Chris Mulick at the Tri-City Herald has today's top story, reporting this morning that Tim Eyman's Initiative 985 and the Service Employees International Union-backed Initiative 1029 would – if passed by voters in November – increase the state's budget deficit by an estimated $300 million.
Meanwhile, this lede from the Seattle Post-Intellegencer could become powerful ammunition for state Republicans looking to usurp local Democrats' power this November:
Gov. Chris Gregoire made restoring Puget Sound a key part of her environmental policy.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is known as one of the greenest mayors in the country.
And King County Executive Ron Sims has long labored to make sure people know he loves the Earth.
Yet who's standing in the way of requiring building techniques that a growing chorus of scientists says could rein in the largest source of most of Puget Sound's worst pollutants?
Gregoire's Ecology Department. And the city of Seattle. And King County. And Tacoma, and Pierce and Snohomish counties, and other local governments.
Let the "green" debate between Gregoire and GOP challenger Dino Rossi continue. ...
Thursday night football: Barack Obama will accept the Democratic presidential nomination at Mile High Stadium Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver to a potential crowd of 76,000 people. ...
Case of the Mondays: 11th District Sen. Margarita Prentice will have to fight harder this year for her long-held state senate seat, thanks to the "top-two" primary. ...
Case study: Seattle, Portland, and Spokane were ranked No. 1, No. 3 and No. 8, respectively, for having the "greenest" drivers in America. Whoopee. The worst city was Arlington, Texas. Yeehaw. ...
Still smokin': Bar owners in Olympia are still fighting the statewide smoking ban, while Yakima bar owners say the ban is A-OK. ...
Still green?: New water regulations in Spokane will impose fines up to $125 if the average Spokane County resident continues to use twice the amount of water as the average person statewide. ...
Do not pass go, do not collect $200: Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., says oil speculators are playing "Monopoly" with gas prices. ...
Do pass go, do collect $10 billion: Meanwhile, businesses in Alaska are saying what recession? ...
To pass, or not to pass: Brian Campbell from Oregon Catalyst says the "Why Not Oregon" initiative makes health care too pricey for the state's low-income families. ...
Pissing off the Democrats: Local liberals urge Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., not to vote the wrong way on the FISA bill. ...
Pissing off the Republicans: Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., faces more criticism from grassroots Republicans for his increasingly bipartisan views. ...
Pissing off the netroots: John McCain says he "hates bloggers." Cue the blogosphere lynch mob.
Winning the netroots: Eli Sanders at The Stranger says Obama's "smartest staff pick ever" is Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. ...
Civic pride?: The Honda Civic, once a commuter's best friend, now costs 53 bucks to fill up, even with gas at a price of $4.35 per gallon.
Civic responsibility: The editorial board at The Seattle Times says it's not the Washington State Board of Pharmacy's place to interfere with a woman's access to birth control. ...
Civic luck?: The Idaho Statesman says Idaho residents are "in luck" this fall with the state's abundance of pro-gun candidates. ...
Right to a ferry trial: Sound Politics calls King County Councilman Dow Constantine and Councilwoman Jane Hague the "Clown of the Day" for leading the call for more passenger ferries around Puget Sound. ...
Right to a fair try: The city of Seattle still isn't sure if residents want more S.LU.T.s/streetcars around town. ...
Rights afforded to us: PolitickerWA's Wally Edge describes the Fourth of July and our "freedom to get drunk and blow stuff up," while "waving flags made in China." ...
And finally, ol' Lou Guzzo at Whacky Nation has lost his marbles, again: Today, the Whacky Nation blogger says Indian Tribes shouldn't have lawyers. This is almost as awesome as last time, when he said we should stop the ugly practices of piercing and tattooing. Good luck with that, Lou.
