“There’s no place like home,” murmurs Dorothy in the 1939 movie classic “The Wizard of Oz.” Young Dorothy understood the importance of family, friends and community. Yet in today’s mobile society, families and friends frequently live in different states and different counties.
Talk about ominous timing.
For a while now, we’ve been meaning to write a story about NAMI Eastside, the Redmond-based National Alliance on Mental Illness. This is the week, and while reporter Samantha Pak was meeting with NAMI representatives on Monday afternoon, the terrible news broke: actor and comedian Robin Williams, 63, had died of an apparent suicide in his Tiburon home in Marin County in northern California (on Tuesday, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said Williams hanged himself).
It has been nearly three years since Washington began to build its state-based insurance exchange and profoundly expanded Medicaid.
Recycling is easy.
It helps the environment and it makes you feel good that you’re contributing to something crucial each day.
I tip my cap to everyone who participates.
From impromptu negotiations down the hall to discussions on the subway to the Capitol, sometimes, something as simple as having offices next door to one another can make all the difference in Congress these days.
Rotary club and bikes, not exactly peanut butter and jelly, but when you are talking about a Rotary chapter in the “Bike Capital of the Northwest,” the pair makes a lot more sense.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn doesn’t want to use the word “failing” when talking about Washington’s public schools.
What’s your legacy going to be?
When I was younger, I often wondered what people thought about me. I still do sometimes, but not as much. I figure that I am who I am, I do my best each day and go to sleep at night knowing that I accomplished a few good things at work and in life.
The King County Council made the right decision last week to deal with Metro’s financial problems. By a 5-4 vote, the council approved reducing Metro service hours beginning in September. But the council did something even better. It held off on approving more cuts in 2015 and instead suggested ways Metro might find additional funds.
Establishing a commission to examine the causes and consequences of the Oso mudslide is taking longer than Snohomish County Executive John Lovick and Gov. Jay Inslee imagined.
Redmond police officers took part in the “Click it or Ticket” program May 19-June 1.
The law enforcement program targeted both unbuckled drivers and those distracted because they are talking or texting on their cell phones while driving. Most cities in King County, along with the State Patrol, participated in the campaign.
A woman once came up to me and — with little more than a “hello” — asked me if I spoke Tagalog. I told her I’m not Filipino, so the answer was “no.” Without missing a beat, the woman began speaking either in Mandarin or Cantonese (not being Chinese, I wasn’t sure which dialect). I told her I’m not Chinese, either, so she asked if I was Korean. Again, I told her “no.” I knew this could go on for a long time, so I cut to the chase and told her my parents emigrated from Cambodia.
Cascade Water Alliance ensures that each of you — more than 350,000 residents and 20,000 businesses — have clean, safe and reliable water every day. Our membership, consisting of the cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Tukwila and the Sammamish Plateau and Skyway Water and Sewer Districts, work to produce water of the highest quality.
The announcement that Sen. Rodney Tom of Medina will not seek re-election to the Legislature certainly jump-started the political season. Tom, a Democrat, already was facing a challenge in his own party from former Kirkland mayor Joan McBride.
It has been hard to miss all the attention being given to the legalization of marijuana for adults. Many adults are understandably concerned about the increased availability of pot and its effect on our kids.
The Legislature adjourned in mid-March and I’m pleased that we were able to take meaningful steps in support of Washington students, our most vulnerable citizens and veterans and their families. During the 2014 session, I sponsored successful legislation that: provides services to an additional 5,000 people with developmental disabilities without costing the state money; supports para-educators who are an essential part of our public school system, providing a great deal of instruction especially for children with special needs; and protects veterans from financial scams.
Saturday night, I dropped my parents off at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. They would be boarding a plane to Boston to visit my sister Bonna.
Your vote on Proposition 1 directly impacts Eastside transportation options for workers and students. Metro transit provides essential mobility connections to jobs, education and health care for thousands who live and work on the Eastside.
What’s in a name?
Well, a little bit of everything. Recognition, inspiration, belief and hope are all associated with a certain nomenclature. Titles aid in assembling cultural competence and sense of place, defining an existence in history.
If the state Legislature were graded on its performance this year, it would have received an “incomplete.” This year’s legislative session in Olympia ended with so few results that one newspaper proclaimed it the “Do-Little Legislature.” When it came to our schools, easing traffic congestion, or protecting our rights and safety, State Senate leadership chose partisan unity over the leadership and independence required to serve our families and businesses.