Government

A Washington family is scheduled to return home Saturday with days to spare before a new Russian law bans American families from adopting Russian children.

It’s Friday — time to review the week’s news with Eli Sanders, Knute Berger and David Horsey. Talks on taxes and spending are getting down to the wire in Washington, DC, and even Starbucks is urging cooperation to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. Will there be a deal before the December 31 deadline?

We'll also take a look back at the region's big stories of 2012, from history-making decisions on marijuana and marriage equality, to Seattle's steps toward police reform and a deal for a third pro sports stadium. What stories caught your attention? Call us at 206.543.5869 or write to weekday@kuow.org.

America's deadline poet Calvin Trillin presents this talk about the 2012 presidential election -- in verse. With wry humor, Trillin discusses politics, campaigns and poetry, including the frustrating difficulty of trying to rhyme words with presidential candidate names. He spoke at Seattle's Town Hall on December 10, 2012.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn wants the city to get its money out of fossil fuels. He has called on the city’s two main retirement funds to divest millions of dollars invested in oil and gas companies.

A state report has found Puget Sound Energy at fault for a gas explosion that injured two people in September 2011. The blast destroyed the North Seattle home of the Ingham family.

The Transportation Security Administration has been quietly replacing passenger-screening machines at some of the nation’s largest airports. The TSA has been moving them to smaller airports and replacing them with security scanners that don’t use X-rays.

Ross Reynolds talks about the future of higher education in Washington state with Rep. Larry Seaquist who heads the House Higher Education Committee.   Larry Seaquist is also a former US warship captain and Pentagon strategist who served for 32 years in the US Navy.