In the Media
Gov. Chris Gregoire told lawmakers Tuesday that to balance the state budget, they must make decisions "that may keep you awake at night because in your heart they just don't seem right."
In her annual State of the State address, Gregoire called on legislators to cut programs and remake government to close a state budget shortfall approaching $5 billion.
The governor said Washington residents' "view of government is pretty clear — they want government to stay focused on its core services, live within its means, and use every taxpayer's dollar efficiently and effectively."
Whether it's with poetry or volunteer work, several options are available for honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day, even before the holiday, which is Monday, Jan. 17.
Events will start Saturday, with a free human rights conference and social forum in Whatcom Community College's Syre Center. Registration for the event begins at 9:30 a.m., with an opening ceremony at 10 a.m., workshops and forums at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., a performance at 1 p.m. and a closing ceremony at 4:30 p.m. For more information, call 360-733-2233 or go to whatcompjc.org.
Here are some more comments from officials about Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal to overhaul the structure of the state education system and create a Department of Education.
Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard: “Western welcomes the opportunity to learn more about the governor’s proposal. ...
Although I don’t consider New Year’s resolutions to be akin to blood oaths or pinky swears, I do know that the more people you tell you’re going to do something, the more that “something” becomes real.
That’s why, as a crowd of friends gathered around my dining room table last Saturday—the first day of 2011—to share a post-dip-in-the-icy-waters repast, I made the following announcement: “I resolve to eat less red meat, exercise on a regular basis, have more sex and not be afraid to tell people if they’re pissing me off.”
So many statements we accept as true, plausible or beyond question; but are they? Let’s look at a couple of important ones: global warming and U.S. manufacturing decline.
In 2000, Dr. David Viner of University of East Anglia’s disgraced Climatic Research Unit advised, “Within a few years winter snowfall will become a very rare and exciting event.” “Children just aren’t going to know what snow is.” Britain’s Meteorological Office said this December was “almost certain” to become the coldest since records began in 1910. Paul Michaelwaite, forecaster for NetWeather.tv, said, “It is looking like this winter could be in the top 20 cold winters in the last 100 years.”
More than 70 people were cited for underage drinking at one party on Byron Avenue Friday night, Jan. 7.
Bellingham and Western Washington University police responded to a rental home at 4113 Byron Ave. after several parking and noise complaints were called in by neighbors, Bellingham Police spokesman Mark Young said.
Jazz is alive and well in Whatcom County. This month, Blue Horse Gallery in Bay Street Village offers Wednesday night jazz gigs with Western Washington University's Jazz Collective - Mike Allen, saxophones and program coordinator; Julian MacDonough, drums; Adam Thomas, bass and vocals; and Miles Black, piano and guitar.
Western Washington University has received the 2010 Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
"This Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement designation is both an honor and recognition of the positive difference Western makes in our community. This also further encourages the university to reach out to the community in even more ways," said WWU President Bruce Shepard.
A quick scan through the list of members inducted into the Western Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame since 1968, and the word "coach" keeps popping up. Fifteen times, to be exact.
In fact, the only words to show up more often are football (32 times), basketball (22 times) and track (22 times).
Six miles north of the University of Maine's flagship campus, on the only real highway in these parts, students and professors traveling south might encounter a surprise: a roadblock manned by armed Border Patrol agents, backed by drug-sniffing dogs, state policemen, and county sheriff's deputies.
Although the Canadian border is nearly 100 miles behind them—and Bangor, Maine's second-largest city, just 15 miles ahead—motorists are queried about their citizenship and immigration status. Those who raise an agent's suspicions are sent to an adjacent weigh station for further questioning and, sometimes, searches. Any foreign students or scholars unable to produce all of their original documentation are detained and could be arrested.