County commissioners opt to let next board decide how to move on several issues
Tuesday, December 30 10:54 p.m.
BY MICHAEL ANDERSEN COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER
For Clark County’s outgoing board of commissioners, this looked like finals week. On their final day of service, they were scheduled to hand a favor to organized labor, hike fees for builders and landowners, and throw down a legal gauntlet to state government.
But in the end, the departing trio decided to give themselves an extension on all of it. The decisions will push all these issues into next year — and into the arms of next year’s more conservative board.
Storm runoff
* The plan: Defy a state order to tighten storm-runoff standards for new construction.* What it would mean: A likely string of lawsuits against the county.
* For it: Developers. They say the new state order is impractical and would add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new house.
* Skeptical: Environmentalists. Last month, the county’s clean water commission advised commissioners not to do this.
* The bottom line: Developers might have a point. But how much money does the county want to spend to prove it?
Labor standards
* The plan: Require apprentice workers on county projects costing more than $1 million.
* What it would mean: Want to do business with the county? Create an apprenticeship program.
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Comments 10 Recommend 2
Vancouver firefighters waive pay raises to help city budget
04:20 PM PST on Tuesday, December 30, 2008
By KGW Staff
VANCOUVER, Wash. -- As the economy continues to flounder Vancouver firefighters made a surprising decision Tuesday to forego salary increases.
The firefighter’s union overwhelmingly agreed to waive a 4 percent pay raise scheduled to take effect in 2009.
The vote passed by 91 percent.
Vancouver's mayor thanked firefighters, saying that on top of saving lives, they were saving city government some $700,000.
“I don't know of any time in the history of the city that any union or guild has done this,” Mayor Royce Pollard said. “It is truly a recognition of the needs of the community and I have nothing but respect and admiration for the Vancouver Firefighters Union.”
Pollard said the money will be used to make sure public safety is maintained at the same level for 2009.
Gov calls for deportation of jailed illegal aliens
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Last updated December 30, 2008 4:58 p.m. PT
By MANUEL VALDESASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SEATTLE -- To save money, Gov. Chris Gregoire wants illegal aliens serving time in state jails deported.
Her proposal estimates that deporting illegal aliens - who are serving or would serve time in state jails for drug or property crime convictions - will save the state more than $9 million in the next two-year budget.
The state faces a $5.7 billion budget deficit over the next 2 1/2 years, and Gregoire has proposed a no new-taxes budget proposal laden with cuts, including about $200 million from the Department of Corrections, the Attorney General's office, and other public safety programs.
The deportation proposal is modeled after a program in Arizona that has saved the state more than $18.5 million since 2005, said Eldon Vail, Secretary of the state Department of Corrections.
"It's not an ideal choice, if revenue was there, I'd say have them do their time," Vail said. "Is justice better served? It's a tough question to wrestle with when you don't have resources."
Shhhh! As the world waits for Obama to voice his opinion on Gaza, America's president-in-waiting hits the golf course
By Mail Foreign ServiceLast updated at 3:54 PM on 30th December 2008
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Barack Obama remained silent over the violence in Gaza as Israel today threatened to continue its attacks for weeks.
Instead, the president-elect is continuing his 12-day Christmas holiday in Hawaii and was seen enjoying a round of golf.
He joined a group of friends at a private club near his £6million rented, beach-front holiday home in Hawaii yesterday.
Meanwhile, 9,000 miles away in the Middle East, Israel rejected any truce with Hamas today and said it was ready for 'long weeks of action' in the Gaza Strip.
Observers said that at least ten people were killed and another 40 injured as up to 16 bombs were dropped by Israeli warplanes during early morning attacks.
The targets included the offices of Hamas prime minister Ismael Haniyeh, police stations and Gaza’s treasury and foreign ministry buildings.
