In Brief - March 16th, 2006
In Brief is a new feature that we debuted recently. It's simply a bulleted list of news items that we want to mention to you but don't want to do a whole post on. You can expect to see more of In Brief in the future.
- The Stranger has a must read feature article about Darcy Burner, written by Eli Sanders, entitled "Fighting Mood". The article is perhaps the most comprehensive written thus far about Darcy's candidacy, and it's an outstanding profile.
- Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne has been chosen by Dubya to succeed Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior. (Kempthorne had previously served as mayor of Boise and then as U.S. Senator from Idaho). Kempthorne has a horrible, shoddy environmental record and has consistently received a 0% rating from the League of Conservation Voters. Chris Oates of Liberal Idaho has more at Daily Kos.
- The Senate voted 51-49 Thursday to pass a budget bill which contains a provision for drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Two senators who might have voted against the budget bill - Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Olympia Snowe of Maine - were persuaded to vote in favor of it with the inclusion of hurricane relief money and low income heating assistance. League of Conservation Voters Northwest Campaign Manager Mike Palamuso made his displeasure known:
"In yet another blatant abuse of power, anti-environmental leaders in the Senate are using the budget process in a misguided attempt to open one of America's most pristine wild places to oil drilling: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We applaud Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) for her tireless leadership in protecting the Arctic Refuge from oil drilling. Last year, she successfully fought back an effort by Senator Ted Stevens (AK) to hold hostage vital funds for our troops and Hurricane Katrina victims in order to reward Big Oil special interests. Now, on the heels of the biggest oil spill on Alaska's North Slope, she is once again standing up for this national treasure."
The budget bill now moves to the House of Representatives. We'll be watching how Dave Reichert votes on this bill with great interest. - Proponents of Initiative 933, now popularly known as the "developer's initiative" (because it creates huge loopholes in the state's growth management laws for developers to exploit) have won the battle over the I-933 ballot title. Judge Richard Hicks, who obviously has a conservative bent, approved a ballot title for the measure that's almost identical to the wording the Washington State Farm Bureau wanted. The language is misleading and deceptive, and this setback means the Community Protection Coalition and its allies, including Permanent Defense, will have to work extra hard to convey the dangers of this initiative to voters.
