Results tagged “washington”

In fairness to the Seattle Times, whose stodginess makes us crazy at times, we want to quote the first bit of this unstodgy story on the state making it easier to change your gender on your driver's license: "It's hard to say for sure how many of the 80 or so transgender Washingtonians who change their driver's-license information each year might be terrorists. But just in case, the state was ready." We ran across that this morning, and had to read the whole thing. Go on, it's worth it.

The Washington state Department of Information Services has chosen Binghoo! to serve as the search engine for the state's website, says TechFlash. But the DIS spokesperson claims it wasn't about snuggling up to Microsoft: "the bottom line was to get the best search engine we can get." Seriously? What were your fucking metrics? Bing is almost two months old, and Google's search dominance is unquestioned. (We're fine with them picking Binghoo!, btw--just try to be proud of it.) We note that this is the same DIS that thinks access.wa.gov is a better URL than wa.gov. That "access" makes all the difference--it's...um..."accessier."

Washington bankruptcies are up just over 50 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to 2008, says the Seattle Times. 15,000 people and 87 businesses filed. On the other hand, says the Times editorial board, we've "turned a corner." The editorial board, just for reference, may be sniffing glue.

True Adolescents, besides being profanely hilarious, is a star-making vehicle for mumblecore's Mark Duplass. If you see one film about a Seattle indie rocker exiled to his aunt's place in Woodinville this year, this is the one. Along with a long-delayed coming-of-age story, director Craig Johnson delivers a love postcard to Washington living.

Just two hours after we got back from a day-trip to Bremerton and its beautiful waterfront, we got an email announcing that Bremerton's Westsound Bank was defunct. The Washington Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) took possession, "citing severe asset problems, significant losses and inadequate capital," brought in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the FDIC sold Westsound to Kitsap Bank of Port Orchard.

Washington may have sky-high sales tax, but the absence of any income tax has always been a consolation for citizens calculating just precisely how they could afford to live here. This morning, however, Democrat Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles re-introduced a bill that would change that by imposing a state income tax. (Check out Political Buzz' reporting on the bill, including a response from Kohl-Welles.) The proposed 1 percent tax would only affect those making more than $500,000 a year, so maybe the image of budget-traumatized, poor citizens eking out an existence is not the best to conjure. If you're making over $500,000 a year, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it: you can afford the 1 percent income tax, and we're terribly sorry if it requires you to liquidate one of your vacation homes or, god forbid, drive a car more than two years old.

The Seattle Times discusses how the planned Senate budget cuts "roll back much of the party's agenda." Publicola has four "angry press releases" on behalf of service workers, NARAL, low income housing, and childen's health. And Schmudget lays out the cuts in the areas of education and health, pointing out that some cuts are so deep, they effectively cut twice, by losing access to federal recovery funds.

The Midwest gets a bad rap, especially from natives of the relatively balmy Northwest states. We've always thought that's a little unfair; the colder, cheesier region isn't that bad. A person shouldn't, for instance, have to heavily drink her way through Wisconsin, like this 60-year-old Washington resident did while visiting the state. Not only is heavily drinking your way through Wisconsin a bad idea legally (she was caught seriously trashed behind the wheel not once, not twice, but three times), but you might also miss some of the many charms of the midwestern snowy winter while spending all of your energy simultaneously trying to stay in your lane and pouring yourself glasses of boxed wine. Focus, people. For everything there's a season, and a time for every purpose under the sun; there's a time for Washington and a time for Wisconsin. For that matter, there's a time for drinking and a time for driving. Don't flaunt the heavens' law by doing them at the same time.

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

We try to resist loading up on bad news first thing Monday morning, but let's just do this quickly and get it out of the way: Publicola records Sen. Maria Cantwell's fight to insert some accountability into the bailout of AIG and others (she was overruled, and now AIG is claiming it has to pay $165 million in bonuses with bailout money because it promised! Out of curiosity, who writes a bonus agreement that puts a company on the hook even with catastrophic losses?) And Schmudget tells us Washington unemployment is forecasted to top out at 10 percent next year. On the plus side, all those unemployed people won't have to negotiate the kind of new, transfer-ier bus system proposed by Seattle Transit Blog. So that's a tiny little win.

