DAILY NEWS
Big win in Kennewick ● Obstruction of justice ● Land of the Free
Friday, January 18, 2019
LOCAL
► In today’s Tri-City Herald — Kennewick paraeducators approve contract, won’t strike — Kennewick School District paraeducators have approved a new pay agreement with the school district, avoiding a possible strike. The deal gives them an 8 percent raise this school year, retroactive to Sept. 1, plus an additional 1.5 percent increase for longevity. It also provides for a 4.1 percent increase next school year, plus a similar longevity bump.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Like the sound of raises like that? Get a union! Find out how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate a fair return for your hard work. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!
ALSO at The Stand — Support staff at Issaquah schools vote to authorize strike
► In today’s Seattle Times — Amid national and local splits, Seattle Womxn’s March organizers promise diverse programming — There will be two women’s marches in Seattle this year, as controversy at the national level has led to divisions within the movement.
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
► In today’s Washington Post — Democrats demand investigation after report that Trump ordered Michael Cohen to lie to Congress — Democratic leaders reacted with fury and demanded an investigation late Thursday following a new report that President Trump personally directed his former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the president’s push for a lucrative condo project in Moscow in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
► In today’s Washington Post — Trump reportedly told Michael Cohen to lie. His own attorney general pick testified that’s a crime. — The president’s own choice for the nation’s top law enforcement official has described such conduct as “classic” obstruction of justice.
SHUTDOWN
► From The Hill — McConnell blocks bill to reopen most of government — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked legislation on Thursday that would have reopened most of the federal government impacted by the partial shutdown.
► From Common Dreams — Protesting outside GOP’s ‘lavish retreat,’ federal workers demand end to shutdown amid growing calls for strike — Government employees are “being treated in a mean and humiliating fashion,” says Barbara Ehrenreich, who is calling on TSA employees to walk off the job.
ALSO at The Stand — Furloughed EPA staffers in Seattle rally against ongoing shutdown
► In today’s Washington Post — State Dept. employees ordered back to work as Trump nixes Pelosi trip and Davos delegation, citing shutdown
► From the AP — Number of federal workers seeking U.S. jobless aid doubles
► In today’s NY Times — Federal courts, running out of money, brace for shutdown’s pain — The federal courts are running out of money as the shutdown continues with no end in sight, raising concerns that the legal system will be significantly hobbled if the standoff is not resolved soon.
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Shutdown’s impacts are hitting hard and broadly (editorial)
THIS WASHINGTON
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — For a brief moment, Eyman was ready to settle with the state — Bankrupt, lawyerless and bound for divorce, he wanted it to end. But an offer never came. Instead, the attorney general’s office is alleging more campaign violations. “As we slowly received documents, we are uncovering new evidence of his violations,” said state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “We will not settle this case until we have uncovered the full scope of Mr. Eyman’s unlawful conduct. If Mr. Eyman is serious about wanting to resolve this case, he will stop obstructing our investigation.”
THAT WASHINGTON
► From Bloomberg — Trump agency protecting federal unions wants to kill its own — The head of a tiny federal agency that enforces government workers’ right to unionize says her own employees can’t join a union. The Federal Labor Relations Authority no longer will negotiate with the union that has represented agency employees for nearly 40 years, Chairwoman Colleen Kiko (R) recently announced. Kiko says FLRA workers aren’t covered by the law, which generally gives federal employees the right to form unions and bargain collectively.
NATIONAL
ALSO from the Stand — How you and your union can support striking L.A. teachers
► From HuffPost — What happens when teachers can’t afford to live in their own cities — Two-thirds of teachers spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, according to a 2018 survey by Stanford University. Of those, 14.7 percent say rent accounts for more than half their income. Annual teacher turnover is around 12 percent, which translates to the district having to fill an average of 400 classroom vacancies each school year.
T.G.I.F.
► Spike Lee directed this music video released earlier this week for a new song by the rock band The Killers. The video depicts the struggles of immigrants and migrants seeking asylum in the United States. This morning, as the investigation into Donald Trump’s obstruction of justice reaches a critical phase, our desperate fear-mongering president is again raising the specter of a “caravan” of immigrants heading towards America — to get us.
“Down at the border, they’re gonna put up a wall / concrete and rebar steel beams / High enough to keep all those filthy hands off / of our hopes and our dreams / People who just want the same things we do / in the land of the free.”
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.