During tonight’s Dial-Mocracy call on the ballot measures, one of our listeners asked how the newish top-two primary system has worked so far in Washington. This past primary election was the first one where the new system was in play. In the heart of Seattle, one legislative district has two Democrats that advanced to the […]
Amy J. Ruiz
Posted inPolitics
Hooray, Oregon!
From Secretary of State Bill Bradbury: Oregon set a new record for registered voters Tuesday a few hours before the registration deadline for the Nov. 4 election. Late Tuesday afternoon, the number of voters in Oregon exceeded 2,141,249, the record high set for the 2004 general election. As of 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oregon had 2,143,290 […]
Posted inPolitics
Measure Mania, Tonight!
I’ve been quiet on the blog today, as I cram for tonight’s ballot measure mania teleforum, Dial-Mocracy. The Bus Project’s Jefferson Smith and I will cruise through ten of the most contentious ballot measures, to give you the 101 you’ll need to make an informed choice when your ballot arrives later this week. If you […]
Posted inElection 2008
Dial-Mocracy, Tomorrow Night!
At the end of this week, ballots–ballots CRAMMED with statewide measures–are going out. Do you have any idea how you’re going to vote on measures like: Measure 64: Penalizes person, entity for using funds collected with “public resource” (defined) for “political purpose” (defined) or Measure 57: Increases sentences for drug trafficking, theft against elderly and […]
Posted inPolitics
Mayor Tom Potter “Suspends” Trip to Zimbabwe, Citing Economic Crisis
Looks like Mayor Tom Potter took a page from John McCain playbook, suspending a planned trip to Africa, citing the shitty economy. Except in this case, there’s a legitimate reason for Potter to stick around–tomorrow, the city council is getting a crash course on the current state of city and state finances. MAYOR CHOOSES NOT […]
Posted inPolitics
Candy Neville Tells John McCain What He Can Do with That Whip
This just in: Former U.S. Senate candidate Candy Neville weighs in on Sen. John McCain’s assertion that he’s going to “whip” Sen. Barack Obama during Wednesday’s debate:
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
Paul Krugman wins the Nobel Prize in Economics for criticizing the Bush Administration’s economic policies in his regular New York Times column “having shown the effects of economies of scale on trade patterns and on the location of economic activity.” Umm: “McCain, meanwhile, dialed back personal attacks on Obama over the weekend that have been […]
Posted inPolitics
Bus Project Takes on 20/20’s John Stossel
On Friday night, 20/20 ran a piece on young voters, quizzing kids at a rock concert about things like how many senators each state has. When not everyone knew the correct answer–two–John Stossel posited that perhaps young voters should stay home on November 4. Umm… See it for yourself: The Bus Project flipped the theory […]
Posted inHomo
Connecticut Becomes Third State to Green Light Same-Sex Marriage
This just in: Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making that state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions. The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut’s civil unions law […]
Posted inPolitics
Fact Checking the Candidates–Exploding Parks Edition
City Commissioner candidate Charles Lewis made a claim at last night’s OLMV debate that really caught my attention–so much so that I went back to my tape this morning to be sure I heard him correctly. When talking about equity among neighborhoods, he discussed his own Cully neighborhood, which Lewis says does “not receive the […]
Posted inPolitics
Gordon Smith and Jeff Merkley Debate
Sen. Gordon Smith and Oregon Rep. Jeff Merkley finally faced each other tonight, in the KGW-Oregonian debate. Smith has been a big scaredy cat this election, refusing joint appearances with Merkley (Smith skipped the Mercury endorsement interview, and from what I’ve been told, he hasn’t responded to KATU, OPB’s Think Out Loud, OPB television, Oregon […]
Posted inNews
Traffic Control
Commissioner Randy Leonard Wants to Close Streets to Cars
Commissioner Randy Leonard wants to close part of the city to auto traffic.