Shh: Mr Obama, who is staying silent on the Israeli attacks, asks the crowd to be quiet as he finishes his putt
Say goodnight, Caroline: How JFK's daughter flubbed the audition to become the next Senator Kennedy Updated Sunday, December 28th 2008, 1:02 PM
In the beginning, just three long weeks ago, the idea 
of Caroline Kennedy being a United States senator had a certain ring to it. The Camelot myth still has shelf life and a merger with the historic Obama presidency provided an intriguing story line.
Kennedy would replace Hillary Clinton, one leading lady following another on a stage where name recognition often substitutes for merit. The narrative was tailor-made for the fever chambers of celebrity-obsessed media and the bandwagon quickly picked up speed.
Some top Democrats were certain Gov. Paterson, a close-to-the vest electorat
e of one, would find Kennedy irresistible now and as a running mate in two years. All others were chopped liver next to her sudden star power.
But a strange thing is happening on the way to the coronation. The wheels of the bandwagon are coming off. Fantasy is giving way to inescapable truth.
That truth is that Kennedy is not ready for the job and doesn't deserve it. Somebody who loves her should tell her.
Her quest is becoming a cringe-inducing experience, as painful to watch as it must be to endure. Because she is the only survivor of that dreamy time nearly 50 years ago, she remains an iconic figure. But in the last few days, her mini-campaign has proved she has little to offer New Yorkers except her name.
Her handlers and family enablers insist she feels no entitlement to the Senate job, yet there is no other possible reason to give it to her. Her name is the sole reason she even dares go for it. Camelot must be Gaelic for chutzpah.
New York can do better.
There is no denying the situation is odd. No one quite knows how to garner Paterson's approval or what his vetting process is. He hasn't even endorsed the sensible idea of public forums and debates, which would give voters a way to participate.
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Israeli troops mobilize as Gaza assault widens
Israel widened its deadliest-ever air offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers Sunday, pounding smuggling tunnels and a central prison, sending more tanks and artillery toward the Gaza border and approving a reserves callup for a possible ground invasion.
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and KARIN LAUB
Associated Press Writers
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel widened its deadliest-ever air offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers Sunday, pounding smuggling tunnels and a central prison, sending more tanks and artillery toward the Gaza border and approving a reserves callup for a possible ground invasion.
Israeli leaders said they would press ahead with the Gaza campaign, despite enraged protests across the Arab world and Syria's decision to break off indirect peace talks with the Jewish state. Israel's foreign minister said the goal was to halt Gaza rocket fire on Israel for good, but not to reoccupy the territory.
With the two-day death toll climbing above 290 Sunday, crowds of Gazans breached the border wall with Egypt to escape the chaos. Egyptian forces, some firing in the air, tried to push them back into Gaza and an official said one border guard was killed.
Hamas, in turn, fired missiles deeper than ever into Israel, near the Israeli port city of Ashdod, and continues to command some 20,000 fighters.
Yet Hamas leaders were forced into hiding, most of the dead were from the Hamas security forces, and Israel's military intelligence chief said Hamas' ability to fire rockets had been reduced by 50 percent. Indeed, Hamas rockets fire dropped off sharply, from more than 130 on Saturday to just over 20 on Sunday.
Israel's intense bombings - some 300 air strikes since midday Saturday - wreaked unprecedented destruction in Gaza, reducing entire buildings to rubble.
Shlomo Brom, a former senior Israeli military official, said it was the deadliest force ever used in decades of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. "Since Hamas took over Gaza (in June 2007), it has become a war between two states, and in war between states, more force is used," he said.
European leaders called on both Israel and Hamas to end the bloodshed.
John Laird Dec. 28: Sacagawea would be ashamed of us
Sunday, December 28 1:00 a.m.
BY JOHN LAIRDCOLUMBIAN OPINION EDITOR
Editorials
In our view Dec. 26: Ill-Timed Greed
Message from state workers’ union: ‘Give us our money; never mind your problems
Friday, December 26 1:00 a.m.
Labor unions have improved the American way of life in many ways for more than 130 years. Working conditions, wages and benefits all are better because of unions.
