As the presidential campaign picked at scabs of the Vietnam War, our gubernatorial race reopened the wounds of the struggle for civil rights. Reliving of the 1960s began with a Seattle Times story on Monday, Aug. 23, about Attorney General and leading Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Christine Gregoire and her membership in Kappa Delta, then an... More

It's almost become routine anymore; on Election Night, Washingtonians go to bed knowing that more votes are yet to be counted. In any close race, it'll be as least a few more days until a winner can be crowned. Why does it take so damn long to get a final ballot count? Mostly, say election officials, it has to do with the way we vote in this state.... More

The race for Spokane County Commissioner used to be one of the main events on the local electoral landscape. But with a news cycle dominated by the latest fallout from presidential and vice presidential debates, it seems to be hard to get people focused on the races that will add two new faces to the three-member board of commissioners. Veteran... More

If you're a candidate and you haven't already bought air time, you better hurry... More

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, signed in 1964 by Lyndon B. Johnson. Traditionally bipartisan, wilderness designation has been advocated by presidents as ideologically opposite as Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, by hunters and animal welfare activists, by hikers and horseback riders. But some conservationists worry that... More

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Eastern Washington is the most polluted site in the Western Hemisphere and the biggest environmental cleanup site in the United States. The federal Department of Energy (DOE) has been charged with the cleanup of 450 billion gallons of high-level radioactive material — enough to make a 25-foot deep lake the size of... More

Washington state's voting system hasn't changed for 70 years, which may explain why voters are confused, frustrated — even angry — about the new primary ballot. Instead of simply checking the box next to any candidate, people must first choose from four primary ballots on September 14: Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or nonpartisan, and then... More

Washington State Senate -- Two years ago, Spokane was home to the most expensive legislative race in Washington state history: Republican Jim West and Democrat Laurie Dolan ran against each other for the 6th District state Senate seat. Both Democrats and Republicans parties viewed the race as crucial; the Senate is almost evenly split, and whoever won... More

Back in 2003, when President Bush's poll numbers were high and the mission in Iraq was reportedly accomplished, the White House's plan was hatched. George Nethercutt would defeat Patty Murray and shift the balance of power in the U.S. Senate decisively to the GOP. As for the seat Nethercutt would leave? Hey, it's the 5th District — they don't... More

Shaun Cross has a hard time letting things go. When his wife of 28 years, Kathy, decided finally to pitch a pair of old shoes, Shaun brought them back into the house. His housekeeper of 17 years, Rae Holland, confirms that Cross "has been known to dumpster-dive" to retrieve tossed items. So you might imagine that an auction — especially one that... More

"Peach trees require more maintenance that apple trees," she explains. "You have to squeeze the fruits every couple of days and only pick the ripe ones." After years working in her family's... More

You may think hugging babies and shaking hands is easy work in order to get elected, but follow a candidate like Larry Sheahan around for a while and you'll soon discover that running for Congress seems more like training for the Olympics. Running for public office takes a lot of legwork; in Sheahan's case, that's literal. By the time the primary... More