Government

Last month a SWAT team from Bellevue arrived around 5:00 a.m. in a Columbia City neighborhood to serve a warrant for a suspect. As the dramatic scene unfolded the suspect, Russell Smith, was shot and killed by three Bellevue police officers. Now neighbors want answers about what happened.

Budget officials in the city of Seattle delivered some good news yesterday. For the first time since the financial crisis, the city is forecasting a budget surplus.

Police say a quadruple murder in Federal Way Sunday night started as a domestic violence incident.

In Washington state, it’s perfectly legal for employers to refuse to hire people who smoke. In 2006, state lawmakers tried but failed to join 29 other US states that made it illegal for employers to discriminate against smokers. 

According to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, it’s legal for companies to ban smokers from their workforce because smokers are not protected by any wrongful termination laws.

This Week In Olympia
The legislative session is almost over but lots of issues remain unresolved. Education funding is still up in the air, so is an agreement on a balanced budget.  Jerry Cornfield, reporter and political columnist for the Everett Herald is waiting for answers along with the rest of us.
 

David Stockman Takes The American Economy To The Woodshed
In 1985,  federal budget Director David Stockman was sharply rebuked by his boss, Ronald Reagan, for saying the president’s tax programs were trickle-down programs to help the rich. These days, author David Stockman is taking Ben Bernanke, Wall Street Banks and the Obama administration to the woodshed for printing money, running deficits and leaving the gold standard.
 

The Media’s Boston Bomber Frenzy
CNN went on the air with misinformation about the imminent arrest of suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. The front page of the New York Post identified the wrong men as suspects. Should audiences have any expectations for factual reporting during these fast moving stories? 

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.