Featured News Stories

KIRO TV

WA has 575 new nationally certified teachers

Kirkland Reporter

Seattle and King County to launch Gun Safety Initiative, gun buyback program

Publicola

Fizz: Tom showdown

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AP

State universities want to cut a deal with lawmakers (Hunter - Everett Herald, Kitsap Sun, Tri-City Herald)

WA has 575 new nationally certified teachers (KIRO TV)

Olympia council bans homeless camping (MyNorthwest.com)

Gregoire to DC for meetings on Guard (MyNorthwest.com)

Washington prisons rethinking solitary confinement (MyNorthwest.com)

Amazon incentive in Seattle gun buyback program (The Daily News, Everett Herald, Tri-City Herald)

Gregoire to DC for meetings on Guard (The Daily News, Kitsap Sun, Tri-City Herald, Wenatchee World)

Gates: Test scores not enough for teacher reviews (The Daily News, Kitsap Sun, Seattle Times, Wenatchee World)

WA has 575 new nationally certified teachers (The Daily News, MyNorthwest.com, Kitsap Sun, Wenatchee World)

Report says Roach mistreated staffer (Fraser - Bellingham Herald, The Daily News, Columbian, Everett Herald, Kitsap Sun, MyNorthwest.com, Spokesman Review, Seattle PI, Seattle Times)

State schools chief wants to oversee charters (Bellingham Herald, The Daily News, Kitsap Sun, News Tribune, MyNorthwest.com)

Schools in Burien reviewing armed security (Everett Herald)

Jobless rate falls below 7% in most U.S. cities (Everett Herald)

US roasts to hottest year on record by landslide (Spokesman Review)

Arlington Times

Opinion: Fund education first, by Rep. Dan Kristiansen

Bellingham Business Journal

Bellingham added to national index of improved housing markets

Bellingham Herald

Washington state gas prices could be lower in 2013 if refineries stay on track

Rep. Larsen: Fiscal cliff could affect higher education

Whatcom wages jump 3.5 percent in second quarter, ranking 30th in U.S.

Columbian

Cleveland, Moeller, Wylie to host town hall Saturday (Moeller, Wylie, Cleveland)

University tuition freeze proposed

Bothell/Kenmore Reporter

State Board of Education to review draft rules for state's first public charter schools

The Daily News

WA universities want to cut a deal with lawmakers (Hunter)

Everett Herald

State schools chief wants charter law changed

Davis: How Inslee can meet modest hopes

Editorial: Gregoire's inspired service

Blog: Gregoire trip to D.C. fuels rumors

Letter: Eyman's latest particularly bad

Letter: Wrong to let NRA dictate gun policy

Highline Times

City and county gun buyback effort aiming to limit violence

Kirkland Reporter

Seattle and King County to launch Gun Safety Initiative, gun buyback program

Kitsap Sun

Op-ed:  Thinking differently to preserve ferry service

Mercer Island Reporter

Tolling a hot topic at Mercer Island City Council meeting (Clibborn, Maxwell)

Retail sales up 5.4% in third quarter 2012

News Tribune

Op-ed: Callaghan: Will high court back words with action on education?

Editorial: A targeted – not shotgun – approach to gun reforms

Olympian (subscription required)

Thurston County judge won't perform gay weddings

Editorial: Innovation needed to solve gas tax problem

Blog: Schools chief Dorn wants authority over charter schools

Peninsula Daily News

State pass waived for PDA-managed sites

Officials to seek funds to remove washed-up dock

Corrections workers plan rally in Olympia

Seattle Times

Divided legislators may consider sharply differing gun-policy laws (Pedersen, Kline)

Gun buyback: will it make a difference in Seattle, King County

Column: Seattle’s on a winning streak, not just in football

Op-ed: Payday-lending law works in Washington state

Editorial: Teachers union should withdraw suit to block charter schools

Blog: Washington gains 575 new National Board Certified teachers

Blog: Gov. Chris Gregoire is on her way to Washington, D.C.

Blog: Wednesday politics: gun control, gun buyback, Congress v. cockroaches

Blog: House Democrats should tread carefully in tinkering with marijuana rules (Hunter, Hurst, Carlyle)

Blog: Gun buy-backs: popular, but do they work?

Blog: Carlyle: Universities must be more accountable (Carlyle)

Seattle Weekly

Assault Weapons Ban Proposal to Hit Legislature; Ed Murray Will Sponsor

Skagit Valley Herald

Government, businesses benefit from listing service (Government efficiency)

Letter: At what cost? (Coal trains)

Spokesman Review

Seattle gun buy-back plan gets Amazon boost

Editorial: Health care cost controls must not be undermined

Blog: State Sen. Roach facing more sanctions, AP says (Roach)

Blog: Congress rates lower than . . .

Tri-City Herald

Editorial: 2013 state Legislature has shot at needed reforms

West Seattle Herald

Highline Schools deny superintendent made recommendation to disarm security guards

City and county gun buyback effort aiming to limit violence

Yakima Herald Republic

Private liquor store owners still seeking their niche

Editorial: Ag industry’s value means big money for this state

BROADCAST

KING 5 TV (NBC)

State superintendent asking lawmakers to revise WA charter law

KIRO 7 TV (CBS)

City, county announce new gun buyback program

KOMO 4 TV (ABC)

Law would delay background checks on job applicants

Gates Foundation: Test scores not enough for teacher reviews

KPLU FM

Boeing engineers' strike in 2000 casts shadow over current talks

Seattle gun buyback plan: Turn in your gun, get a $100 giftcard

KUOW FM

Washington "Driving While Poor" Law Prompts Changes

More Seattle Churches to Offer “Safe Parking” for Homeless

MyNorthwest.com (KIRO FM)

