Daily Clips

The State GOP commisioners forced Benton predeccessor out; county administrator quits In 2011, Clark County’s director of environmental services launched an investigation into Vegetation Management Department employees misusing county time, resources, and funds. In January 2013 that director, Kevin Gray, found himself out of a job after he filed a request for whistleblower protection under…

(Daily Clips will be taking Friday May 3 off so that the editor can prepare for King County Democrats endorsement committee meetings. The Clips will resume Monday, May 6.) King County May Day one year later: Seattle grand jury holdouts still not talking When protesters smashed windows at a federal courthouse and vandalized property in…

King County State Rep. Upthegrove to run for King County Council State Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-33) said Tuesday he is running for for King County Council Position 5 to replace Julia Patterson, who said last week she will not seek re-election after 12 years on the council. “It’s hard to imagine someone in South County who has a…

King County Police Department troubles top agenda at Seattle mayoral debate Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn defended his record on the Seattle Police Department against criticism from seven political rivals in one of the first major mayoral debates of the campaign Monday night. With several of his challengers citing recent SPD troubles as a prime reason…

The State Little to show for 105 days on job at Capitol The politically divided Washington Legislature wound down its 105-day regular session Sunday without a two-year state budget and with few marquee bills to show for laboring in Olympia. The Republican-steered Senate and Democratic-controlled House are miles apart on the central question of the…

King County ‘Paul Allen is very disappointed’ Paul Allen’s Vulcan Real Estate company is said to be bitterly unhappy with the Seattle City Council’s unanimous vote Monday to sharply increase fees that they and other developers will have to pay toward providing affordable housing in South Lake Union. Vulcan is royally ticked off at the council’s rejection of Mayor Mike…

King County Protesters at Renton Walmart demand increased worker safety at foreign garment factories Approximately 100 protesters gathered Wednesday at the Renton Walmart to remember fire victims and demand that the company and others like it take better care of overseas workers. On hand for the protest were Kalpona Akter from the Bangladesh Center for…

(Daily Clips will not publish Wednesday, 4-24, so that the editor can attend the KCDCC monthly meeting Tuesday evening at the Carpenters’ Hall in Renton. See you there.) King County Cities, tribes: No coal port, no coal trains here Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, oft-faulted for a go-it-alone governing style, became a coalition builder Monday, joining…

The State Lesson from 43 Earth Days: Successful green politics is grassroots Earth Day was born at a Seattle speech nearly 44 years ago, when Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced a national teach-in on the environment and urged young people to rally to defense of the Earth, as they had to resist the Vietnam…

King County Ballard breweries nervous, furious about beer tax proposal Several small breweries in Ballard are shifting their feet nervously as the Washington State Legislature considers a beer tax that could sky rocket the cost of running business for them. “The increased excise taxes which are being proposed would mean an even greater challenge for…