Depressed, laid off, drunk and want a cigarette? Unless you can bum one off a friendly big spender, you'll pay dearly for it, thanks to a state sin tax increase that went into effect today. In Washington, each pack of smokes now carries a $3.035 tax. Perhaps it's time to pick a different, cheaper vice, such as womanizing or watching reality television. more ›

(via Publicola, who stick their noses into politics so we don't have to) more ›

The internet is indeed alluring and the source of many pleasures, and locals just can't keep their hands off her. This morning, we learn that Washington state legislators are ga-ga for Facebook (late pass! but welcome) and that Mars Hill Church has given worshippers the go-ahead to tweet during services (...ugh). Careful, guys: the world wide web is a cruel mistress. Forgive the Napoleon Dynamite reference, it was unavoidable. more ›

Their kids scored big fat zeros on the Washington Alternative Assessment System (WAAS) last year, and this year parents asked Green Lake Elementary special ed teachers Lenora Stahl and Juli Griffith not to put their children through an ordeal they say has unreasonable and inappropriate standards for students with special needs. more ›

When the inevitable anti-tunnel initiative was filed, Governor Gregoire said she'd be disappointed if there was a delay. (A delay? Dealing with the viaduct? Pshaw.) The governor is in a hurry to disburse that estimated $2.8 billion, conjured up for a design that's said to be one percent complete. (Here we pause to admire the precision of knowing what one percent of a plan looks like.) more ›

So that's what the deal is with parking on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Census Bureau just released some new number (a 5 and four 9s...hey-o!) and Washington's population has grown to 6,549,224, which is an eleven percent increase since 2000. California is still the most populous state, with 36.7 million sunny dispositions. Almost three million people moved to California since 2000. That's like half of Washington, which is funny because it seems like half of Washington is ex-Californians these days. We officially forget where we were going with this. more ›

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