Government

The Washington, DC: Week In Review
What was it like to work in Washington, DC, last week? Lawmakers rejected all the gun control proposals despite testimony from Newtown parents. President Obama expressed his disappointment, calling it a "shameful day" for the country. Add to that, the contaminated letters and awful bombing in Boston. CBS News producer Jill Jackson brings us a week in review.

How Media Shapes History
Thousands of years ago, the development of writing gave power to writers. Today, the computer gives power to coders. William Bernstein chronicles the impacts technology has on human communication from its origins in Mesopotamia to our 21st century global society in his book, “Masters of the Word: How Media Shaped History.”

Interfaith Amigos: Ancient Texts In A Modern World
The Bible, the Torah and the Quran are ancient religious texts written for an ancient audience.  How do we adapt ancient teachings to a modern world? The Interfaith Amigos share their views.

On March 22, 2013,  around  5:00 a.m., a SWAT team from the Bellevue Police Department showed up at a tiny dead-end street in Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood. They were there to arrest a suspect on a warrant for robbery.

Things did not go smoothly.

How long does it take to get a prescription for medical marijuana? More than a few minutes, according to the Washington State Department of Health.  State regulators have suspended the license of a Seattle-area naturopath who did a brisk business at Hempfest event 2011.

The mood was upbeat Wednesday afternoon as supporters of immigration reform gathered in Seattle for a press conference. Students, union workers and immigrant advocates cheered the long-awaited arrival of a proposed bill in Congress. But many at the event also voiced mixed feelings about a few things the bill includes and a few things it leaves out.

Pete Holmes is Seattle’s city attorney and that means his clients include the mayor, the City Council, the police and the public. Pete Holmes previously worked as a private attorney in Seattle for almost 25 years before being elected city attorney in November 2009. He was also an original member of the Seattle Police Department's Office of Professional Accountability Review Board (OPARB) and served as chairman from 2003 to 2008. Ross Reynolds talks with Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes about the recent retirement of Police Chief John Diaz, the Department of Justice and what he was doing in Copenhagen. 

It's getting down to the wire at the state capitol in Olympia, where lawmakers are working to pass a budget in the final weeks of the 105-day state Legislative session. Legislators are bargaining over how to best meet a state Supreme Court ruling to amply fund public education to the tune of $1 billion. There's also talk of toughening DUI laws, and a dispute over funding for the Columbia River Crossing in Southwest Washington. We'll ask Governor Jay Inslee about the latest news. Have a question for the governor? Call us at 206.543.5869 or send an email to weekday@kuow.org.

Today is the deadline for filing your taxes, and maybe you’re a little burnt out on the whole process. The New York Times reports that Americans spend 9.14 billion hours on government paperwork every year. Of that time 75 percent, or 6.7 billion hours, is spent on documents from The Treasury Department. According to author and law professor, Cass Sunstein, it’s because the Treasury Department houses the Internal Revenue Service, which takes up way too much of our time during tax season. Sunstein was head of the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009-2012, and he wrote a recent op-ed article for the New York Times on this topic. Ross Reynolds talks with Sunstein and asks if the IRS is wasting our time.