DAILY NEWS
Blaine targeted, McCleary ASAP, GOP ♥’s Citizens United…
Monday, September 15, 2014
LOCAL
EDITOR’S NOTE — So Blaine joins Chelan, Sequim and Shelton as the cities targeted so far by illegal ballot measures pushed by the right-wing Freedom Foundation in Olympia. Sequim and Shelton officials have already rejected the measures as illegal, but the deep-pocketed Foundation will likely sue to try to force them on the ballot anyway. The legal costs are already mounting for the taxpayers of the targeted cities. Learn more.
► In today’s Yakima Herald — Hop growers scramble for workers to harvest large crop — The seasonal scarcity of agricultural workers, many years a headache for the apple industry, now is affecting the Yakima Valley’s plentiful hop harvest, forcing the region’s two signature crops to compete for labor.
► In the (Everett) Herald — EvCC, teachers union settle legal dispute — After four years, a legal battle has ended between Everett Community College and the teachers union (AFT). The college spent about $300,000 in back pay, benefits and interest to four college counselors who lost their jobs in 2010. The college also offered the counselors their jobs back, and two have accepted.
► In today’s Seattle Times — ACA helps slash hospital charity costs in state — Washington hospitals provided nearly $154 million less in charity care in the first half of this year than in the first half of 2013, in many cases boosting the hospitals’ bottom lines. Hospitals attributed the plunge in charity care — about 30% — to the Affordable Care Act’s focus on reducing the number of uninsured patients.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In the (Everett) Herald — McCleary: Change starts now (editorial) — The State Supreme Court gave lawmakers a pass until the end of the 2015 session to adequately fund education. The reprieve provides legislators adequate time to meet their obligation… Put everything on the table and take the long view. Leaders lead.
► In today’s Olympian — Court is holding state lawmakers accountable (editorial)
► In the (Everett) Herald — Replace the gas tax, but how? (editorial) — The state’s gas tax, 37.5 cents per gallon, isn’t automatically adjusted for inflation and doesn’t account for the increase in the number of vehicles with improved fuel efficiency. With each passing year, the revenue generated by the gas tax pays for less and less. The transportation commission, in the draft plan, calls for a transition from the gas tax to a road usage charge, basically treating transportation in general, and roads in particular, as a utility to be paid for based on how much of the service each of us use.
ELECTIONS
► In the News Tribune — 4 ethics complaints dismissed in Roach-Dahlquist race, but plenty remain — Allegations of impropriety continue to swirl in a right-leaning legislative district that straddles the Pierce and King county line. But as far as formal complaints go, there are now fewer to worry about.
► At Huffington Post — 72% disapprove of Republicans in Congress — An astounding 72% percent of Americans say they are unhappy with Republicans in Congress, according to a recent Washs Post/ABC News poll. President Obama and the Democrats fared only a bit better, with 54% and 61% disapproving of them respectively.
► At Politico — 2014 voters gloomy about economy — By every measure in the survey, a gloomy mood still pervades the electorate when it comes to kitchen-table issues: Just 23 percent say their personal financial situation has improved over the past year, versus 30 percent who say it has gotten worse.
► In today’s NY Times — A bigger midterm election turnout (editorial) — Will voters realize that decisions made on Nov. 4 will reverberate in laws not passed, roads not built and jobs not created?
NATIONAL
► From Reuters — A minimum-wage hike finds hope in U.S. heartland — Voters in the Republican-controlled states of Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota will consider ballot initiatives in November that would raise the minimum wage above the national rate of $7.25 per hour. Activists on both sides of the issue say the proposals stand a good chance of passing.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.