Morning Fizz
All I Want for Christmas
1. The Washington Toxics Coalition thinks a recent law requiring the state to collect information about toxic chemicals in toys doesn't go far enough. They want the Department of Ecology to make the information it collects publicly available (so people can actually use it).
And, evidently, so do their kids:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD4WXtsf4Fo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
The department's public comment period on the law ends December 31.
2. Former longtime Seattle PI city hall reporter Kery Murakami—who founded the Seattle Post Globe in 2009 and then worked as the spokesman for the Washington Budget and Policy Center is—(good news) returning to journalism.
Murakami (bad news, for Seattle) is moving across the country to take a reporting gig at New York Newsday.
It's odd to congratulate someone on a newspaper job these days—who knows what the future holds for papers—but Newsday is one of the biggest newspapers in the country, the 12th largest, and honestly, there's nothing else a natural like Murakami should be doing. So, congrats, and merry Christmas, Kery.
P.S. Very bad news for the Deluxe Bar and Grill on Capitol Hill. Never mind the newspaper business, they might go under now.
3. Over on his blog, Political consultant John Wyble of Winpower Strategies, thinks out loud about how the new 10th District redistricting is going to work out. Wyble's got three scenarios, incluing a heavy carve up in the 1rst Congressional District, something that may sound surprising given that the Northwest Puget Sound district—unlike the 2nd, 8th, and 3rd along the I-5 corridor—isn't where the booming population growth has hit.
However, as Wyble points out, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA, 1) may not exert much effort to keep his district in tact—like the other incumbents—because, as most expect, he has his eyes on a bigger prize, the governor's mansion in 2012.
4. Over in Spokane, city council member Jon Snyder recently spent a day in a wheelchair to promote International Disability Day (December 3), and he just blogged about what he learned.
The most interesting lesson he says: Although there were many people willing to help him past obstacles, he would rather not have needed their help---i.e., he would have preferred that sidewalks were consistently accessible by wheelchair, rather than needing strangers to hoist him over curbs.
And, evidently, so do their kids:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD4WXtsf4Fo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
The department's public comment period on the law ends December 31.
2. Former longtime Seattle PI city hall reporter Kery Murakami—who founded the Seattle Post Globe in 2009 and then worked as the spokesman for the Washington Budget and Policy Center is—(good news) returning to journalism.
Murakami (bad news, for Seattle) is moving across the country to take a reporting gig at New York Newsday.
It's odd to congratulate someone on a newspaper job these days—who knows what the future holds for papers—but Newsday is one of the biggest newspapers in the country, the 12th largest, and honestly, there's nothing else a natural like Murakami should be doing. So, congrats, and merry Christmas, Kery.
P.S. Very bad news for the Deluxe Bar and Grill on Capitol Hill. Never mind the newspaper business, they might go under now.
3. Over on his blog, Political consultant John Wyble of Winpower Strategies, thinks out loud about how the new 10th District redistricting is going to work out. Wyble's got three scenarios, incluing a heavy carve up in the 1rst Congressional District, something that may sound surprising given that the Northwest Puget Sound district—unlike the 2nd, 8th, and 3rd along the I-5 corridor—isn't where the booming population growth has hit.
However, as Wyble points out, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA, 1) may not exert much effort to keep his district in tact—like the other incumbents—because, as most expect, he has his eyes on a bigger prize, the governor's mansion in 2012.
4. Over in Spokane, city council member Jon Snyder recently spent a day in a wheelchair to promote International Disability Day (December 3), and he just blogged about what he learned.
The most interesting lesson he says: Although there were many people willing to help him past obstacles, he would rather not have needed their help---i.e., he would have preferred that sidewalks were consistently accessible by wheelchair, rather than needing strangers to hoist him over curbs.
