DAILY NEWS
Heroes respond, CMR’s ethics, privatization doesn’t work…
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
MUDSLIDE TRAGEDY
► In today’s Seattle Times — 14 dead; 176 reports of people missing in mile-wide mudslide — Rescuers Monday found six more bodies in a milewide swath of mud and debris that plunged from a Snohomish County hillside, as reports of those still missing jumped to 176. So far, 14 people have been confirmed dead. Search conditions are dismal… “in areas it’s like quicksand. Sometimes it takes five minutes to walk 40 or 50 feet and get our equipment over these berms,” said Travis Hots, chief of Snohomish County Fire Districts 21 and 22.
► In today’s Seattle Times — In awe after Snohomish County mudslide; praise for the responders (editorial) — The herculean response by first responders, searching with dogs, hovercraft and airborne surveillance, has been admirable. Their job is complicated by a nightmarish scene, so destabilized that crews had to be pulled back as the slope appeared ready to shift. One firefighter said, “It’s much worse than everyone’s been saying.”
LOCAL
► In today’s Seattle Times — Study: $15 wage floor would lift pay for 24% of Seattle workers — About 102,000 workers citywide earn below $15 an hour, says a UW study prepared for the city. If workers who now make between $15 and $18 an hour also got a pay raise to stay ahead of a higher minimum wage, the potential pool of affected people would jump to 136,000 — nearly a third of Seattle’s workforce.
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Washington taxi group sues to shut down Uber in Seattle — The Western Washington Taxicab Operators Association has filed a lawsuit against Uber Technologies, Inc. in King County Superior Court, saying the company that began a ride-sharing service last year in Seattle has an “unlawful and deceptive business practice which harms the economic interests of taxicab drivers.”
► In today’s Columbian — Ed Barnes to join county commissioner race — Retired labor leader Ed Barnes said Monday that he is joining the race to be appointed to the county commissioners’ seat being vacated by Steve Stuart, the board’s lone Democrat.
NATIONAL
► In today’s Washington Post — The tea party and the minimum wage (The Plum Line by Greg Sargent) — Recent polls have shown that only tea party Republicans oppose the minimum wage hike, while non-tea party Republicans actually are in line with majorities of the American people, and support it. But the latter’s priorities just aren’t reflected to anywhere near the same degree by Congressional Republicans.
► At Salon — Truckers who haul for Costco and Forever 21 land victory against corporate crime — Truck drivers who haul goods from the Port of Los Angeles to companies including Costco and Forever 21 — part of a growing army of workers who aren’t considered “employees” under U.S. law — plan to announce a legal settlement they hope will help spur unionization.
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
► In The Hill — Study: States refusing Medicaid expansion would benefit the most — There are more than 15 million uninsured or underinsured people living below the poverty line in the 23 states that have refused to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare, according to a new study. Many of these states have among the highest rates of uninsured or underinsured people in the country.
TODAY’S MUST-SEE
► From Upworthy — 25 really engaging images about the minimum wage
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.