Features

Theft, Violations of the Opens Meeting Act, and Accountability Issues Highlight This Week’s Audits

Posted July 17th, 2012 by The 9th Order , 0 Comments

The State Auditor’s Office released sixteen more audits this week and four entities were found to have significant problems. The Winlock School District No. 232 lacked adequate controls over enrollment reporting in its Alternative Learning Experience program.

Democratic Governor’s Association Dumps $1 Million Into Independent Inslee Campaign – McKenna Retakes Lead in Official Fund-Raising Race

Posted July 17th, 2012 by Erik Smith , Washington State Wire , 1 Comment

Last month the independent Inslee campaign ordered up $3.2 million in ads, but where the money was coming from, nobody knew. Now the mystery is half-solved. Meawhile McKenna’s official campaign retakes the lead.

Curious Campaign Charge a Matter of Thin Air – But Dems Riffed for a Week

Posted July 15th, 2012 by Erik Smith , Washington State Wire , 6 Comments

The strangest flap yet in this year’s campaign for governor evaporated into thin air Friday when tapes surfaced of an appearance Republican Rob McKenna made Monday in Yakima. For the last week, Democrats have been in a frenzy about a story that appeared in the Yakima Herald-Republic, accusing McKenna of flip-flopping on health care, lying, and worst of all, blaming the press. But the recordings show the newspaper got the story wrong,

Washington State Must Do What Washington, D.C. Refuses To Do

Posted July 12th, 2012 by Rob McKenna , Special to Washington State Wire , 10 Comments

In this op-ed piece, attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna offers his view of the state’s role in implementing the Affordable Care Act. Unlike some in his party, McKenna argues that the law is something the state needs to work with and shape, so that Washington might achieve the goal the feds didn’t – containing health care costs.

Latest State

Hanford’s Porous Deadlines

Shame on the Feds for Missing Another Deadline

By Editorial | Seattle Times
Bridge Still Functionally Obsolete

Skagit River Bridge Will Still be Vulnerable to Catastrophic Failure, Even After Multi-Million Dollar Repair

By Jerry Cornfield | The (Everett) Herald
WSU Postpones Plan to Expand at Everett Community College

The (Everett) Herald

By Jerry Cornfield
Statewide Crackdown Catches Drivers on Phones

Law Enforcement Celebrates Big Boost in Ticketing as Law Turns Drivers Into Violators

By Mike Prager | The Spokesman-Review
Not Much Action on Pot From State’s Leaders in D.C.

Washington 10-Member Congressional Delegation Shows Little Support for Marijuana

By Kyung Song | Seattle Times
Budget Impasse Has State Workers Fretting

Could be Laid Off if Lawmakers Fail to Adopt Budget By July 1

By Brad Shannon | The Olympian
Online Sales Tax Might Help State, But it is Not a Simple Matter

Nobody is Defending Plan in Public, Which Tells You it is Serious

By Jordan Schrader | The News Tribune

Latest National/World

Putin Dashes G8 Hopes for Syria Breakthrough

Hopes that the G8 summit would set out a clear route map to end the bloody civil war in Syria have been dashed after Vladimir Putin, insisted he could not back a peace conference convened on the assumption that the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, would step down.

By Guardian
Obama’s Soft Totalitarianism: Europe Must Protect Itself from America

On Tuesday, the head of the largest and most all-encompassing surveillance system ever invented is coming for a visit. If Barack Obama is our friend, then we really don't need to be terribly worried about our enemies.

By Der Spiegel Op-Ed
AFL-CIO Wants Original Deal for H-1B Workers

By Politico | The AFL-CIO said they would fight to reinstate the original agreement on H-1B workers — a deal that was changed during the committee markup to placate Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and the high-tech community, much to the dismay of unions.
Report: Slowdown in Health Care Costs to Continue

PwC's report forecasts that direct medical care costs will increase by 6.5 percent next year, one percentage point lower than its previous projection.

By AP
To Get a Truce, Be Ready to Escalate

Retired General wesley Clark writes, "the American decision to give rebels lethal aid, though it might eventually contribute to the overthrow of Mr. Assad, opens an opportunity for concerted diplomacy to end the bloodshed."

By New York Times Op-Ed
University Programs That Train U.S. Teachers Get Mediocre Marks in First-Ever Ratings

Education secretaries in 21 states have endorsed the report, but some universities and education experts quickly assailed the review as incomplete and inaccurate.

By Washington Post
Autism Tied to Air Pollution, Brain-Wiring Disconnect in Studies

Researchers from Harvard University’s School of Public Health found that pregnant women exposed to high levels of diesel particulates or mercury were twice as likely to have an autistic child compared with peers in low-pollution areas.

By Bloomberg Business Week

Features

Theft, Violations of the Opens Meeting Act, and Accountability Issues Highlight This Week’s Audits

Democratic Governor’s Association Dumps $1 Million Into Independent Inslee Campaign – McKenna Retakes Lead in Official Fund-Raising Race

Curious Campaign Charge a Matter of Thin Air – But Dems Riffed for a Week

Washington State Must Do What Washington, D.C. Refuses To Do

Staggering Health Insurance Premiums Right Around the Corner, Predicts Premera Vice President

Health Care Argument has Barely Started, Says Attorney General Who Launched Nationwide Case

Roll-Your-Own Cigarette Case is Over for Good – and Most Likely, so is Industry

Oh, so Close! – McKenna Now Within $1,200 of Inslee in Fund-Raising Race

State Auditor Has a Good Week of Audits

Judge Throws Out Lawsuit Against McKenna – But it’s Probably Not the Last We’ve Heard of a Most Political Case