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.

Back in early February, we were reporting on the education reform bill HB 1410 and the debate about the merits of the reformation. Then we asked you to lobby up--pro or con--because lawmakers were listening. Today Publicola has the news that HB 1410 has been tabled and a new, even more vague idea for a notion of education reform has "sailed out of Rep. Haigh’s education appropriations committee." Just to point up the Titanic/deck chairs angle for those of you watching from home, neither of the two bills had a defined funding source, which you'd think would be an important place to start in a state facing an $8 billion deficit.

No, but seriously--this is good news. In February, all over Washington, dentists are offering free dental care to low-income children, including screenings, cleanings, X-rays and fillings (where possible), and referrals if things have gone further south than that. Because dental care is generally so expensive, it's the kind of thing that low-income parents have to skip when it comes to their kids' health. Washington Dentists Care (we know it might not seem like when they're coming at you with that drill, but they do) is sponsored by the WSDA, whom we applaud because your teeth have to last your whole life.

Here is a partial list of free care offered this month. Please call for an appointment:

Continue reading "Trust Us, You Don't Want Low-Income Gums, Kids"

Our state House of Representatives has passed HB 1906, known by its sexier title, the Economic Security Act of 2009. The bill will temporarily increase unemployment benefits by $45 a week, and jacks the minimum benefit from $129 per week to $155. Out of curiosity, who thinks they can get by on $620 per month? Fun fact courtesy of Chuck Taylor: a back of the envelope calculation puts Seattle's unemployment rate at 15 percent, double the state rate. We also agree that taxing UI benefits is cruel and unusual punishment.

Barack Obama has just been sworn in at the 44th President of the United States, if you're wondering why you're the only one in the office. For the snow boots-on-the-ground perspective, our sister site DCist has been live blogging the inauguration in the 27 degree weather. "It's not just about what they're wearing," the commentators on PBS observed a few moments ago, and it's true. Obama actually became president about 5 minutes before he took the oath. You know how the government is about getting things done on time. CHS spent the morning canvassing inauguration parties on our Capitol Hill and snapping photos. If you've got photos to share, drop 'em in our Seattlest Flickr pool.

A couple days ago, we received an email plea from the Washington Homebrewers Association to help get State Senate Bill 5060 (PDF), which eases some restrictions on homebrewing, passed. While homebrewing is perfectly legal, currently it is illegal under state law to transport or provide any homebrewed beer or wine outside the home of manufacture, except for competitions, in which no more than one gallon may be transported and provided free, and only to judges. Easing these restrictions helps pave the way for homebrewers to find a public and will help promote the local craft-brewing industry. Anyone interested in supporting (or opposing) said legislation can attend a public hearing before the the Commerce, Labor, and Consumer Protection Committee tomorrow in Olympia, currently scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Check here for details.

We were just...okay, goofing off best describes it...visiting this mountain and river webcam site when we came across this view from Hurricane Ridge. Hard to believe it's from a webcam. Gorgeous.

Yesterday the University of Washington introduced their new defensive coordinator/assistant coach former USC coordinator Nick Holt.

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.

King County Executive Ron Sims has been discouraged by Washington state Dems leader Dwight Pelz and others from seeking yet another term in 2009. According to the scoop in the Seattle Times, "Critics have pointed to an ongoing budget crisis and management problems with the county jail and animal shelters as evidence of Sims' shortcomings." Who knows if Sims will take Pelz's advice, however; the decision might even be made for him if he gets the federal appointment from the Obama administration that people have been whispering about.

How did this sneak up on us? The 2008 Winter Beer Festival starts today at 5 p.m. and goes 'til 10. Then it starts up again tomorrow from 1-10 p.m. 30 Washington breweries present their winter goods (here's the list) for your inspection; your admission includes a tasting cup and six 5-oz. beer samples.

You've all heard about the presidency, yes? We're also getting a new puppy!

