Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Looking Back at 2007: NPI Milestones

What a year it has been.

The first installment in our retrospective series looking back at the last twelve months is an overview of the year's most significant achievements, accomplishments, and noteworthy events. So as we look forward to more growth in 2008, here's a look back at important events and achievements in 2007.

January 4th, 2007: NPI releases its first ever white paper, Raising the Minimum Wage, authored by Brock Haussamen, an expert who studies and tracks the issue.

January 13th, 2007: NPI introduces the Legislative Action Project, an effort to track and analyze issues in Olympia in partnership with the King County Democrats' Legislative Action Committee. The project features three Priorities podcasts and several in depth entries about topics such as simple majority for public schools, universal healthcare, and environmental protection during the session.

January 26th, 2007: NPI's Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve testifies in support of HB 1087 (reforming the initiative process) before the House Committee on State Government and Tribal Affairs, and later discusses the bill on The David Goldstein Show the following Sunday.

January 31st, 2007: Pacific Northwest Portal turns two years old.

February 8th, 2007: Permanent Defense, founded to fight Tim Eyman and oppose right wing initiatives, celebrates its five year anniversary and many 2006 victories.

February 9th-10th, 2007: NPI organizes the second annual NWroots Conference in Olympia for the regional netroots community.

February 15th, 2007: NPI launches a blog series urging voters to reject Measure 2 (the viaduct rebuild option) in Seattle's March special election.

March 9th, 2007: NPI publishes the first part of a comprehensive analysis of the 2008 8th Congressional District race. Later that day, Darcy Burner files paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to challenge Dave Reichert a second time.

March 12th, 2007: NPI sounds the alarm about a disastrously flawed bill, SSB 5803, that would have reshaped transportation governance in Puget Sound. The post inspires a more prominent conversation about the bill, which is voted out of the state Senate the same day but ultimately doesn't make it out of the House.

March 29th, 2007: NPI commemorates three years of posting with the three year anniversary of the Official Blog.

April 5th, 2007: NPI announces the second annual David Neiwert Awards to honor the achievements and accomplishments of the Pacific Northwest's most active progressive bloggers for the previous year (2006).

April 27th, 2007: NPI and Permanent Defense begin publishing the first of several monthly reports tracking Tim Eyman's Initiative 960 and breaking down public disclosure reports from Eyman's political action committee.

April 30th, 2007: NPI releases its thirteenth podcast, an interview with Seattle Port Commission candidate Gael Tarleton, who later goes on to beat incumbent (and Republican) Commissioner Bob Edwards.

May 17th, 2007: NPI breaks the news that Futurewise and SEIU Local 775 are filing a lawsuit seeking to block Initiative 960 from going to the ballot.

May 31st, 2007: A major update to Permanent Defense's website, Version 7 (codenamed Whidbey) is launched. It includes a restyled design and new content, mostly information about Tim Eyman's Initiative 960.

June 4th, 2007: NPI's executive director liveblogs Al Gore's appearance at Town Hall Seattle to talk about his book, The Assault on Reason.

July 20th, 2007: NPI's Outreach & Advocacy Director hosts a friendly debate between the two Democratic candidates for King County prosecutor (Bill Sherman and Keith Scully). Each answers questions submitted by NPI readers.

August 1st-4th, 2007: NPI provides live coverage of the 2007 YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, Illinois, including the Presidential Leadership Forum featuring all of the Democratic candidates except for Joe Biden.

August 21st, 2007: NPI provides live coverage of Washington's 2007 primary election, the first in many years not to be held in late September.

August 22nd, 2007: The Northwest Progressive Institute turns four.

August 23rd-26th 2007: NPI participates in the Burn Bush effort to raise money for Darcy Burner in response to Dave Reichert's fundraiser headlined by Dubya. The four day effort, orchestrated by the local and national netroots community, is a huge success, bringing in over $123,000, and contributes towards Rodney Tom's decision to leave the 8th Congressional District race.

October 4th, 2007: NPI launches the 2007 Election Podcast Series, a multimedia project intended to serve as a November ballot resource for activists and voters. The first installment profiles Bellevue City Council challenger Keri Andrews.

October 31, 2007: NPI debuts its Unconstitutional, Unfair, Unsound series looking at the ramifications of Initiative 960 and why it's bad law.

November 6th, 2007: NPI provides live coverage of the 2007 general election, a mostly unfortunate night with a few bright spots for progressives. NPI's morning after analysis (Complacency the main culprit behind a disappointing election night) is featured on the websites of the Washington State Labor Council and Spokane Spokesman-Review, among others.

November 8th, 2007: The state Supreme Court strikes down Tim Eyman's Initiative 747 as unconstitutional.

November 9th, 2007: NPI provides live coverage of the FCC's final hearing on proposed changes to media ownership rules at Town Hall Seattle. Over a thousand people from around the Pacific Northwest show up to voice their opposition to increased consolidation and deregulation.

November 29th, 2007: NPI's Executive Director, representing the organization in Olympia along with Outreach Director Rick Hegdahl, testifies in opposition to reinstatement of Initiative before House and Senate committees during a special session. The Legislature, prompted by Governor Gregoire, puts it back on the books anyway in one of the saddest days in state history.

December 23rd, 2007: NPI's Executive Director is featured on the front page of the Sunday Seattle Times & Post-Intelligencer in a story about presidential candidate matchmaking quizzes.

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