Capitol Buzz: October 29, 2014

www.houserepublicans.wa.gov

BUDGET & TAXES

• Boise, Broetje top property tax payers in county (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• COLUMN: Inslee climate plans: Heavy winds ahead (John Stang/Crosscut)
• EDITORIAL: Parks key to good communities (Everett Herald)

BUSINESS, LABOR & ECONOMY

• BLOG: Asian market grows as two more airlines commit to buy Boeing planes (Sarah Aitchison/Puget Sound Business Journal)
• BLOG: Seattle is No. 8 in U.S. for job growth, Washington state is ninth (Ben Miller/Puget Sound Business Journal)
• OPINION: Delta, Alaska rivalry could mean big boost for Boeing (Don Brunell, Association of Washington Business/The Chronicle)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Tri-City women tell Murray paying for education, child care remain barriers (Tri-City Herald)

EDUCATION (K-12) & SCHOOL SAFETY

• Lawyers, justices debate charter school funding (AP/Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Does class size matter? Research reveals surprises (The Seattle Times)
• Future of charter schools rests with state Supreme Court (AP/The Seattle Times)
• 2 Tacoma students charged for ‘joke’ threats (AP/Seattle P-I)
• Poulsbo student arrested for threat (AP/The News Tribune)
• Two Franklin Pierce High School students arrested after allegedly making threats (The News Tribune)
• Classes resume Monday at Marysville high school (AP/The Bellingham Herald)
• Teachers’ attorney says investigative records should stay sealed (The Spokesman-Review)
• Student arrested after reported threat to North Kitsap High School (Kitsap Sun)
• Tulalip high school classes resume after unfounded threat (Everett Herald)
• Students, teachers search for routine even as new threats made (Everett Herald)
• Visiting Sandy Hook parents know Marysville’s grief (Everett Herald)
• Seahawks roll out red carpet for Marysville Pilchuck football team (Everett Herald)
• Help available for kids affected by shooting (Everett Herald)
• Longview School Board seeks more time to meet new state graduation standards (The Daily News)
• BLOG: North Kitsap student arrested for allegedly threatening to ‘shoot up’ school (Lisa Cowan/The Seattle Times)
• BLOG: Washington’s charter school law debated in front of the state Supreme Court (Christina Salerno/TVW)
• COLUMN: Marysville-Pilchuck High shootings hit too close to home (Patrick O’Callahan, editor/The News Tribune)
• EDITORIAL: Selfless acts by high school athletes inspiring (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Already, some second-guess Marysville first-responders (Everett Herald)
• Fire official defends choice of Everett hospital for shooting victims (The Seattle Times)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Researchers turning wood waste into energy, agricultural resource (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Oil train wreck would be challenge, Spokane deputy fire chief testifies (The Spokesman-Review)
• OPINION: Debate climate policies without undue influence from people like Tom Steyer (Former Secretary of State Sam Reed/The Seattle Times)

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

• Navy asks to meet with EPA about Gorst dump cleanup (Kitsap Sun)

GUN RIGHTS

• Court of appeals sends gun club case back to trial court (Kitsap Sun)
• COLUMN: Adults should be charged if kid gets gun, like they do in Texas (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)

HANFORD

• Hanford ‘work for materials’ deal saves money (Tri-City Herald)

HEALTH CARE

• Washington Health Alliance: Insurers should be required to release cost data (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Mental health facility proposed at old hospital campus (Skagit Valley Herald)
• OPINION: Look for changes to Medicare enrollment (Jeff Underwood, United HealthCare and Medicare Retirement/Everett Herald)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• New CWU Medical Clinic director applies health model to campus (Daily Record)
• Pierce College worker fired for too much online browsing (AP/The Seattle Times)
• BLOG: Washington colleges take aim at preventing sexual assaults (Katherine Long/The Seattle Times)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Port commission approves open meetings defense costs (The News Tribune)
• After public input, Bellingham City Council could change rental registration plan (The Bellingham Herald)
• Yakima drops portion of redistricting proposal (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Wenatchee moving toward fireworks ban (The Wenatchee World)
• Former Port Orchard councilman Warren Van Zee left a legacy of service (Kitsap Sun)

MARIJUANA

• Will Oregon and Alaska be next wave of states to legalize pot? (Oregonian)

MEDIA

• Othello newspaperman named Columbia Basin Herald publisher (Columbia Basin Herald)
• FBI confirms it used fake story, denies bogus Times Web link (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle FBI admits to faking news report to drop spyware on teen’s computer (Seattle P-I)
• BLOG: Seattle Times: FBI crossed the line when it created fake news story (Rachel Lerman/Puget Sound Business Journal)
• EDITORIAL: FBI exploited press credibility in bomb ruse (The Seattle Times)

POLITICS

BALLOT MEASURES

• BLOG: Gun rights equal to gay rights? ‘No on I-594? fliers try to appeal to Seattle voters (Joe O’Sullivan/The Seattle Times)
• BLOG: A 2-to-1 statewide lead for Initiative 594 in KCTS-9 Washington Poll (Joel Connelly/Seattle P-I)

ELECTIONS

• Election 2014: Guns, buses, kids and control of Olympia (Crosscut)
• OPINION: Election on pace for historically low turnout (Walt Washington, Kitsap County Auditor/Kitsap Sun)
• OPINION: State’s ‘politically engaged’ voters might break it off (Jim Camden/The Columbian)

LEGISLATURE

• In this election, it’s Republicans decrying ‘dark money’ (The News Tribune)
• Longtime Rep. Haler sees challenge from CBC student (Tri-City Herald)
• Sen. Sheldon says group violates campaign finance rules (AP/The Spokesman-Review)
• Senate Republicans call for formal investigations into mailers targeting Sen. Sheldon (Washington State Wire)
• Sheldon says ads purporting to support him are dishonest (Kitsap Sun)
• BLOG: GOP cries foul over mailers targeting state Sen. Andy Hill (Joe O’Sullivan/The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: In politics, tracking foes, allies proves troubling (The Spokesman-Review)

LOCAL

• Blaine’s $45M school bond has no money for school sought by Birch Bay residents (The Bellingham Herald)
• Prop. 1A mailer asserts rival pre-K measure leaves out low-income (The Seattle Times)
• Prop. 1B campaign overstates extent of preschool funding (The Seattle Times)

NATIONAL

• Lobbyists, bearing gifts, pursue state attorneys general (The New York Times/Crosscut)

STATE GOVERNMENT 

• State holding open house on design plans newest addition proposed for the Capitol Campus (The Olympian)

TRANSPORTATION

• Blaine seeks federal help for delays at railroad crossings (The Bellingham Herald)
• Columbia River bridge at Astoria painting, repair to take until 2021 (AP/Oregonian)
• Kitsap, region band together for transportation (Kitsap Sun)
• Astoria bridge restoration work to take until 2021 (AP/The Seattle Times)
• State traffic forecast predicts long-term decline in travel miles (The Columbian/The Seattle Times)
• BLOG: Archaeologists start shell study at Highway 99 tunnel site (Mike Lindblom/The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: Being stuck in traffic costs us more than time (Richard S. Davis, Washington Research Council/The News Tribune)
• COLUMN: Bertha may have dodged a big bullet on dig material (Knute Berger/Crosscut)
• EDITORIAL: Travel transformed (The Columbian)

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Washington State House Republican Communications
461 John L. O’Brien Building
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-5758