Local News

The Seattle Times political team explores national, state and local politics.

Good Morning, All:

Pot poll: A new Gallup poll says a majority of Americans want the feds to leave Washington and Colorado alone, as in, don’t mess with their new marijuana laws.   More and more people are saying the same thing. Former President Jimmy Carter told CNN this week, he’s for legalizing marijuana.  Carter has been fairly libertarian on this topic for some time.

State Rep. