Wednesday, August 6, 2014

PRIMARY ELECTION

GET THE LATEST Primary Election results here.

► In today’s Tri-City Herald — Didier, Newhouse leading race to replace Hastings — Clint Didier and Dan Newhouse, two of the eight Republicans running in the primary election for the 4th District Congressional seat, dominated the field Tuesday night. The rest of the 12-person field included Democrat Estakio Beltran with 11 percent of the vote and Republican state Sen. Janea Holmquist with 11 percent.

EDITOR’S NOTE — As KPLU notes, never before has the state’s top-two primary produced two contenders of the same party for a Congressional seat.

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Congressional incumbents cruising to general election

► In today’s Olympian — Bowling leads, Sen. Sheldon holding second place in key 35th District Senate race — Sheldon, a Democrat who caucuses with Republicans in a coalition majority, was targeted from both directions politically in a test of his maverick reputation. The three-way race appeared too close to call and Sheldon conceded that no one would be conceding until more votes were in.

► In today’s News Tribune — Republicans have strong showing in key state Senate races — GOP Sen. Steve O’Ban led nurse and five-term Rep. Tami Green (D-Lakewood) by a wide margin in one of this year’s biggest-spending legislative races, one that could be critical to state government’s balance of power. Democrat Shari Song was trailing Republican Mark Miloscia in the race to replace Sen. Tracey Eide, a Democrat.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Pam Roach in tight race to retain her Senate seat — In Tuesday night’s vote count, GOP Sen. Pam Roach was barely ahead of Republican Rep. Cathy Dahlquist, 40 to 39 percent. Dahlquist and Roach were far ahead of Lynda Messner in the race for the two spots on the November general-election ballot.

► In today’s Columbian — Harris gains 50% of votes — In the other 17th District contest, Republican challenger Lynda Wilson outpolled Democratic incumbent Monica Stonier by 244 votes in the opening round of their House Position 1 race.

► At Slog — Primary Election Night 20914: The Stranger infiltrates all the candidates’ parties to watch them watch the returns com in — Tears for Spears, Tarleton wins 85%, best T-shirt ever, DelBene’s khakis, and Jayapal’s astonishing 51% in 6-person race.

LOCAL

► From AP — Inspectors refuse to cross United Grain picket lines in Vancouver — Federal Department of Agriculture grain inspectors are refusing to walk past picket lines and into a grain terminal in Vancouver, Wash. The action comes as harvest approaches and shortly after state grain inspectors from the Washington State Department of Agriculture stopped entering the United Grain terminal, citing safety concerns because of picketing longshoremen.

ALSO at The Stand — Sen. Don Benton demands escort service amid lockout

► In today’s Yakima H-R — Some fear visa backlog at border could hurt state apple harvest — Citing an urgent need to bring in guest workers for the upcoming apple harvest, the Washington Farm Labor Association said Tuesday it will resume scheduling border crossings for guest workers. But association officials warned that a massive backlog in visa applications could worsen an existing labor shortage and jeopardize the state’s apple crop.

► In today’s News Tribune — Port of Seattle moves forward on nearly $1 billion in Sea-Tac Airport improvements — The Port of Seattle Commission on Tuesday took positive action on a handful of proposals Tuesday that could ultimately result in close to $1 billion in new construction and rebuilding activity at the airport lasting until the end of this decade.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Spokane smart to remove ‘crime box’ from job applications (editorial) — The crime question on initial job applications is at cross-purposes with smart justice. It’s an unwitting accomplice to recidivism and wasteful spending on prisons and jails.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

► In today’s Olympian — Washington state drop in uninsured is 4th best — A new healthcare poll by Gallup says Washington had the fourth-best improvement in uninsured rates among the states as a result of the Affordable Care Act and mandate that everyone carry a health policy. The numbers say the Evergreen State’s uninsured rate is now down to 10.7 percent, compared to 16.8 percent before the ACA, or Obamacare.

► At Think Progress — States with highest uninsurance rates are all led by Republicans — The 10 states with the highest percentage of uninsured adult residents all have one thing in common: They’re led by Republican governors or legislatures. This divide existed before health reform went into effect; however, it’s only gotten worse under Obamacare, which has helped the national uninsurance rate plunge to record lows but which has been implemented unevenly across the country.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

► In Roll Call — GOP plots offensive on labor — GOP lawmakers are planning to attack the National Labor Relations Board if they take back the Senate this fall. With majorities in the House and Senate, Republicans say they would push back against NLRB rules that have made it easier for unions to speed up their elections and organize multiple departments within a single company, among other things.

► In today’s NY Times — As U.S. speeds path to deportation, distress fills new family detention centers — After declaring the surge of Central American migrants crossing the border a humanitarian crisis, the Obama administration has shifted sharply to a strategy of deterrence, moving families to isolated facilities and placing them on a fast track for deportation to send a blunt message back home that those caught entering illegally will not be permitted to stay.

► In Roll Call — Durbin, Reed, Warren seek executive action to combat ‘inversion’ — Sens. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts seek executive action to reduce or eliminate tax preferences that come along with the business practice, in which a U.S. company will acquire an overseas company and then be based in the foreign country, at least on paper. The practice has increased in popularity as a tax-avoidance strategy.

► At Think Progress — Walgreens decides not to avoid taxes by moving overseas — Walgreen announced Wednesday that it won’t go through with its acquisition of Switzerland-based Alliance Boots, a move called an “inversion” that would have shifted company headquarters overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

NATIONAL

► At AFL-CIO Now — As family leave turns 21, now it’s time for paid sick leave — Since the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) took effect Aug. 5, 1993, the groundbreaking law has been used 100 million times and has helped 36 million workers keep their health insurance and jobs while taking care of a newborn child, themselves or a family member during a serious illness.  The FMLA’s unpaid leave with job protections was a good first step. But today, there are millions of workers who can’t afford to take time off for their own or a loved one’s illnesses. Forty percent all private-sector workers don’t have any paid sick days and that doubles to 80% for low-wage workers.

► From AP — Poll: Americans diverge on how to pay for highways — Six in 10 people surveyed said the cost of good highways, railroads and airports is justified by their benefits. Among those who drive places multiple times per week, 62 percent say the benefits outweigh the costs. Among those who drive less than once a week or not at all, 55 percent say the costs are worthwhile. Yet a majority of Americans bristle at the most commonly proposed ideas from public officials and industry.

► In today’s NY Times — Grocery chain reels as employees rally for ousted president — With a crippling job action enveloping the New England supermarket chain Market Basket for a third week, the company’s board is conducting round-the-clock negotiations with its former president — and others — in search of a deal that will quell the turmoil.

TODAY’S MUST-READ

► In today’s Detroit News — All across America, workers are fighting back (by UAW President Dennis Williams) — In America, a chorus of solidarity is getter louder. It’s being fine-tuned by a grassroots movement tired of political games and unfairness in the workplace. Workers have had enough of the attacks from Koch brothers-funded politicians who clearly are not interested in helping average Americans by raising the minimum wage, supporting equal pay, creating jobs, or reforming our broken immigration system. Their agenda is to destroy unions, stifle democracy and intimidate anyone who stands in the way — including President Barack Obama.

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.