Government

The Liquor Control Board is currently drafting the rules for how to apply for a license to grow marijuana in Washington state.  Several groups made up of lawyers, lobbyists and farmers have formed, and they’re looking to influence the board’s decisions.

One of these organizations is the Cannabis Business Group. Ross Reynolds talks with their board member, Hilary Bricken, a cannabis business lawyer.

The Affordable Care Act is enacting big changes in the nation’s health care system. Here in Washington state, a health care exchange called HealthPlanFinder is scheduled to open in October. It’s supposed to guarantee everyone can get health insurance. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler talks with Ross Reynolds about the new facets of health insurance reform arriving in 2013.

Many Seattle residents are grateful for the new year because it means that their garbage will be picked up every week. At least for now.

For the past six months, 800 Seattle households participated in a pilot program that experimented with picking up the trash every other week. The affected neighborhoods were roughly in the four corners of the city and included Wedgewood.

The Seattle Police Department is facing another use-of-force lawsuit accompanied by video footage. Friday the department defended its conduct at a press conference.

Outgoing governor Chris Gregoire, the state transportation commission, and the state’s biggest business lobby are calling for an increase in the gas tax to pay for the massive backlog in road repair. Will that deal with the funding problem?

Ross talks with Steve Mullin from the Washington Roundtable, Dan O’Neil of the Washington State Transportation Commission, Rob Johnson of the Transportation Choices Coalition, and Mark Hallenbeck from the Washington State Transportation Center.

Winter is usually not the season for road construction, but this year, things are a little different. Friday marks the start of eleven planned closures of some Interstate 5 ramps.

  This year Washington voters could be voting on whether foods that have been produced using genetic engineering would have to be labeled as such. Trudy Bialic is the director of public affairs for PCC Natural Markets and a member of the campaign steering committee for Label-It-WA, the campaign that supports Initiative 522. Ross Reynolds talks with her about why she supports the labeling initiative.