Define ‘essential’

All over but the shouting: Unless the U.S. Senate and House can come to an agreement to extend funding today, a government shutdown could throw 800,000 federal workers off the job without pay.

The good news: Some essential workers, including Border Patrol agents, air traffic controllers and meat inspectors, will remain on the job. The bad news: Somehow, Congress is still considered “essential.”

Tartar or ketchup? A tough season ended on a bitter note for fans of the Seattle Mariners, who along with absorbing the loss of manager Eric Wedge, watched the M’s lose to Oakland, 9-0.

Fans who watched the final game drowned their sorrows by splitting one order of garlic fries, with plenty left over for the seagulls.

Don’t know much about history: On this day in 1938, British Prime Minister Nevil Chamberlain noted the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, saying famously, “I believe it is peace for our time.”

Chamberlain thus provided members of Congress, radio talk show hosts and online commenters with a handy quote to demonstrate their poor understanding of history.

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Editorial cartoons for Thursday, March 28

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Initiative promoter Tim Eyman takes a selfie photo before the start of a session of Thurston County Superior Court, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, in Olympia, Wash. Eyman, who ran initiative campaigns across Washington for decades, will no longer be allowed to have any financial control over political committees, under a ruling from Superior Court Judge James Dixon Wednesday that blasted Eyman for using donor's contributions to line his own pocket. Eyman was also told to pay more than $2.5 million in penalties. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Editorial: Initiative fee increase protects process, taxpayers

Bumped up to $156 from $5, the increase may discourage attempts to game the initiative process.

Protecting forests and prevent another landslide like Oso

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Boeing’s downfall started when engineers demoted

Boeing used to be run by engineers who made money to build… Continue reading

Learn swimming safety to protect kids at beach, pool

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Comment: Why shootings have decreased but gun deaths haven’t

High-capacity magazines and ‘Glock switches’ that allow automatic fire have increased lethality.

Washington state senators and representatives along with Governor Inslee and FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez break ground at the Swift Orange Line on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Community Transit making most of Link’s arrival

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An image of Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin is reflected in a storefront window during the State of the City Address on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at thee Everett Mall in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
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FILE - The massive mudslide that killed 43 people in the community of Oso, Wash., is viewed from the air on March 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Editorial: Mapping landslide risks honors those lost in Oso

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Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, March 27

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Burke: ‘Why not write about Biden, for once?’ Don’t mind if I do.

They asked; I’ll oblige. Let’s consider what the president has accomplished since the 2020 election.

Comment: Catherine missed chance to dispel shame of cancer

She wasn’t obligated to do so, but she might have used her diagnosis to educate a sympathetic public.

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