DAILY NEWS
Roach clip ● Reykdal plan ● Is Westin Seattle next? ● How to win
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
LOCAL
► In the Skagit Valley Herald — Shell refinery shuts down its units — Shell Puget Sound Refinery shut down its units in Anacortes today due to an issue with an offsite natural gas line used by the refinery.
► In today’s News Tribune — Councilwoman Pam Roach drops a four-letter bomb on her son during a public meeting — During a budget retreat, Pierce County Councilwoman Pam Roach, angered about being gaveled down during a testy debate, dropped an f-bomb on her son, Councilman Dan Roach, who was running the meeting and pounding the gavel. The News Tribune has obtained an audio clip of the meeting.
THIS WASHINGTON
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Legislators ‘not that special’ when it comes to public records law, media lawyers say — Washington law has hundreds of exemptions to the Public Records Act that would likely allow legislators to protect sensitive information, attorneys who specialize in media law told a task force.
THAT WASHINGTON
► From The Hill — Dems to force health care vote weeks before midterms — The vote will highlight that President Trump and congressional Republicans support the expansion of non-ObamaCare plans which can deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. “On Wednesday, Senate Republicans get an opportunity to demonstrate independence from Trump and vote against junk insurance plans,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).
► From at AP — Missouri judge blocks key portions of Voter ID law ahead of midterms — A Missouri judge on Tuesday blocked key portions of the state’s voter photo identification law, meaning some voters could find it easier to cast ballots in a November election headlined by a hotly contested U.S. Senate race.
► From Salon — Nikki Haley called out by ethics watchdog right before her surprise resignation — On Monday, a group asked to have Haley investigated for accepting unethical air travel expenses for herself and her husband in luxury private aircraft from three wealthy businessmen in North Carolina.
► From The Hill — Dems eye ambitious agenda if House flips
EDITOR’S NOTE — This report includes interviews with all the senior Democrats in line for committee chairmanships, including Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) of the Armed Services Committee and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
NATIONAL
EDITOR’S NOTE — Visit UNITEHERE’s Marriott Travel Alert site for information about the strike and how event planners can protect themselves. Also, check out the site’s “At Risk Hotels” page. Every Marriott hotel listed has moved from the At Risk column to the On Strike column, save one: Westin Seattle by Marriott. Will they be next?
ALSO at The Stand — Seattle Westin (Marriott) hotel workers vote to authorize strike
► From Bloomberg — AFL-CIO faces a strike of its own — On Tuesday, AFL-CIO employees represented by the OPEIU unanimously voted to authorize a strike. The vote by union members, including about 50 janitors, secretaries and accountants for the AFL-CIO, empowers union leaders to set a date for a walkout. OPEIU said the vote followed AFL-CIO management’s decision to impose a new contract that employees had unanimously rejected.
► From HuffPost — UPS drivers voted down their union contract, but the Teamsters are ratifying it anyway — The union approved a new 5-year agreement with the shipping giant after 54 percent of the 92,604 UPS workers who cast ballots voted down the proposal. But under the union’s constitution, if less than half of eligible union members vote, at least two-thirds of the votes must be “no” in order to reject a final offer.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.