In the Media

Western Washington University used a burst early in the second half to break open a tight game and defeat University of Central Oklahoma, 69-53, in first-day women’s basketball action Thursday at the sixth annual Great Western Shootout being held at The Arena at South Point.

orward Zach Henifin (Sr., Bellingham) had 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals, leading Western Washington University to an 80-61 victory over nationally ranked and previously unbeaten Rollins College in first-day men’s basketball action Thursday at the sixth annual Great Western Shootout being held at The Arena at South Point.

Five of Washington’s universities have been named in the top 20 institutions in the United States for awarding degrees to teachers who later became National Board Certified Teachers.

The certification is a rigorous review process that aims to improve a teacher’s skills in the classroom. It’s awarded by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

The University of Washington was ranked third, Western Washington University was ranked fourth and Central Washington University was ranked fifth out of 50 institutions for producing certified teachers in 2011.

A guy wearing a long-sleeve T-shirt with the letters "WWU" on front introduced himself.

"We're just happy to be here," said Tony Dominguez, who claimed to be with Western Washington University.

Direction in the school name? Bookstore T-shirt and Nikes instead of Armani and Bruno Magli? He's legit. Let 'im in.

Dominguez grabbed one of those big mops used to sweep basketball floors and put it to its intended use.

A former professor at The Evergreen State College has skipped out on paying the largest ethics fine in Washington state history.

Jorge Gilbert's deadline for paying a $120,000 fine came and went at the end of November. It's not the first time Gilbert has avoided the consequences of steering college funds to his family members. Evergreen officials had evidence that Gilbert misused state funds more than a decade before the school finally gave him the boot.

The Legislature adjourned a 17-day special session Wednesday after voting to close $480 million of the state’s $2 billion budget gap.
The action, which passed by lopsided and bipartisan votes in the House and Senate, left the tougher budget decisions until lawmakers return Jan. 9 for a regular 60-day session.
That is when liberal Democrats are likely to demand new tax revenues in exchange for new spending cuts, while others seek reforms to save money.

Washington lawmakers have adjourned their special session without re-balancing the state budget -– as the governor had demanded. Instead, majority Democrats took a modest bite out of the $1.4 billion shortfall.

But they left the tough decisions for January. That's when a group of fiscally conservative Democrats will hold particular sway. They call themselves the "Roadkill Caucus" because they've often felt run over by the left and the right. Now they're standing up.

Remember, there is no quid pro quo.
Denials aside, there appear to be plenty of connections between Gov. Chris Gregoire’s education reform package and her hopes of building support for a temporary sales tax increase.
Gregoire on Tuesday unveiled bills that will finally add consequences on teachers who get poor evaluations and also begin to use factors other than seniority in teacher layoffs, call-backs, transfers and vacancies. She said sales-tax-hike voters need to know they’re ”making a good investment in an education system that’s improving.”
But she stressed that there is no quid pro quo to trade school reform for business support for a tax effort.

Congressional negotiators are close to reaching agreement on a $1 trillion budget for the federal government in 2012, with a vote expected by the end of the week. The measure would draw from competing House and Senate budget plans to pay for the Pell Grant Program, enacting changes to both the grant program itself and to subsidized undergraduate student loans.

To say that this year's inductee into the supplier wing of the Convenience Store News Industry Hall of Fame was surprised by this honor from his customers and colleagues would be an understatement.

"When I read the letter informing me that I had been chosen to be inducted into the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame, I first thought that I was being invited to attend the event. It's a great event and I was glad to be invited," said Pat Cordle, who began his career at BIC Corp. in 1986 — one year before the Hall of Fame was launched by the industry's leading media brand.

"As I read the letter a little closer, I realized that I was not being invited; I was being inducted in the Hall of Fame! I was a little stunned, shocked and excited all at the same time. This is a great honor. I really never thought that I would be recognized in this way."