Recently our family joined more than 80 other citizens in attending “Livable Redmond,” an event held last month at City Hall.
Andy Wappler, former meteorologist for KIRO TV, now with Puget Sound Energy, gave a keynote speech, and then small groups gathered to discuss what a sustainable Redmond is or could be. The city defines sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Throughout these last few weeks of autumn, a debate has been raging over taxes at both the state and federal level.
State voters have rejected proposals to raise taxes to protect public services, and approved proposals to defund services. Republican lawmakers in the District of Columbia have forced President Obama to agree to extend all of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, which will cause our national deficit to go up again.
Every year, during the final weeks before January rolls around again, retailers and automakers go to great lengths to persuade us to buy as much stuff as our credit cards will possibly allow.
Demonstrating their frustration with the slow pace of the economic recovery, voters across Washington State and America unwittingly chose legislative gridlock on Tuesday by opting to punish the party currently in power and rewarding the party that caused the mess, guaranteeing both an ideological and a partisan showdown over the future direction of the country.
What do you call people who would spend $3.7 billion on an election?
For half of them, the word is “losers.”
According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, by the time that every dollar is spent and every check is cashed, estimates for the cost of the Nov. 2 contests will be more than $3.7 billion. And, yes, you read that right. That‘s $3.7 billion with a very big “B.”
The final hours of the 2010 midterms are upon us. As field teams rev up their get-out-the-vote efforts for their candidates, operatives working for both sides have taken the air war in Washington State to new lows, particularly in the Senate contest, which pits Patty Murray against Dino Rossi.
One of the most important decisions voters will make in November is whether or not to establish a state income tax.
Let’s say this simply: “Vote No.”
This autumn, Washington voters are facing what seems like a record number of initiatives. Five of these measures are almost exclusively funded by corporations and would damage our state’s quality of life. Here’s a guide to each and why you should vote no.
For many places in the United States, Election Day 2010 will begin and end on Nov. 2, the first Tuesday in the 11th month of the year.
Here, however, Election Month will begin in mid-October, when ballots are mailed out. That means that there isn’t much time left before we start voting. At stake are nine seats in the U.S. House, 98 in the state house, and about half of the state Senate’s 49 seats.
A major employer in our region is making big changes in its benefits package. Boeing’s non-union workers are going to pay more for their health insurance. And it’s likely that union workers won’t be far behind.
Readers who have paid any attention to cable news channels or political journals lately have probably noticed that the Republican Party is already declaring victory in the 2010 midterms, cajoling the media to report that they’ve seemingly won before a single vote has been cast. The reality is that this is a very volatile and unpredictable election year. If anything is certain, it’s that nothing is certain.
It is back to school time for the kids and school zone safety is a top priority for the Redmond Police Department. Drivers can expect to see officers enforcing school zone speed laws to promote school zone safety and encourage voluntary compliance.
Congratulations are in order to the Washington State Council of County and City Employees. Members of Council 2, who work for King County, have voted to forego a cost-of-living increase for 2011.
The union becomes the first to partner with the county to cut county costs and help maintain public services.
What is it about losers that makes them think they’re winners?
Republican Clint Didier finished third in the Primary for U.S. Senate behind Democrat Sen. Patty Murray and Republican Dino Rossi. It wasn’t even a close race. Murray had 46 percent of the vote, Rossi 33 percent. Didier collected 13 percent.
As the sun set on a recent Friday at City Hall, a co-worker of mine asked me a rather intriguing question.
We had just met each other only a few minutes earlier at Derby Days where we were working, and we had just begun to engage in small talk. He told me about his wife and toddler, and I told him about my hobbies and what I wanted to be later in life. It was basic, normal chatter.
“Smartphones” are all the rage these days, with lots of advertisements for the next newest, shiniest phones promising to let you watch movies in full High Definition (HD), take high quality photos and videos, keep in touch with work, and more.
Every other person you see in the office and standing in line at the coffee shop seems pre-occupied and obsessed with these pocket-sized gadgets.
Traffic stops, roadside collision investigations, medical responses, and all other roadway services provided by emergency responders are potentially dangerous due to passing traffic. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, over 150 U.S. law enforcement officers have been killed since 1999 after being struck by vehicles along highways. These incidents are the third leading cause of death for law enforcement personnel.
If there’s an anti-incumbent, electoral revolt going on in the United States this year, voters in the Evergreen State evidently aren’t interested in playing a part in it.
Just two weeks ago, Democrats on the King County Council were adamant that voters needed to pay a higher sales tax to protect public safety. As a result, they put a two-tenths of one percent boost to the sales tax on the November ballot.
As Aug. 17 draws closer, election officials have ramped up efforts to remind us that it’s once again time to be mindful of our civic duty to vote.