June and the 2011 filing period for elected office are upon us. All this week, elections officials around the state will be accepting formal declarations of candidacy from Washingtonians who have decided they want to run for office. Throughout the week, we’ll be keeping watch on who has filed in key races in King County […]
Posted inEducation, Elections
Rob McKenna makes his gubernatorial ambitions official… as if he needed to
This evening, in front of a friendly crowd at Sammamish High School in Bellevue, and with his family by his side, Rob McKenna announced what we’ve all known for some time: He wants to be governor of Washington State. In a long, carefully scripted speech, McKenna laid out his agenda, which mostly consisted of a series […]
Posted inElections, Series & Special Reports
Filing Week 2011: A look at who’s filed in key races as of Wednesday afternoon
June and the 2011 filing period for elected office are upon us. All this week, elections officials around the state will be accepting formal declarations of candidacy from Washingtonians who have decided they want to run for office. Throughout the week, we’ll be keeping watch on who has filed in key races in King County […]
Posted inElections
Rob McKenna to officially launch gubernatorial campaign tomorrow in Bellevue
It’s been said that Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna’s gubernatorial ambitions are the biggest open secret in Washington politics. Tomorrow, McKenna is expected to officially confirm those ambitions (and more) when he formally announces his 2012 campaign in Bellevue. The King County Republican Party, acting as a proxy for McKenna’s campaign, has rented the […]
Posted inElections, Series & Special Reports
Filing Week 2011: A look at who’s filed in key races as of Monday afternoon
June and the 2011 filing period for elected office are upon us. All this week, elections officials around the state will be accepting formal declarations of candidacy from Washingtonians who have decided they want to run for office. Throughout the week, we’ll be keeping watch on who has filed in key races in King County […]
Posted inAnnouncements, Events
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer to speak at Netroots Nation
The lineup of speakers for the sixth annual Netroots Nation is finally starting to fill out, with just a week and three days to go before the convention begins. Organizers announced this morning that White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer will be participating in a question and answer session with attendees. Pfeiffer will likely be […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Our Environment, Policy Topics
Grays Harbor Paper: 1993–2011
Grays Harbor Paper, which has for years supplied the Harbor/100 paper that we at NPI use for our everyday printing needs, announced yesterday that it is shutting its doors permanently and laying off two hundred and forty people in the process. GHP’s president, Patrick Quigg, released a statement attributing the shutdown to the following major […]
Posted inOpen Government, Party Politics
Republican state legislator skipped special session to go on a European cruise
According to a story in The Kitsap Sun, State Representative Jan Angel (R – Port Orchard) was absent for almost the entire special session of the Legislature – because she was on a European cruise. Angel won the European cruise at a Port Orchard event in November and claims to have consulted with Republican leaders […]
Posted inAnnouncements, Media & Culture
Here’s another chance to help improve our collective understanding of online activism
Editor’s Note: A few years ago, we asked readers to participate in an online survey to help researchers at the University of Tennessee and Texas Tech University learn more about how Americans use the Internet to obtain political information. The folks who put together that survey are presently conducting a follow-up, and would like NPI […]
Posted inAnnouncements, Events
Register for NWroots 2011
Shortly before we lost our beloved Lynn Allen to ovarian cancer three months ago, she entrusted us with the responsibility of carrying forward the political and civic causes she was so passionate about. One of those causes was bringing progressive activists together to organize and mobilize for change. Not long after Lynn and I attended […]
Posted inCivil Liberties, Elections, Policy Topics, Public Planning
Mercenary petitioners hawking Tim Eyman’s l‑1125 target Bellevue College students
Though it’s not apparent from looking at Voters Want More Choices’ most recent reports to the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), NPI can today confirm what we have suspected since the beginning of the month: Tim Eyman has found a new wealthy benefactor to put up the money for his latest scheme, Initiative 1125, which he […]
Posted inAnnouncements, Media & Culture
Congratulations, Michael!
Congratulations are in order to our good friend Michael Hood, who has been keeping a critical eye on talk radio over at blatherWatch since 2005. Yesterday, Michael became the first blogger from the Pacific Northwest credentialed to cover a White House press briefing, which is a pretty big deal. As Michael recounts, it may have been just […]
Posted inEvents, Policy Topics, Public Planning
Sound Transit christens University Link tunnel boring machines at Husky Stadium
Let the tunneling begin! This morning, at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium, Senator Patty Murray, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff, and local elected officials gathered to join Sound Transit in christening the boring machines that will excavate the tunnels between the U‑District station at Husky Stadium and the Capitol Hill station at Broadway and Denny. University […]
Posted inPolicy Topics, Technology
Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5 billion
Microsoft confirmed today that it is spending eight and half billion dollars in cash to acquire peer to peer communications company Skype, which operates the world’s most preeminent VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) platform. The deal, which was first reported by the tech press a couple of days ago, is the biggest acquisition in Microsoft’s […]