Editor's Take: November 04, 2009
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Many Happy (Election) Returns
Washington progressives got some good news in election returns: voters were approving an expanded domestic partnership law and rejected Tim Eyman's latest government-gutting initiative. Seattle's mayor's race, however, remained too close to call. In other news, Portland plans to offer stormwater "treebates" and Oregon is reining in tax breaks for renewable energy.
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'Everything but marriage' backers smell victory
Seattle Times
11/04/2009
Supporters of gay rights were buoyed by first-day returns that showed Referendum 71 leading by a narrow margin Tuesday evening. The trends looked positive for the measure, which would expand Washington's domestic-partnership law.
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McGinn leads tight Seattle mayor race
Seattle Times
11/04/2009
Seattle's mayoral race was too close to call Tuesday night, with environmentalist attorney Mike McGinn holding a narrow lead over T-Mobile executive Joe Mallahan. McGinn's insurgent campaign was outspent 3-to-1 and threw a Hail Mary pass by backing away somewhat from his signature campaign issue: opposition to the deep-bore tunnel planned for Seattle's waterfront.
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'Treebates' help stormwater programs branch out
Portland Tribune
11/04/2009
A rebate to plant trees? That's the city of Portland's plan to encourage property owners to plant more trees, which help suck up hundreds of gallons of rainwater every year, reducing the amount that flows into storm drains and, eventually, into local rivers and streams.
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Sustainable meat hits its hot spot
Willamette Week
11/04/2009
Portlander Berlin Reed used to be a militant vegan, until a series of off-restaurant jobs left him working behind a sustainably run butchery counter. "There was pretty much no argument against it. I knew exactly where the animals came from and how they lived. So I took a nice bite of rib eye at work and was like, 'I'm sold.'"
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Streetcars are our desires
Boise Idaho Statesman
11/03/2009
In Boise, a proposed $60 million trolley plan became a major theme of local elections Tuesday but also represents an American revival. Some 80 US cities have proposals for streetcars, which they hope will become engines for prosperity that will reduce congestion and air pollution by turning back the clock.
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Constantine wins King County exec
Seattle Times
11/04/2009
Riding a late-breaking wave of liberal support, Dow Constantine - a pro-abortion-rights, pro-labor, pro-transit Democrat - handily defeated Susan Hutchison on Tuesday in a rancorous race for King County executive. Now he has to clean up the county's budget, which is projected to face a $110 million shortfall over the next two years.
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OR adds 10,000 children to health plan
Corvallis Gazette-Times
11/03/2009
More than 10,000 children have been added to the state health plan under a new law aimed at expanding health insurance coverage to nearly every child in Oregon, officials said Tuesday.
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Oregon reins in renewable tax breaks
Oregonian
11/03/2009
Oregon energy officials released new rules Tuesday aimed at curbing a controversial state program that grants lucrative tax subsidies for wind, solar and other renewable power plants. The changes are intended to rein in some of the runaway costs of the program.
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Al Gore is my co-pilot
Los Angeles Times
11/03/2009
We're used to GPS car units telling us where to go. Now they also have the ability to urge us to be more eco-friendly drivers. So, would this be a handy service, or would it be more like having a grumpy Al Gore in the passenger seat?
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Views: Initiative 1033's fatal flaw
Seattle Times
11/04/2009
Tim Eyman's latest effort to mess with government, Initiative 1033, seems to have gone down in flames. Eyman's initiative reached beyond state government and deep into local courthouses and city halls, close enough for many people in small towns to see very clearly that Eyman's usual one-size-fits-all approach was not going to fit their communities, not at all.
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