The Legislature finally reached a deal on a new state budget last week. The good news is that it avoided a state shutdown. The bad news is that it took one regular and two special sessions – 150 days in all – to get what should have been reachable months ago.
All of our kids experience pain and trauma at some point in their life. Try to name a family that hasn’t gone through a difficult stretch – I can’t. Sometimes, though, life’s bumps and curves rise to a level that can cause lasting impacts on a child’s health and wellbeing, well into adulthood.
It’s hard to believe there are starving people in the world when Americans shop in well-stocked supermarkets and dine out at any of our 618,000 restaurants. But the U.N. estimates that nearly 870 million poor people in developing nations suffer from chronic malnutrition. Its children’s agency, UNICEF, reports that one of every 15 children in those countries will die before the age of five.
Since Chris Hansen and Co. made their plans known to secure an NBA franchise for Seattle and build a state-of-the-art arena in Sodo, the passion from Sonics fans has been inspiring. But recently, with the news Seattle is poised as a backup plan for the fledgling Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL, my own imagination started wandering.
We will celebrate our country’s independence next Thursday. All cities around here – Issaquah, Newcastle, Sammamish – ban setting off fireworks. You can still enjoy them, but leave them to the professionals.
After several years of review and discussion, the Issaquah City Council will soon vote whether to annex the Klahanie neighborhood into the city. It is clear that Issaquah stands to benefit from this policy decision, and this should not be overlooked.
State lawmakers have 231 million good reasons to agree on a new two-year state budget.
I’ve been here nine years, had many tough debates, some very emotional, made compromises, and with my Democratic and Republican colleagues always left at the end of session proud of the work we did together. Never has the specter of a government shutdown been a consideration. It does not have to be this way.
As a political moderate trying to create a budget that everyone hates the least, this entire legislative session has been about compromise. However, there is an area where I am not willing to compromise: our children’s education.
If you are a regular reader of mine, you may be getting sick of me talking about breast cancer, but humor me one more time.
Fingerprints are an essential tool in law enforcement. On Monday this week, the US Supreme Court gave law enforcement an even better tool to do its job: DNA samples.
There’s an old saying that oil and water don’t mix. That may be true, but apparently they coexist quite well.
On Memorial Day, let us remember and thank our fallen soldiers and those who are still in harms way so we may continue to enjoy the freedom that we now have. Have a safe Memorial Day weekend.
Monday is Memorial Day. It’s a day we should treasure, but too often we treat it as just another excuse for a three-day sale. It’s so much more than that.
According to the American Cancer Society, the chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is about one in eight. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about one in 36. I have found that it has become a big part of who I am now. It’s not something to be ashamed of. At first I blamed myself — what did I do to bring this on? What didn’t I do that I should have? There is no good answer, other than that cancer has its own agenda.
The Legislature began its special session on Monday after its regular session ended on April 28 after 105 days. We hope the two-week break will help lawmakers focus on the key issues left undone.
The Seattle May Day protest was benign. There was only some sign waving here and some chanting over there. Television reporters remained persistent, filling dead air with words like “violence” and “mobs.” In reality, viewers were treated to dramatic live coverage of nothing. However, the TV guys finally proved if you Wag the Dog long enough, it will bite back.
Under the Washington State constitution, providing an ample education for all students is identified as state government’s “paramount duty.” Last year, the state Supreme Court ruled that the legislature had failed to meet that duty by persistently underfunding our schools. This year, the legislature is responding.
The city of Issaquah’s Economic Vitality Commission, a group of citizens appointed by the mayor and serving an advisory role to the City Council, is “digging deep” to uncover our community’ unique economic positioning.
The move by King County and the Trust for Public Land to purchase 216 acres atop Squak Mountain is good news for everyone interested in preserving important forested land.