Morning Fizz
Seattle's No. 1 News Nerd
Packed Fizz today: Which local politician scored a ticket to Obama's SOTU address? Which state official is getting tough on negligent drivers? How does the GOP budget proposal compare to the Democrats' proposal? Which city contract is getting scrutinized? Who's leaving town? Who's taking over the state GOP? And who did Seattle Magazine pick as its No. 1 News Nerd?
1. Two McDermotts in the house: King County Council Member Joe McDermott will be at President Obama's State of the Union speech tomorrow night. McDermott apparently asked U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott if he (Jim McDermott) had an extra ticket and lucky him---he (Joe McDermott) scored.
2. We've written a lot about the mayor and city council's agenda in Olympia, but the city attorney's office is working Olympia too . Last Friday John Schochet, the city attorney's policy adviser, was in Olympia testifying in favor of state Sen. Adam Kline's (D-37, S. Seattle) vulnerable users bill.
The bill increases penalties for negligent drivers who seriously injure or kill a bicyclist, pedestrian, or other vulnerable roadway user. As it stands now, unless a driver is drunk or on drugs or driving so terribly that they're charged with vehicular assault (a difficult standard to prove), the worst penalty for hitting and injuring or killing a biker is generally a traffic ticket. "This leaves a significant gap in the tools police and prosecutors have," Schochet says.
The vulnerable users bill, which failed last session, (and which PubliCola has been advocating for ever since) ups the punishment: Drivers who are negligent but not charged with vehicular assault or homicide could receive a $2,000-$10,000+ fine and 90-day license suspension.
3. State Rep. Gary Alexander (R-20, Olympia) has offered an alternative to house ways and means chair Ross Hunter's (D-48, Medina) supplemental budget proposal . (The legislature has to find $1.1 billion in savings to close out the 2009-2011 biennium, which ends this July. Hunter, so far, has found about $928 million.)
Alexander, the ranking Republican on ways and means , cut about $15 million more than Hunter by eliminating the disability lifeline, the children's health plan, and full-day kindergarten, and immediately eliminating the Basic Health Plan—which Hunter's plan fades out. However, Alexander is kinder to to nursing homes and saves K-4 class sizes.
4. The city's longtime emergency vehicle contractor, American Medical Response (AMR), is not a shoo-in for the job anymore. Fizz hears the council has some questions about the company's billing rates and is set to take a tougher look at the contract during the next bidding process.
5. Fizz bumped into former longtime PI reporter Kery Murakami this weekend. Murakami, as we sadly noted last month, is leaving town to take a job at New York's Newsday. (Laid off when the PI's print version closed down in 2009 , Murakami started the Post Globe and then worked as the communications director for lefty economic think tank, the Washington Budget & Policy Center).
We ran into him—where else?—leaving the Deluxe on Capitol Hill , his favorite hangout. Murakami had just had his last drink there and was carrying a menu with him as a souvenir.
6. Big news over the weekend: Former KVI radio talk jock Kirby Wilbur ousted Luke Esser as Washington State Republican Party Chair. Our coverage here .
7. We beg to differ with their choice for music nerd and book nerd (we liked ours better), but Seattle Magazine's nerd list is absolutely right on about Seattle's premier news nerd.
They picked PubliCola's very own Erica C. Barnett. Naming Erica the city's No. 1 News Junkie, they write:
1. Two McDermotts in the house: King County Council Member Joe McDermott will be at President Obama's State of the Union speech tomorrow night. McDermott apparently asked U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott if he (Jim McDermott) had an extra ticket and lucky him---he (Joe McDermott) scored.
2. We've written a lot about the mayor and city council's agenda in Olympia, but the city attorney's office is working Olympia too . Last Friday John Schochet, the city attorney's policy adviser, was in Olympia testifying in favor of state Sen. Adam Kline's (D-37, S. Seattle) vulnerable users bill.
The bill increases penalties for negligent drivers who seriously injure or kill a bicyclist, pedestrian, or other vulnerable roadway user. As it stands now, unless a driver is drunk or on drugs or driving so terribly that they're charged with vehicular assault (a difficult standard to prove), the worst penalty for hitting and injuring or killing a biker is generally a traffic ticket. "This leaves a significant gap in the tools police and prosecutors have," Schochet says.
The vulnerable users bill, which failed last session, (and which PubliCola has been advocating for ever since) ups the punishment: Drivers who are negligent but not charged with vehicular assault or homicide could receive a $2,000-$10,000+ fine and 90-day license suspension.
3. State Rep. Gary Alexander (R-20, Olympia) has offered an alternative to house ways and means chair Ross Hunter's (D-48, Medina) supplemental budget proposal . (The legislature has to find $1.1 billion in savings to close out the 2009-2011 biennium, which ends this July. Hunter, so far, has found about $928 million.)
Alexander, the ranking Republican on ways and means , cut about $15 million more than Hunter by eliminating the disability lifeline, the children's health plan, and full-day kindergarten, and immediately eliminating the Basic Health Plan—which Hunter's plan fades out. However, Alexander is kinder to to nursing homes and saves K-4 class sizes.
4. The city's longtime emergency vehicle contractor, American Medical Response (AMR), is not a shoo-in for the job anymore. Fizz hears the council has some questions about the company's billing rates and is set to take a tougher look at the contract during the next bidding process.
5. Fizz bumped into former longtime PI reporter Kery Murakami this weekend. Murakami, as we sadly noted last month, is leaving town to take a job at New York's Newsday. (Laid off when the PI's print version closed down in 2009 , Murakami started the Post Globe and then worked as the communications director for lefty economic think tank, the Washington Budget & Policy Center).
We ran into him—where else?—leaving the Deluxe on Capitol Hill , his favorite hangout. Murakami had just had his last drink there and was carrying a menu with him as a souvenir.
6. Big news over the weekend: Former KVI radio talk jock Kirby Wilbur ousted Luke Esser as Washington State Republican Party Chair. Our coverage here .
7. We beg to differ with their choice for music nerd and book nerd (we liked ours better), but Seattle Magazine's nerd list is absolutely right on about Seattle's premier news nerd.
They picked PubliCola's very own Erica C. Barnett. Naming Erica the city's No. 1 News Junkie, they write:
5. News Junkie
ERICA C. BARNETT
Cofounder of online news journal PubliCola, publicola.com
News sites she visits daily: Seattlepi.com, local newspaper and neighborhood blogs, Seattle Transit blog, Crosscut, The New York Times, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic….
Dream beat: “The one I have now! I get to cover the ongoing battle between the council and the mayor, the deep-bore tunnel, the debate over cars vs. bikes and transit—all the exciting stuff.”
Nerd cred: “I’m the only reporter who goes to Transportation Choices Coalition’s monthly brown-bag lunches.”
Nerd knowledge: Knows the meanings of all these acronyms: SDEIS, PDC, CIP, BIA, RPZ, TIF, COBE and SEPA.
