The 2013 regular session adjourned April 28. A special session began May 13 - budget writers and caucus leadership are negotiating an agreement before other members are called back to Olympia to vote on a final budget.
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AGRICULTURE
BUDGET & TAXES
- Big budget cuts were avoided; some still will experience pain (The Olympian)
- Fewer students mean less state money for schools (AP/Everett Herald)
- BLOG: Gregoire to sign construction budget (Jerry Cornfield/Everett Herald)
- OPINIION: Reserve state’s capital budget for major projects, not for ‘job stimulation’ (Rep. Judy Warnick/ Seattle Times)
BUSINESS, INDUSTRY & ECONOMY
- A ‘muddle-through economy’ foreseen by Washington state economist (The Columbian)
- State to announce sale of 167 WA liquor stores (AP/The Daily News)
- Late bid frenzy drives up Lacey liquor store cost (The Olympian)
- Peninsula homebuilding shows signs of awakening from stunning 2011 slump (Peninsula Daily News)
- Providence loses $4.3 million in first quarter (Everett Herald)
- 1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed (AP/Everett Herald)
- BLOG: Crowdfunding 101 for small businesses (Chuck Taylor/Everett Herald)
- COLUMN: Puget Sound area still in search of 3rd economic cluster (Jon Talton/Seattle Times)
- OPINION: T-Mobile should take the high road (David Freiboth/Seattle Times)
- EDITORIAL: Stranded on a Plateau (The Columbian)
COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT
- ‘Barefoot Bandit’ in solitary at Wash. prison (AP/Yakima Herald-Republic)
- Benton-Franklin judge asks a question about immigration in pursuit of justice (Tri-City Herald/Yakima Herald-Republic)
- Oregon sues BP to recover $19 million in investment losses (Oregonian)
- ACLU concerned about Seattle police aerial drones (AP/Everett Herald)
- No one hurt in 2 rolling shootouts in Seattle (AP/Kitsap Sun)
- Patient slain in room at Western State Hospital (The News Tribune)
- Eye-in-sky SPD drones stir privacy concerns (Seattle Times)
- OPINION: It’s time for an open discussion on racism (James Winkenwerder, Yakima Democratic Party/Yakima Herald-Republic)
DAMS
EDUCATION (K-12) & SCHOOL SAFETY
- Fewer students mean less state money for schools (AP/The News Tribune)
- Local districts receive energy-cost funds (The News Tribune)
- Sliding enrollment means schools to see dip in state money (Seattle Times)
ENERGY & UTILITIES
ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES
- Low standards for water put fish eaters at heightened risk (Spokesman-Review)
- Greenpeace lauds Quincy as ‘green’ data center site (Columbia Basin Herald)
- Officials formulating plan for dealing with tsunami debris (Peninsula Daily News)
- OPINION: Climate change is mankind’s greatest threat (Josh Johnson/The Daily News)
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
- Herr
era Beutler Medicare flier’s claims challenged (The Daily News) - COLUMN: Government institutions, falling down (Ted Van Dyk/Crosscut)
GAY RIGHTS
- BLOG: Gay marriage supporters: A vote is coming (Joel Connelly/Seattle P-I)
- BLOG: How gay marriage fared in elections elsewhere (Jerry Cornfield/Everett Herald)
HEALTH CARE
- Oregon universities overhaul health insurance and some students win, some lose, some pay five times more (Oregonian)
- Life expectancy falling in some U.S. counties; gains holding in Oregon and Washington (Oregonian)
- BLOG: Doctors, state reach accord on ER, Medicaid payments (Jordan Schrader/The Olympian)
- OPINION: How to finance health care? With a tax on unhealthy foods (Doug Matthews/Oregonian)
- EDITORIAL: Expand the experiment with competitive bids to cut Medicare costs (Seattle Times)
HIGHER EDUCATION
- CBC, WSU boards prepare for tuition talks (Tri-City Herald)
- For colleges, rape cases a legal minefield (AP/Seattle Times)
IMMIGRATION
- States await Supreme Court hearing on Arizona immigration law (New York Times/Crosscut)
- OPINION: Arizona’s immigration law: Supreme Court should uphold controversial SB1070 (Richard F. LaMountain, Oregonians for Immigration Reform/Oregonian)
LEGISLATURE
- Two students serve as pages in House (Yakima Herald-Republic)
- OPINION: Bipartisanship common in Olympia (Rep. Andy Billig/Spokesman-Review)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- New sports-arena plan called threat to $3B business (Seattle Times)
- EDITORIAL: Idea was an overreach (The Olympian)
- EDITORIAL: Give tax amnesty a chance (The Olympian)
MARIJUANA
- Cracks in Oregon’s medical marijuana law are filled with weed (Oregonian)
- Yakima Jail nurse arrested in marijuana case (AP/Kitsap Sun)
MEDIA
OPEN GOVERNMENT
POLITICS
BALLOT MEASURES
- Many parishes collecting signatures for Referendum 74 (The News Tribune)
- Business Groups Lining Up Behind Eyman’s New Anti-Tax Initiative (Washington State Wire)
ELECTIONS
- COLUMN: Politics and baseball follow unwritten rules – usually (Peter Callaghan/The News Tribune)
- EDITORIAL: Stupendous Stubbornness (The Columbian)
- EDITORIAL: Democracy has suffered under top two primary (The News Tribune)
LEGISLATURE
- Probst running for state Senate (The Columbian)
- 11th District Dem candidate settled guest-visa dispute (Seattle Times)
STATE
- Candidate for state auditor says transparency vital (Tri-City Herald)
- State coffers won’t require new revenue, Inslee says (AP/The Olympian)
- Cantwell opponent repeats myths, overstates case on health law (Seattle Times)
- Does Washington State Need a Strategic Plan? (Washington State Wire)
- BLOG: ‘I’m not politicizing, my opponent is’ (Jim Camden/Spokesma-Review)
REDISTRICTING
- All Whatcom County voters to receive new voter ID cards (Bellingham Herald)
- BLOG: Redistricting: Voter ID cards to show new 10th district (Brad Shannon/The Olympian)
SEX OFFENDERS
TRANSPORTATION
- Move by Transportation a good sign for projects (The News Tribune)
- Kingston-Seattle foot ferry costs public $35,000 for each rider (Seattle Times)
- I
-5 to stay rough through Lynnwood a bit longer (Everett Herald) - Groundbreaking for new Seattle streetcar line (AP/Kitsap Sun)
- BLOG: Adding another I-5 exit lane would be cost prohibitive (Bill Sheets/Everett Herald)
- COLUMN: A desire named streetcar (Eric Scigliano/Crosscut)
TRIBES