But in a modern America, sooner or later unions must decide to become part of the solution or continue to be part of the problem. To date, the latter seems to be the case, as evidenced in this state by the Washington Federation of State Employees suing Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday. In the budget that Gregoire released last week, she proposed dropping raises of about 2 percent for the union’s 40,000 workers in state agencies and colleges.
In so doing, Gregoire essentially declared that times are tough for everyone, including union workers. That’s not persuasive enough for union officials. Their lawsuit accuses Gregoire of unfair labor practices. How can that be, when Gregoire wants union workers to be treated like everyone else? Everyone else, that is, lucky enough to have a job.
She’s also accused of breach of contract, an argument that loses steam when union spokesman Tim Welch says his group simply wants the issue taken to the Legislature. “If they vote it down, then we go back to negotiations. We don’t understand why the governor couldn’t do that,” he said.
The union is looking for kinder treatment from legislators than they’re receiving from Gregoire. She promised not to raise taxes, and she kept that promise, by proposing tough cuts in programs, salaries and virtually all other aspects of state government.
When union officials squawk about pay during the worst economic crisis in memory, it only fuels the suspicion that all they care about is the union. They can attach euphemistic words to their title (the teachers union is the Washington Education Association) but repeatedly union leaders and members embrace their selfish sole priority. That’s their job, of course, but it does nothing to solve the economic problem.
State workers are being laid off left and right. A hiring freeze has been imposed, to the detriment of many citizens who rely on vital state agencies and services. Overall, Gregoire has proposed more than $3 billion in spending cuts over the next 2 years. More than 2,000 state workers could be laid off. Classrooms likely will become more crowded. Highway projects will be postponed. Yet what do we hear from the state employees’ union? “Give us our money. Never mind your problems.”
In our view Dec. 25: A Dozen Gifts
No partridges in pear trees, no turtle doves, no pipers piping, no drummers drumming
Thursday, December 25 1:00 a.m.
The Interstate 5 Bridge’s two spans, built in 1917 and 1958, were constructed on timber pilings that still support them 70 feet under the river bottom. Experts say recent studies show that the sandy soil beneath the spans is likely to liquefy to a depth of 75 feet during a significant earthquake.
Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.
ey sent me this beaut:"Shipping and handling included?" For this kind of cash, they ought to fly you over to Japan so you can PERSONALLY pick out the cow that you want to grab a chunk of... right off the hoof!
Look... I know all about Kobe beef, beer fed, hand massaged, all natural, etc, etc.
But I'm NOT interested in buying the guy that actually RAISED this cow.
Here's the description:
One week lead time due to rarity and freshness of product.
One bite and you’ll know why chefs and connoisseurs alike love D’Artagnan’s (THERE'S a fine old Japanese name!) Japanese Wagyu Beef!
The real deal—100% authentic Wagyu of the highest grade possible, raised in Japan according to the strict standards that have made its Kobe Beef world-famous for its unsurpassed tenderness and flavor.
Our genetically traceable cattle are raised on a diet of soybeans, wheat barley and beer, with no antibiotics, growth hormones or animal by-products ever used. A strictly followed diet rotation and traditional Sake massage are key factors in the development of the Wagyu’s characteristic marbling and taste.
The result is a superbly flavorful meat that is well marbled, extremely tender and mouthwateringly juicy.
100% authentic Wagyu beef
Product of Japan
No antibiotics
No hormones
No animal by-products
Sake-massaged cattle are raised to 30-36 months
Special order - please allow up to 1 week for delivery
________________________________________________________
Doing the math, here, we're talking about a paltry $170 a pound or so.... for a roast.
A brief internet search yielded a cost of $800 or so for a fully grown cow; some much, much higher.
Compared to $2,299.00 for a 15 pound roast, well.... bon' appetite'!
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Soldier’s death resonates
Homeless veteran froze to death though services were available
By JACK MO
(Eugene) Register-Guard
EUGENE, Ore — Thomas Egan was a scholar and a decorated soldier. He was also a homeless alcoholic whose life ended last week when he froze to death in Eugene during an unusually long and harsh cold snap.