Sacramento Kings soon-to-be SuperSonics? Tweet prompts rumors of sale to Seattle

Several Seattle bridges ruled 'structurally deficient' says report

NW Public Radio

Report: Idaho Teachers Feel “Strong Undercurrent Of Despair

Washington Correctional Officers To Protest Following Assaults

Pac-12 Review Clears WSU Football Program Of Abuse Allegations

WEB

The Capitol Record

Stan Marshburn on developing TVW and the governor’s budget proposal

Crosscut

Sen. Kohl-Welles not about to give up on human-trafficking battle (Kohl-Welles)

Rodney Tom hears from constituents about party 'defection' (Murray, Chopp)

HDC Advance

What you need to know about GMO (Fitzgibbon)

HorsesAss.org

Rodney Tom’s Majority (Roach)

Publicola

Fizz: Tom showdown (Brown, Murray, Hunter)

Jolt: New report on Sen. Roach

Isn’t it weird that…

On other blogs today: public financing for campaigns, college

Opinion: Don’t talk like an elephant

Opinion: The post gay-marriage Democratic party: a little lost

Schmudget

What An All-Cuts Budget Really Looks Like

Seattle PI

Gun buyback program annouced in Seattle

Blog: Gun buyback tops $100,000 goal in one day

Slog

"There is no real public transportation without dedicated lines."

Rapid Ride Is Not Bus Rapid Transit

Why Bus Rapid Transit Won't Work, At Least Not Here

Intercity Bus and Rail Ridership Up as Car and Air Travel Remains Flat

A Real Rapid Ride Is Also in Bogota

If Pot Falls from Heaven...

Hanauers Give $25,000 to Gun Buyback Program

Seattle/King County Announce Gun Safety Initiative: Gun Buyback and Free Trigger Locks

Seattle and King County to Launch Gun Buyback Program

Great News for State Lawmakers: Voters Have Low Expectations

Joseph Stiglitz: Central Banks Aren't All That

Okay, Let's Play Pretendsies and Let's Pretend that Humans Aren't the Primary Cause of Global Warming

What Do You Think of the Trillion-Dollar Coin?

Oregon Bans Discrimination Against Trans People by Health Insurance Companies

Video: "When completed, a trip from Husky Stadium to downtown will take about 6 minutes..."

West Seattle Blog

As-it-happened coverage: City-county gun-buyback program announced; first event January 26th

Quote of the Day

"No questions are asked at a gun show. It's crazy."

- Sen. Adam Kline, Seattle Times, 1/9/13

Story of the Day

Don’t call the state Senate’s Majority Coalition Caucus bipartisan

It’s a general rule in politics: If one side of the aisle says it’s bipartisan and the other side says it’s not, then it’s not.

Earlier this week, when twenty-three Republicans plus two breakaway Democrats announced plans to seize control of the state Senate from Democrats, they did so in the name of bipartisanship and collaboration.

But it’s a curious kind of bipartisanship that has no room for consultation with the other side. When majority Republicans put forward their idea to radically restructure the Senate, absent was the opportunity for input from the other 24 members of the 49-member body.

And when the Republicans said their plan would “put aside party dynamics and focus instead on the needs of all Washingtonians,” it’s clear that the only party dynamics they wish to set aside are Democratic ones.

The Seattle Times editorial page applauded the move as a necessary check against the Democratic House and governor [“State coalition caucus a promising change,” Opinion, Dec. 12].

This argument looks flimsy after Washington voters overwhelmingly selected Democrats for president, senator, a majority of our congressional delegation, governor, all statewide offices except one, and majorities in the state House and Senate.

The fact is, though, the public expects us to work together to move the state forward, no matter who is in charge. This is especially true in the Senate, a diverse body with an unstable balancing point that shifts from issue to issue.

After the election, majority Democrats knew that the Senate would descend into dysfunction if we tried to govern with a strict 25-vote strategy, the bare minimum number of votes necessary. We knew we needed to work from a much broader base, 30 to 35 votes.

So we proposed a more-inclusive, less-partisan organizing model than has ever existed before, including a bipartisan education finance committee, and invited dialogue with Republicans about our proposal.

We had hoped to replicate the successful and unprecedented bipartisan budget process we initiated with the Republicans in the 2011 legislative session, built on mutually agreeable terms, shared principles and equal participation.

But this was rejected out of hand by the Republicans, who proposed their own structure based solely on their own terms and their own principles — which we’ve since learned is nonnegotiable.

We recognize that Republicans have the votes to unilaterally impose their will. As the new minority, we will work together when we can and oppose when we must. Our commitment to our state’s values will not waver.

But we do find the Republicans’ my-way-or-the-highway approach to be concerning. It’s the exact opposite of collaboration, no matter how many times the word is invoked.

We’re concerned about its immediate impact on policy affecting middle-class and working families, our children, our teachers, our dedicated public employees, our seniors and the most vulnerable, women’s reproductive rights, health-care expansion, our environment and natural resources and adequate K-12 education funding, to name only a few areas.

We’re also concerned about the long-term consequences of abandoning institutional precedent. In order to carry out their plans, Republicans will need to change the basic structure of the Senate in ways they have not yet defined, and will need to rewrite rules that have guided the functioning of the body for more than a century. This editorial page finds this prospect novel and exciting.

But significant rule changes typically occur by mutual consent of both sides of the aisle, for the obvious reason that both have to live under the same set of rules, and majorities come and go.

A strict 25-senator majority changing longstanding Senate rules to consolidate their hold on power will surely invite mischief and abuse in the future, and create unintended negative consequences for the public.

You could call that many things. Just don’t call it bipartisan.