NEWS ROUNDUP
Postal pain, Inslee warns Senate GOP, farm reality check…
Thursday, February 7, 2013
POSTAL SERVICE
► In today’s Wenatchee World — Scrapping Saturday mail adds to NCW’s postal pain — Loss of the region’s mail processing center. Shorter hours for small-town post offices. And now no more mail delivery on Saturdays. The USPS announcement to ax Saturday mail service is the latest cutback for North Central Washington residents facing an end to overnight delivery of first-class mail and curtailed hours at rural post offices.
► From AP — Ending Saturday mail affects Washington balloting — With Saturday mail delivery ending this summer, Secretary of State Kim Wyman says voters should think about getting their ballots in the mail sooner.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Closure of mail processing centers throughout the state are also likely to slow ballot delivery, making Republican proposals to require ballots be received by Election Day — as opposed to mailed by that day — even more untenable.
STATE GOVERNMENT
EDITOR’S NOTE — And yet, tone-deaf to the voters of this state, Senate Republicans continue to plow forward with their right-wing agenda…
► In today’s (Longview) Daily News — Sen. Braun introduces bill to privatize workers’ compensation — State Sen. John Braun (R-Centralia) on Wednesday introduced the latest Republican effort to reform Washington’s workers’ compensation program, proposing to allow employers the option of buying private insurance.
► At PubliCola — Inslee says expanding Medicare is ‘no-brainer’ — Gov. Jay Inslee, a veteran of the 2010 health care reform debates in Congress, said it was “time to put away the arguments of yesterday” and expand Medicaid coverage.
► In The Stranger — We’re No. 1 at taxing the poor — Washington state may be progressive when it comes to gay marriage, pot, and electing Democratic governors, but when it comes to our tax system, not so much. According to a new report from a DC-based think tank, Washington continues to boast the most regressive state and local tax system in the nation — by far.
► At PubliCola — State needs new revenue to backfill $2.3 billion shortfall — The Washington State Budget and Policy Center says the supreme court’s McCleary decision mandates education spending that will cost the state $1.4 billion over the next biennial budget cycle. That bill is on top of another $900 million to close the state’s current budget gap.
► In today’s Columbian — State business group lists CRC as No. 1 transportation priority — The Association of Washington Business report on transportation infrastructure listed the Columbia River Crossing as the state’s highest priority.
BOEING
► From AP — FAA gives Boeing approval to fly one 787 from Texas to Everett — The permission is for a single flight for the purpose of relocating the plane, and is not a test flight, the FAA said. The agency is still considering a separate Boeing request to conduct test flights.
LOCAL
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Exports surge 29% at Everett port — The Port of Everett is the second-fastest growing port on the West Coast when it comes to the value of products exported. The Port exported $12.6 billion in cargo in 2011. That places it at No. 5 in export value among dozens of ports along the West Coast, and No. 2 in the state behind the Port of Seattle.
► In today’s Bellingham Herald — Vast majority of comments on Cherry Point terminal are form letters, emails — About 108,000 of the comments were form letters or emails, submitted by people who responded to one of at least 24 organized comment campaigns. Only about 16,000 of the comments were uniquely worded.
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Inslee guarded on tribe casino — Gov. Jay Inslee wouldn’t say Wednesday which way he’s leaning on the Spokane Tribe’s proposed casino on the West Plains. Inslee has the final ability to block the project near Fairchild Air Force Base even if federal officials sign off on it.
IMMIGRATION
► In today’s NY Times — Immigration and the middle ground (editorial) — The first House hearing on immigration reform offered little encouragement for reaching a bipartisan deal.
NATIONAL
► In today’s NY Times — Democrats seek to stave off $1 trillion in cuts — With at least one million jobs on the line, Senate Democrats on Wednesday said they were closing in on legislation to temporarily head off nearly $1 trillion in cuts that were already affecting Pentagon decision-making and could force significant reductions in staffing and services across the government.
► At The Hill — LaHood: ‘America is one big pothole’ — Outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood laments the amount of infrastructure spending that was approved by Congress during his tenure at the Department of Transportation.
► In today’s NY Times — Justice(s) at work (by Linda Greenhouse) — A little-noticed Supreme Court decision last summer raises concerns about the future of labor law in the hands of an anti-union conservative majority.
TODAY’S MUST-SEE
► A Super Bowl commercial reality check…
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 9 a.m.