Pay
• City of Puyallup Employee Pay
• Pierce Transit Employee Pay
• How your lawmaker voted: WashingtonVotes.org
- All
- Attorney General (151)
- Auditor (44)
- Campaign news (1111)
- Congress (218)
- Education (79)
- Environment (23)
- Federal Government (22)
- Funny stuff (65)
- Governor (679)
- Health Care (6)
- Initiatives and Referenda (166)
- Insurance Commissioner (26)
- Journalism (34)
- King County (156)
- Lands Commissioner (41)
- Legislature (1133)
- Lobbying (34)
- Lt. Governor (36)
- Media (4)
- Open Government (43)
- Pierce County (581)
- President (481)
- Inauguration (25)
- Stimulus (16)
- Public Safety (47)
- Ruston (12)
- Schools Superintendent (69)
- Seattle (58)
- Secretary of State (90)
- State budget (399)
- State government (983)
- Suburbs (53)
- Supreme Court (43)
- Tacoma (450)
- Taxes (185)
- Transit (127)
- Transportation (126)
- Treasurer (31)
- Voting (274)
- Washington State Patrol (5)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| << < | Current | > >> | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
- September 2009 (6)
- August 2009 (105)
- July 2009 (74)
- June 2009 (138)
- May 2009 (164)
- April 2009 (273)
- March 2009 (202)
- February 2009 (148)
- January 2009 (182)
- December 2008 (158)
- November 2008 (240)
- October 2008 (175)
- More...
XML Feeds- MrSinister
- BobbyK
- artman77
- Guest Users: 432
Read this blog entry, then keep scrolling down to Dow Constantine's statement. Larry Phillips also is a King County Council member.
Contact: Larry Phillips 206-296-1004
Phillips: The time to expand mass transit is now
Phillips to vote in favor of putting Sound Transit’s regional transit
expansion plan on the 2008 ballotWith high gas prices and environmental concerns heightening the public’s desire for transit alternatives, Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Phillips, a member of the Sound Transit Board, will vote in favor of placing Sound Transit’s regional transit expansion plan on the November ballot.
King County Councilman Dow Constantine, who used to be state senator from West Seattle, says he going to vote tomorrow in favor of putting a multibillion-dollar proposition on the ballot in November. This will be the sequel to the failed $18 billion Proposition 1.
It's not clear from Constantine's news release, but it appears he will be voting for the 15-year plan, the one that will cost $14.6 billion in year of expenditure dollars and bring light-rail as far south as the northern boundary of Federal Way by 2023.
It would raise the sales tax by 0.5 percent in most of Pierce, King and Snohomish counties to pay for it.
It's no surprise that Constantine favors that plan. Except for a last-minute change that added Lynnwood in Snohomish County to the light-rail line by 2023, all the light-rail construction would be in Seattle or other parts of King County (to Bellevue and Redmond).
Pierce County would not get light rail unless voters approved a third tax package. And why would Seattle and King County vote to tax themselves to a third time to extend light rail to Tacoma? Well, as one staffer pointed out, they would vote "yes" because that third ballot measure in say, 2020 or so, most likely also would include funding to build a light rail line from West Seattle to downtown Seattle and then north to Ballard.
My questions are these:
1. Will light rail reach Tacoma by 2040?
2. Will light rail reach Tacoma before or after it reaches Ballard?
The Sound Transit board is meeting at 1 p.m. Friday at Union Station in Seattle.
Contact: Dow Constantine 206-296-1008
dow.constantine@kingcounty.govCouncilmember Dow Constantine’s statement on
Sound Transit voteMetropolitan King County Councilmember Dow Constantine, a member of the Sound Transit Board, released this statement on the vote the Board is scheduled to take on July 24 regarding the proposed Sound Transit 2 measure:
“I will vote tomorrow to offer residents across the three-county Puget Sound region a Sound Transit expansion package to create new bus service, commuter rail, and light rail. The debate over whether to place a funding proposal on this fall’s ballot—and over what projects will be included in that proposal—has been long and spirited. It has led to a package broadly supported by elected officials from Tacoma to Everett.
Our colleague, Associated Press reporter Curt P. Woodward (CP3.0), just came over to my office to show me the newest version of the "Bible" of journalism -- the 2008 Associated Press Style Book.
Just so you know, we actually give some thought to which words we use, especially when it comes to sensitive issues.
Woodward pointed out the "F-word" and "N-word" are new entries. (George Carlin was way, way, way, way, ahead of mainstream jounalism, God rest his soul.)
So is "Native American." AP style used to be "American Indian". AP has come a long way.
We at The News Tribune have some variations from AP style, mostly because we have our own local institutions and whatnot. For instance, did you know that the Pierce County Jail technically is the Pierce County Corrections and Detention Center? It is. But that's way too long for us.
Anyway, Initiative 1000 arrived too late on the scene to make it into the 2008 style book, so AP reporters (and the rest of us) are developing a style on the fly. "Assisted suicide" and "Death with Dignity" are both acceptable to us. AP prefers the former, much to the consternation of the I-1000 supporters.
