In the Media

In proposing a half-penny sales tax increase earlier this month, Gov. Chris Gregoire framed it as a necessity if the state is to avoid further deep cuts to schools and social services.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to shred very core services, and it is time to stand up for Washingtonians," Gregoire said in her state of the state speech.

The half-penny increase would raise nearly $500 million a year, with most of the money going to "buy back" proposed cuts to schools, such as reduced levy equalization subsidies to poorer districts and shortening the school year by four days. If the plan passes the Legislature, it would go to a public vote this spring.

Entering its fourth straight year of major budget cuts, the 2012 Washington State Legislature is under way. In a rare one-on-one interview, the Puget Sound Business Journal sat down with Speaker of the House Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) to talk about new — and remaining — challenges state lawmakers are facing, and the Jobs Now plan being discussed.
Where are we at in starting the 2012 legislative session? How is the state better situated from the closing of the December session? We’ve been working for months, way before December, on a solution for the operating budget for the state. We made a (nearly) $500 million down payment as part of that solution in December, and the governor has proposed some other ideas, and we also have some additional ideas as to close the rest of the budget challenge in this session. I think it’s important to note we made significant progress in December with the (down payment) — it was technically $480 million — as part of the solution.

In all of John Allen's brilliance Wednesday night, it was a successful, awkward bank shot from beyond the 3-point arch that typified his performance.
Whether it be a mid-range jumper, a deep 3 or an floater in the lane, Allen seemingly couldn't miss a bucket on one of the biggest stages of his Western career.
Allen shot 12 of 14 from the floor and scored a game-high 32 points to lead the Vikings to a 99-86 Great Northwest Conference win over arch-rival Central Washington University in front of a packed Carver Gym crowd and a ROOT Sports television audience.

Season tickets to the 19th annual Bellingham Festival of Music 2012 program are on sale now, announced festival board chair John H. Binns Jr.
This season's festival, which runs July 6-21, with most concerts on Western Washington University campus, features violinist Joshua Bell (at Mount Baker Theatre) and cellist Lynn Harrell, among other internationally known guest artists.
Other highlights include a "Chamber Music By the Bay" concert at Bellingham Cruise Terminal and a guitar recital at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church featuring Pablo Sáinz Villegas.

The world’s largest lithium-ion battery plant, a joint venture between the Chinese lithium battery manufacturer Thunder Sky Group and Russian state run agency RUSNANO, was recently opened in Novosibirsk, Russia. The facility, referred to as Liotech, is expected to produce up to 500,000 lithium batteries per year, to supply electric vehicles and larger bus batteries, in addition to a variety of energy storage applications, and emergency power supplies.

North of Bellingham, along the road they call the Guide Meridian to Lynden, snow blew across the highway Wednesday, blinding at times, reaching 50 miles per hour.
Temperatures never got out of the teens. The high was only 18 degrees at 5:00 p.m. But with the wind chill, it felt a lot lower than that.
"It feels like it's cold enough to burn your face." said Gary Gilmore, as he moved granite slabs indoors from where he works along the highway. "It's definitely cold."

Olympic College will have a familiar face in the dugout this spring.

Former Central Kitsap and OC standout Erika Quint was hired as the softball coach on Wednesday.

Quint, a standout pitcher, graduated from CK in 2007 after she helped the Cougars win two Narrows League titles and won league MVP her junior year.

For Whatcom County residents, most scenes of Wednesday's heavy snowfall were on TV, from the Seattle area. The region near the Canadian border was struck instead by what qualifies as a typical, powerful blast of winter cold that began advancing from British Columbia Tuesday evening, flash-freezing existing snow that had fallen in depths ranging from several inches to a foot or more on Monday night.

Public and private schools in Whatcom County are closed Wednesday, Jan. 18 due to bad weather and poor road conditions, but Western Washington University will open on time, officials said this morning.

Among the events planned for this year's Whatcom Reads! program is a presentation of police investigative techniques and talks by acclaimed crime writer Elizabeth George, whose "In the Presence of the Enemy" is the featured book.
"We're trying to supplement the book with some real-life crime fighting and detection," said Christine Perkins, assistant director of the Bellingham Public Library. "It goes along with our Whatcom Reads! book, which is a murder mystery for adults," she said.