Count on the alt-weeklies to provide blow-by-blow coverage of the recent medical marijuana bust illegal search and seizure. Dominic Holden at The Stranger has the story about the incident — along with copies of the police report and the arresting officer's search warrant. According to the reports, Seattle Police officers tore down a wall while searching for an illegal pot-growing operation that didn't exist, while seizing bags of marijuana and medical records. The folks at Seattlest would like to remind the SPD that medical marijuana has been legal in Washington for nearly 10 years. ...
Meanwhile, the op-ed board at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer say the cops better clarify why they stormed the clinic. ...
While Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman applauds local liberal blog Horse's Ass for publishing the details of Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland's sexual harassment case — he scolds Democrats for not taking the same hard-line stance when Democrat and former Gov. Mike Lowry sexually harassed a co-worker in 1995. Meanwhile, the op-ed board at the News Tribune says Sutherland's harassment case isn't worthy of all the attention. Really? Tell that to Lowry. ...
Just say no: U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., blocked the nomination of appointees to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission yesterday, saying she doesn't want more people in office who don't know how to regulate oil markets. ...
Got arrested 'cause your car smelled like pot? You may have a get-out-of-jail-free pass. The state Supreme Court has ruled that law-enforcement officers can't arrest and search everyone inside a car just because it reeks of marijuana. ...
Got a farm in Eastern Washington? U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., stepped up yesterday to help farmers yesterday by adding a $2 million to a bill to support agricultural research in Eastern Washington. ...
That's a big smoke stack: Both Murray and U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco., called yesterday for a victory for Eastern Washington as the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would be sending Hanford $25.5 million to bolster nuclear waste cleanup and prevention efforts. ...
Big hit: Public Health Seattle-King County may have to shut down several facilities next year as county officials plan to slash $10 million from the budget. ...
Trippy: Jeff Mapes at the Oregonian has a weird exposé about the weird rash of car-bike accidents in Portland. ...
Trippin': P-I columnist Joel Connelly pokes fun at former Gov. Gary Locke's overuse of words starting with "g" during his speech yesterday at Gov. Chris Gregoire's fundraiser with Michelle Obama. ...
Busted: Oregon Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Merkley's latest ad says he created "Oregon's rainy day fund." The only problem is he didn't, exactly. ...
Busted? The conservative bloggers at The Oregon Catalyst say the economy will suffer if the Fed goes after illegal immigrants. ...
And finally, everyone knows the Washington gubernatorial campaign has gone negative, but no one could have predicted how negative. This week, Gov. Chris Gregoire attacked GOP challenger Dino Rossi — except this time it wasn't about his record. It was about the name of his dog — Dubya. "I feel sorry for the dog," said the guv...