His body was found covered in snow near the corner of West First Avenue and Blair Boulevard, a bottle of liquor by his side.
News of the demise of the longtime Eugene resident troubled many local veterans — especially those who knew that with some effort and some help, the man they called Major Egan could have had a roof over his head.
“The whole National Guard community is taking this very hard,” said Bud Dickey, a vocational rehabilitation coordinator with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ community reintegration service center in Eugene.
“It’s very disturbing for all of us, because Major Egan was retired and could have been drawing his (veterans’) benefits,” Dickey said. “He had options that he did not access.”
Egan collected monthly Social Security checks, but the amount was a pittance compared with the payments he was entitled to as a retired military veteran. When he turned 60 in July, Egan became eligible to receive $909 each month in National Guard retirement income, Dickey said.
Egan also could have applied for a separate pension check based on unemployability. “That would have gotten him an apartment if he wanted one,” said Jay Rea, a Springfield resident who served under Egan in the National Guard in the late 1980s. “I shed a tear when I heard he died,” Rea said. “It breaks my heart because he was the friendliest guy, and so smart.” A New York native, Egan joined the Army in 1971 after graduating from Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn., with a bachelor’s degree in history.
He was stationed at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea for two years, and was reassigned to the Oregon Army National Guard in 1977.
Earned master’s degree
Egan earned his master’s degree from the University of Oregon in 1983, and ultimately attained the rank of major with the National Guard.
He retired honorably in 1991, following a 20-year military career during which he was awarded several service medals and ribbons.
Dickey said Egan’s desire to drink made him ineligible for VA housing programs that require sober living.
Egan had declined to enroll in substance abuse treatment programs offered through the veterans agency, Dickey said.
According to those who knew him, Egan worked sporadically. He did some landscaping, and most years helped deliver telephone books.
Sometimes, he found an apartment to stay in for a while. At other times, he lived on the streets. In August, Egan spent two weeks at the Eugene Mission — which is less than one block from the spot where a passer-by discovered his body last week.
Mission officials said Egan never caused any trouble there, and could have stayed any time. Dickey said Egan has no relatives in Oregon, and tracking down members of his extended family on the East Coast has been challenging.
Dickey, who served five years with Egan in the National Guard, is helping to direct an effort to have Egan interred at the Roseburg National Cemetery.
“He will be buried as a veteran in a veterans’ cemetery,” Dickey said. “He was a good soldier, and we’re going to get him the burial he’s due.”
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This well done and well-deserved tribute to Brit Hume is worth the 8.5 minutes or so to watch.
Brit was not always impartial, but compared to the leftist shills masquarading as news reporters and newspaper reporters and columnists like the local version of Pravda, he has at least made a concerted effort to present both sides.
Those infested with Bush Derangement Syndrome will laud his exit, because the leftist ideal of diversity does not extend to the diversity of ideas.
And we are worse off because of it.
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The lawsuit asks Thurston County Superior Court to compel the governor to submit a request to the Legislature to fund the pay raises and other economic parts of the five contracts negotiated by the Federation. The pacts cover 30,000 General Government workers and 10,000 employees at 12 community colleges and all four-year universities and The Evergreen State College.
"In the aftermath of the Barack Obama tsunami, Republicans are correctlyanalyzing what happened. As secretary of state and one of two statewideRepublican elected officials left standing (the estimable Attorney General Rob McKenna is the other), I hope party leaders will resist the self-defeatinginstinct to move toward ideological dogma, negativism and government-is-badrhetoric."First of all, the so-called "tsunami" was, like Mr. Reed, a lot of hot air.
I hope the party will increasingly be the idea-rich home of pragmatism and reform, inclusion and problem-solvers. We are, after all, the party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt and Dan Evans.
"We have thrived for 148 years by championing individual freedom and responsibility, equal rights, fiscal conservatism, strong local and state governments, free enterprise, conservation of natural resources, and a strong national defense. To move away from the practical, common-sensemiddle is the wrong impulse."Again, cluelessly, Reed would have us believe that conservative principles include these tenets. Just for one example, the Soviet Union used to have the strongest imaginable "state government."
