Read NPI contributor Joel Connelly’s review of The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault on American Democracy, by renowned journalist David Neiwert.
Monthly Archives: August 2023
Posted inPolicy Topics
Sound Transit Board agrees to open Redmond to Bellevue segment of East Link in 2024
The East Link extension, approved as part of Sound Transit Phase II in 2008, will connect Bellevue and Redmond to Mercer Island and Seattle when complete. Defective construction on the cross-lake segment (which is necessitating a do-over of some work) prompted the agency to rethink the original opening plans.
Posted inElections
A night of militant extremism: Donald Trump’s Republican rivals clash in debate while he and Tucker Carlson gab and gripe
Read NPI’s recap of the first Republican presidential candidates debate, which took place August 23rd, 2023, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sans Donald Trump.
Posted inPublic Service
Drew Hansen moves over to the Washington State Senate, succeeding Christine Rolfes
The three-member commission — which now includes Rolfes — exercised its constitutional authority to fill the vacancy created by her resignation by choosing Hansen from a list of three nominees presented by the Kitsap County Democratic Central Committee.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Most of Washington’s counties are suing the state for refusing to provide necessary behavioral health treatment under state law
“In the face of DSHS’s continuing contempt for both legislative and judicial authority, Washington’s counties have joined in an unprecedented coalition to enforce DSHS’s legal obligations,” the counties declare in their legal action.
Posted inMeta
Two decades! NPI celebrates twenty years of revolutionizing grassroots politics today
Since August 22nd, 2003, the Northwest Progressive Institute has been working from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to expand freedom and increase prosperity for everyone in our region and beyond. Our insightful research and imaginative advocacy have been and continue to be a engine of progress in a difficult period in our history… an age of insurrection, to quote from our friend David Neiwert.
Posted inPolicy Topics
From pariahs to cultural icons: The Pacific Northwest has thankfully come to love orcas
Though they have been considered relatives by the region’s Coast Salish peoples since time immemorial, it wasn’t that long ago that orcas were viewed negatively by many non-indigenous Pacific Northwesterners. NPI contributor Joel Connelly recounts how much has changed in the last half century.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Courageous young Montanans have just won an important legal victory for climate justice
“Plaintiffs have a fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment which includes climate as part of the environmental life support,” Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley wrote in a groundbreaking opinion.
Posted inPolicy Topics
As climate catastrophes envelop the world, it’s business as usual for fossil fuel zealots
The Earth is telling us as loudly as it can that it’s got a fever. But a frighteningly large percentage of humanity isn’t listening and doesn’t care, a stance encouraged by fossil fuel zealots profiting from the planet’s destruction.
Posted inBreaking News
Medical Lake ordered to evacuate as fast-spreading Gray Fire consumes structures
The blaze was one of three fires burning in Eastern Washington near Spokane as the weekend of August 18th-20th, 2023 began.
Posted inLitigation
Tim Eyman is searching for a treasurer to help him belatedly comply with court rulings
The ex-initiative promoter has apparently decided to start making a belated effort to comply with a series of rulings issued by Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon in the State of Washington’s main campaign finance enforcement case against him.
Posted inBreaking News
Canada can’t catch a break: Raging fires now threaten Yellowknife and Kelowna, B.C.
With a little over a month to go until the autumnal equinox, blazes are wreaking havoc across the country, with significant fires in every province and territory.
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
New fiscal dashboard proposed by NPI and Senator Kuderer goes live for Washingtonians
Prepared by the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program (LEAP) and the Office of Financial Management (OFM), the Budgeting for Washington’s Future fiscal dashboard provides useful, truthful, and accurate information about state revenue and expenditures, as required by the legislation we created to get rid of Tim Eyman’s push polls.
Posted inEvents
Kamala Harris talks climate damage amidst a summer of record heat and extreme weather
“It is clear the clock is not just ticking, it is banging,” Harris told a crowd at the McKinstry, a Seattle based firm which has been a national leader in energy-efficient building construction.