King County House Speaker flexes muscle on historic PacMed Center State House Speaker Frank Chopp has emerged as a central player in the effort to relocate community-college health programs into the PacMed Center using state dollars. The public authority that owns the building is debating whether to let a national homebuilder convert the historic Beacon Hill…
King County Feds give laid-off Boeing workers a big helping hand Thanks to a federal program lined up by their unions, local workers laid off during the current dip in employment at Boeing Commercial Airplanes will enjoy a financial cushion that’s much, much plumper than what the average unemployed state resident gets. The U.S. Department of…
King County McGinn video attacks rivals for supporting “corporate welfare” on Whole Foods deal Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn’s final TV ad before the end of the Aug. 6 primary strikes a positive, almost apologetic tone. But in a web video aimed at his core supporters, McGinn takes a more aggressive tack, ripping his mayoral race rivals over their criticism of…
King County ‘Nonpartisan’ Susan Hutchison considers run for state GOP chair The surprise resignation of state GOP chairman Kirby Wilbur has sent a flurry of text messages and emails flying in Republican circles, as party activists chat up possible successors. One name that has emerged is Susan Hutchison, the former KIRO-TV anchor who unsuccessfully ran for King County Executive in 2009, largely…
King County Seattle City Council votes to leave homeless camps unregulated The Seattle City Council voted Monday afternoon to kill a bill that would further legalize and regulate homeless encampments. Council member Nick Licata, the bill’s sponsor,hoped it could make encampments in the city safer and better organized—encampments like Nickelsville, which has been plagued by crime and…
King County The case against Mike McGinn: It’s his agenda, not ours The closing days of this year’s primary campaign for Seattle Mayor have witnessed a closing of ranks against Mayor Mike McGinn by public officials who’ve had up-close experience working with him. They use phrases like “strong willed” to describe McGinn — not meant as…
King County Fast food workers file criminal complaints over wage theft Fast food workers said Thursday today that they were filing criminal complaints with the Seattle Police Department on the grounds that their employers committed wage theft, with employees in Seattle allegedly losing an estimated $100,000 a week. Rebecca Smith of the National Employment Law Project…
King County SeaTac City Council sends $15 minimum wage initiative to November ballot, a local measure of national significance A local ballot measure that would impose a $15-an-hour minimum wage on Sea-Tac International Airport and surrounding businesses is headed for the November ballot, placing this small King County city on the front line of a…
(Daily Clips will not publish Wednesday, July 24, so that the editor can attend the monthly meeting of the King County Democratic Central Committee Tuesday evening. See you there.) King County Seatac businesses, unions ready for showdown tonight at City Council meeting over minimum wage initiative Powerful business interests and unions are staging a showdown…
King County Murray got job at UW amid cuts In 2009, the University of Washington faced an $81 million state budget cut, rising tuition, and elimination of hundreds of jobs. Its Office of Planning and Budgeting took one of the largest hits, with the budget slashed by 16 percent. Nevertheless, the small department found money that fall…