"Yes, Democrats have won the White House, the governor’s mansion and legislative majorities, but we must put division aside and get on with collaborative governing. Voters want results."
If "results" got people elected... or unelected... then Reed would be long gone and Gregoire with him, given their disastrous tenures in office.
Mr. Reed is so dangerously ignorant, so politically inept, so moronically guilty of misfeasance and so unqualified to hold elective office that his election is proof that you can, in fact, fool all of the people, all of the time.
And it certainly does NOT give Mr. Reed the gravitas that he thinks it does with his blown up sense of self-importance.
I look forward to actually watching Mr. Reed ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING.
But I'm not holding my breath.
In our view, Dec. 21: A Bad Bailout
GM, Chrysler get a big boost from Bush, but the plan is packed with potential for failure
Sunday, December 21 1:00 a.m.
Now Americans understand why the Big Three automakers — though desperate when appearing before Congress last month — were not more yielding in those discussions. They knew that President Bush likely would come to their rescue. That’s what happened on Friday when Bush presented $17.4 billion in rescue loans to General Motors and Chrysler. (Ford doesn’t need emergency assistance … yet.)
Although this plan offers hope for survival of domestic automakers, there remain numerous areas of skepticism that should cause Americans great concern:
One of the conditions this relief plan forces upon GM and Chrysler is mystifying, if not absurd. Here’s how The Associated Press explains it: “If the carmakers fail to prove viability by March 31, they will be required to repay the loans, which they would find all but impossible. A firm will be deemed viable only if it can show positive cash flow and can fully repay the government loans.
”Say what? Imagine your bank threatening you with this laughable scenario: “If you can’t come up with any money, we’ll force you to pay back this loan!” Only in this case, it’s billions of public dollars.
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Senate-for-sale case threatens new chief of staff By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and TAMMY WEBBER, Associated Press Writers Brett J. Blackledge And Tammy Webber, Associated Press Writers – Sat Dec 20, 6:41 pm ET AP – In this Dec. 1, 2008 file photo, White House Chief of Staff designate Rahm Emanuel listens to President-elect … CHICAGO – Gov. Rod Blagojevich is legendary in Illinois political circles for not picking up the phone or returning calls, even from important figures like the state's senior senator, Dick Durbin.
But there was always one call Blagojevich regularly took, say his aides, and that was from Rahm Emanuel — his congressman, his one-time campaign adviser and, more recently — and troubling for Emanuel — one of his contacts with President-elect Barack Obama's transition staff.
The friendly rapport Blagojevich and Emanuel shared over the years has suddenly become a troubling liability for Emanuel and the new president he will serve as chief of staff.
Emanuel and Obama have remained silent about what, if anything, Emanuel knew of the governor's alleged efforts to peddle Obama's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder.
Emanuel did contact the governor's office about the appointment and left Blagojevich with the impression that he was pushing Valerie Jarrett, a close Obama friend, so he wouldn't have to compete with her in the White House for Obama's attention, said a person close to Blagojevich. The person was not authorized to talk about the governor's discussions regarding the vacancy and requested anonymity.
AP – In this Dec. 1, 2008 file photo, White House Chief of Staff designate Rahm Emanuel listens to President-elect …
It was not clear whether Blagojevich inferred Emanuel's motive for advocating Jarrett, or whether Emanuel discussed the appointment with Blagojevich directly or with John Harris, the governor's then-chief of staff who also is charged in the case, according to the source.
Emanuel's refusal to discuss the matter publicly, and the few comments offered by Obama to date, have prompted questions about Emanuel's ties to Blagojevich and what fallout he'll face as the criminal case unfolds, although sources have said he is not a target of prosecutors. Even so, any hint of scandal for Emanuel threatens to tarnish Obama's promise of new political leadership free of scandal and corruption.
