Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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OLYMPIA (Feb. 4, 2019) Legislation proposed on the last day of January would largely exempt state legislators from the Public Records Act according to the attorney who led the fight against a similar bill last year. That bill was passed in a last-minute move after a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled in January 2018 that the legislature was subject to the Public Records Act and had not been in compliance for years. Both sides appealed the decision and litigation is still ongoing in the Washington Supreme Court. A public outcry over...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 1, 2019) A bipartisan bill introduced in the Rural Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee would reduce the business and occupation tax for manufacturers and publishers of printed materials and periodicals, excluding newspapers. It would also extend the preferential B&O tax rate for timber and woods products. The B&O tax is Washington state’s major business tax, according to committee documents. The tax is imposed against a company’s gross income and does not deduct the cost of doing business. “As folks know … the...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 30, 2019) OLYMPIA — Lawmakers are pushing for a bill to allow year-round observation of daylight saving time in the state of Washington, with the intention of the practice spreading throughout the country. House Bill 1196 was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 14 representatives and introduced by Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane. “I want to ditch the switch,” said Riccelli at a public hearing. “We’re already on daylight saving time eight months of the year.” According to the bill, the state and all of its political subdivision...
OLYMPIA (Jan. 29, 2019) A proposed bill would double the fine for motorists caught using a cellphone in a school, playground or crosswalk speed zone to up to $234 per infraction, or up to $468 for repeat offenders. Washington’s first law to address texting-while-driving went into effect two years ago, which also prohibited eating and applying makeup. “One of the primary crosswalks I sit at is Mill Creek Elementary,” said Christine White, a patrol officer with the Mill Creek Police Department. “I have seen people on their cell phones talking...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 4, 2019) A proposal by Sen. Bob Hasegawa, D-Beacon Hill, would create a Washington state revenue reform task force to review the state tax system and make recommendations to the Legislature on how it can “better serve” state residents. The bill would also seek funding mechanisms that would be, according to the bill, undisturbed by economic fluctuation, equitably spread among citizens, transparent and administratively simple. The task force would include a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the Senate and the House, as well as rep...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 5, 2019) OLYMPIA – A bipartisan group of 22 representatives is working to improve crisis planning in Washington schools to prevent youth suicides. “I know for a fact I am not the only one that considers suicide every single day,” said Maverick Mendoza from Issaquah High School. The 17-year-old has suffered from major depressive disorder and severe anxiety for multiple years. His most-recent suicide attempt was two weeks ago. House Bill 1221 aims to implement a two-year program for mental health promotion and suicide prevention in...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 5, 2019) Legislators propose replacing the moribund death penalty with the mandatory imposition of life imprisonment without parole. The Senate Law and Justice committee heard public testimony on Senate Bill 5339 sponsored by Senator Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. “It’s been a long public discourse the last 10 to 15 years in our state and in our country about this issue,” said Carlyle. “I think the result of that civic discourse in the last number of years has been a growing recognition that the data shows that the death penalty is ap...
WNPA Olympia News Bureau. Jan. 24, 2019 A proposal prompted by the 2015 “Ride the Ducks” accident on the Aurora Bridge in Seattle came one step closer to becoming law on Wednesday as people voiced their views on changes to Washington’s wrongful death and injury statutes that would expand the beneficiaries entitled to claim damages. “The law currently does not allow a nonresident parent to seek justice,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Sharon Santos, D-Seattle. “It was a law that was established more than 100 years ago.” Santos said the changes we...