Idly we wondered, "Move on up where?" as we listened to Velella Velella shake the Sunset Tavern into percussed splinters of funk. But it seemed better not to ask questions. Velella Velella (named for a jellyfish) are Andrew Means, Michael Burton, Jeremy Hadley, Bethany Petersen, and Johanna Kunin, and we'd been meaning to check them out ever since we ran into Andrew at a party and he knew what Zork was. "Gonna move on up," the chant from "Do Not Fold / Do Not Bend," could be a band mantra. Up tempo, upbeat, they took us up where we belong--their enthusiasm is as infectious as the Santa's sack of hooks they're carrying around. They have a whole two albums out now: their Flight Cub EP and Bay of Biscay LP, but they played until they were short on material. The encore was just one song. Imagine a crowd of white Seattle hipsters wanting more dancetime. It could have gotten ugly, but Velella Velella is not about ugly--they are about a profusion of happy non sequiturs and a rock flute and a bunch of piledriving beats on an recalcitrant iPod. (Andrew was fiddling with it, Jeremy said, "iPods! What are ya gonna do?" and either new member Bethany or new member Johanna piped up with, "Buy a Zune!") If you're into it, you can jump down the rabbit hole of musical sources and influences (Curtis Mayfield, DJ Shadow, Timbaland), but the band's appeal is equally the five live people beaming with sweaty pleasure and the keyboards, bass lines, and that classic Fender sound, all producing a (mostly) irony-free, joy-filled groove that you're an equally sweaty party to. Crazy kids.

While we were in Iceland last week, we had the thrill of paying $7.50/gal for diesel, which means a half tank for our Land Cruiser rental pegged the needle at $75. That helps us keep this news from AAA in perspective: the average price of a gallon of gas in Washington is $3.13. It's dropped 63 cents the past month, thanks in part to people not buying the stuff because it costs too much. But Sightline's Clark Williams-Derry has just put up a post talking about how this volatility in price isn't helping us set a firm course away from oil addiction.

Money may be tight, but Washington grew two million more boxes of apples this year than growers expected! The surplus is in Golden Delicious and Gala apples. To celebrate, we recommend you bake an apple pie. You may also want to sing a few rounds of this lusty ode to 'apples' by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Favorite apple recipes? Stick 'em in the comments. We like tart apples (anything but green apples, which seem to make our throats swell up) sliced thin and dipped in peanut butter.

Governor Christine Gregoire has admitted Washington is facing a budget deficit for 2009-11 (currently the state has a surplus), after third-party "GOP" candidate (He's what now? A Republican?) Dino Rossi staked out the issue. Now that she's announced cutbacks and a raid on the state's rainy day fund to cut the projected $3.2 billion deficit by half, Rossi can't find anything good to say about that, either. It is thrilling to hear a Republican deride reckless deficit spending; Ronald Reagan was all for it. But besides his time machine which transports tomorrow's deficits to today, Rossi seems to have a magic calculator, too--his 8-lane 520 bridge practically pays for itself.

The Seattle Times--almost coming right out and saying something without regard for nuance and subtlety--has decided to set the facts straight about that Washington state deficit the Dino-Rossi-for-Gov ads are whacking Gov Gregoire over the head with. "The ads assert the state has a deficit. [...] The ad is inaccurate for this reason: The state is facing a projected $3.2 billion budget hole next year, but it does not have a deficit today." In fact, for this fiscal year we've got a surplus. We have to hand it to Rossi though: A major ad campaign tarring someone for how they've handled the future is an example of bold leadership.

No really. It's true. According to the League of American Bikes (via the Cascade Bicycle Alliance in our case), Washington is the most bicycle friendly state in the union. According to the LAB, "Washington’s model bike laws, signed and mapped statewide bike route network, dedicated funding from the state for bicycle related programs and projects, and an active statewide bicycle advisory committee" are reasons that the state earned top honors above Wisconsin, Arizona, Oregon (numbers two, three and four respectively) and all the others.

This test seemed so all-fired important at one point in our life. SATs: outdated? Insensitive to the strong creative potential of our students' delicate, possibly-bad-at-testing souls? A great idea? Regardless, way to go, Washington state seniors! You rocked that test.