Opinion
Without benefit of ballot box
A representative democracy requires a couple of key ingredients: A. Candidates who are willing to run for office.…
Opinion
Always insist on transparency
“Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts,” William S. Burroughs wrote. For public entities — good, bad…
Opinion
Accountability in public life
The trouble with accountability in public life is the unwillingness of those held to account to acknowledge the…
Opinion
McCleary: Change starts now
McCleary. The 2012 state Supreme Court ruling breathed life into Article IX of the state Constitution. By affirming…
Opinion
Replace the gas tax, but how?
Every five years, the Washington State Transportation Commission updates its 20-year plan, a document meant to inform state…
Opinion
Rep. Hans Dunshee deserves re-election
The Legislature has much to do in the coming year, most importantly finding at least $2 billion in…
Opinion
Sept. 11 and the forever war
Americans mark the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the backdrop of last night’s on-the-offensive ISIS…
Opinion
Watching as birds fall away
Language matters. “Global warming” sounds oddly appealing on a wet-cold November morning. Scientists re-noodled the terminology and came…
Opinion
After Oso, putting safety first
In the aftermath of the Oso mudslide, policymakers took stock: Are there meaningful steps the state and Snohomish…
Opinion
Finally, no more extensions
On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that there won’t be another extension to…
Opinion
Rick Larsen earns re-election
Rep. Rick Larsen has been a conscientious, problem-solving lawmaker. Like former Rep. Norm Dicks, Larsen concentrates on long-term…
Opinion
Insist on quality over politics
After five years, the U.S. attorney for Western Washington, Jenny Durkan, has left her fingerprints, bird-dogging cyber criminals…
Opinion
Finding meaning in tragedy
Memory is kinetic. Experience crossed with place and a memory — hitched to a name — binds itself.…
Opinion
To invigorate national service
On Sept. 12, Washington state will mark the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps at the Capitol Campus in Olympia…
Opinion
Labor’s evolution of meaning
Today marks the first Labor Day since the Boeing special legislative session, the comply-or-we’ll-bolt Machinists’ contract vote, the…
Opinion
Blame added seats for conflict among airline passengers
Ever wonder if you’re an involuntary subject in a sociological experiment?
Opinion
Vote in Ty Trenary for sheriff
Public safety is an invisible seam. In times of distress, from property crimes to a large-scale horror such…
Opinion
A mental health investment
Washington’s limited resources, ad hoc strategizing and second-rate treatment of those living with mental illness were thrown into…
Opinion
Hope, renewal on the Elwha
The nearly free flowing Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula illustrates that “environmental restoration” isn’t an oxymoron.
Opinion
Irony and military spending
The challenge with reforming America’s armed services’ budget is managing a culture of dependence. Nearly 70 years after…