As we previously reported (here and here), Seattle public radio station KUOW-FM came under scrutiny last year for an on-air piece filed by reporter Meghan Walker on April 13, 2011 after billboards for a website offering alternatives for women dealing with unplanned pregnancy—YourOptions.com—began to appear around Seattle. Walker’s report on the billboard controversy was recklessly one-sided, according to YourOptions.com parent

Every other week, The Seattle Times runs the EcoConsumer column, written by King County employee Tom Watson, telling people how to be good environmental consumers. Ironically, however, some of the advice in that column is actually harmful to the environment. For example, Watson is a proponent of using “food miles,” the distance the final food product travels to market, as

The Seattle City Council appears close to requiring almost all businesses to provide employees paid sick leave. It’s an extremely rare idea with harmful potential outcomes that haven’t been fully examined by the council. Members of the Washington Retail Association want the council to slow down and perform an economic impact study of the effects of this idea before taking

Update: The (over)reaction to this post has become international and partisan. Jump to bottom of post. Two weeks ago, I began writing a biweekly column for The Redmond Reporter under the title of “Mostly Right.” In this Friday’s installment, I take on a group I have tangled with before — the community of cyclists sharing the road with motorists. From

The 1960s had their love-ins and sit-ins and the new millennium will now have its first soup-in. On Thursday, the group Working Washington will be performing their own brand of culinary street theater, staging what they call a “Depression-era unemployment line, with free soup for the unemployed” in the vicinity of Congressman Dave Reichert’s district office on Mercer Island. The

Eleven-term Congressman Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) could be packing a steamer trunk for a tour of diplomatic duty in Asia. McDermott is under consideration by the Obama administration for an appointment as the U.S. Ambassador to India, according to a source with strong ties to Washington State politics. McDermott would replace interim ambassador Albert Peter Burleigh who has served since the

The astonishingly poor performance of a “green jobs” program in Seattle should raise serious concerns about other proposals to channel public funds toward risky efforts to further inflate the green economy bubble such as candidate for Washington State Governor Jay Inslee’s plan to use public pension funds for investment in high-risk green startups. Seattlepi.com reported Tuesday that a $20 million

The King County Council has reached a deal to pass a $20 increase in car tab fees to provide additional revenue for Metro Transit, according to sources. The council had been deadlocked on the proposal but an about face by two members – Jane Hague and Kathy Lambert – should carry the $20 car tab fee to passage when the

Since the issue of a new $20 car tab fee in King County to pump cash into Metro transit’s sagging operating budget has been on the table, pundits of the professional and armchair varieties have whiled away time speculating how the swing votes on the County Council might fall. The fence-sitters on the nine-member council deftly avoided having to reveal

Though some political and cultural commentators bemoan what they see as reluctance within Generations X and Y to pick up the leadership chain that is each age’s responsibility, there is a group working diligently to accelerate the process of recruiting individuals to affect real change on crucial issues facing future generations. Gen Next – with operations in Seattle, San Diego,

The personality makeover King County Executive Dow Constantine underwent to run for the office in 2009, a veneer of pragmatic rhetoric that successfully hid the aggressive progressive side of his political persona, has begun to wear thin. Constantine has arguably been an adequate fiscal manager during a difficult time in King County government, chopping budgets in response to slacking revenues,

NW Daily Marker has learned that the first mediation conference in a complaint filed with the Washington News Council against Seattle public radio station KUOW-FM will take place Thursday. As reported earlier, KUOW has been the subject of two complaints (the second was filed with the national office of National Public Radio) pursuant to the station’s reporting related to a

Next Tuesday, the fractious debate about the inclusion of meningitis vaccinations in the recommended set of infant shots will land north of Seattle in Shoreline, Wash.The Centers for Disease Control is on a four-city tour to field public comment from doctors, healthcare workers and parents and the Shoreline meeting July 12th is the next stop after the initial meeting last

King County Councilmember Jane Hague called Metro’s mess and the $20 per car fee what they are, a big problem and a short-sighted solution. “Metro’s budget problems require more than a temporary band-aid,” Hague told NW Daily Marker by email Wednesday. The representative of King County’s 6th District has plenty of company in her dissatisfaction with the idea of raising

Rep. Jay Inslee from Washington State’s 1st Congressional District will finally make his official entry into the race for governor of Washington sometime next week, sources are reporting. The 2012 race will be Inslee’s second attempt at an election for governor. In 1996, when Washington State still held partisan primary elections, he was defeated by then-King County Executive Gary Locke

Planning to take a dip in any of King County’s many rivers to cool off once the summer heat arrives? For the many who do each year, a new ordinance passed by a 5-4 vote of the King County Council will require those enjoying any of King County’s rivers to strap on a life vest before swimming, wading, or floating

Despite all attempts to depoliticize Washington State’s redistricting process by taking it out of the hands of the legislature, it appears that political infighting may again be getting in the way of a speedy drawing of new voting lines. Only this time it is not the usual red and blue shirts holding up progress, but an internal rift among Democrats

Launching today, The NW Daily Marker becomes a new voice in the local media, reporting and commenting on the important state, local, and national issues for residents of Washington and Oregon. Featuring writing on politics and culture from a group of exceptional contributors from around the Northwest region, The NW Daily Marker will strive to entertain and inform local readers.