Attorney General Rob McKenna, the presumptive Republican front-runner in the race for Washington state governor, was still not officially in the race as of noon Wednesday on the first week to file for state offices. He is expected to do so any day now, however. Former U.S. Rep, Jay Inslee, his likely Democratic opponent,...
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A one-day visit to Washington state has turned out to be a taxing experience – literally — for a California  businessman whose case could either open the door to a whole new revenue stream or, more likely, scare off would-be vendors in droves. According to the state’s Department of Revenue, Pete Vegas owes it...
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  Washington State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown (D-Spokane), following a spring that saw her party lose a bruising floor fight during which minority Republicans joined with a handful of Democratic defectors to defeat her preferred budget, has decided not to seek re-election this fall. Brown, 55, announced on Thursday that after 20 years...
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The latest name being bandied about as a potential running mate for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney won’t be immediately familiar to as many households nationwide as she is in her home state of Washington. Then again, no one had heard of Sarah Palin four years ago,  either. According to the current issue of...
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  Washington’s 135 public airports are continuing to help local economies take flight, generating thousands of jobs and millions of dollars for cities and counties throughout the state. The findings are just a few of the highlights from the recently-released 2012 Aviation Economic Impact Study, conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Aviation...
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The Washington State Health Care Authority is working with the Washington State Hospital Association and physicians on a legislative mandate to reduce non-emergency use of hospital Emergency Departments as well as over-utilization of emergency services beginning July 1. The new plan – included in the Supplemental Budget passed April 11 by the Legislature – replaces earlier...
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The Washington State Department of Ecology’s newly released climate change strategy, according to at least one outspoken critic, amounts to little more than a thinly veiled attempt to hinder development at a time when the state needs to be doing everything possible to promote private-sector business and jobs. “This is yet another obstacle in...
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A panel of nationally recognized healthcare experts on Thursday night unanimously declined to offer a prediction on whether the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Obamacare. But they had no such reservations about predicting dire consequences for the nation if it doesn’t. “Unlike every lawmaker I’ve ever met, I’ve actually read the entire bill,” said...
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Business people who also dabble in social activism were granted legal cover during the just-concluded Washington state legislative session in the form of a bill that would protect “social-purpose corporations” from lawsuits filed by investors more concerned with making money than advancing a personal agenda. And vice versa. Passed by both houses of the...
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  “We’re in nothing less than a battle for the future of our nation,” Shelton business owner Pat Tarzwell told a raucous crowd gathered on the steps of the Capitol Building in Olympia on Saturday. “And we have some serious catching up to do. Progressives have a 100-year headstart growing the size of government.”...
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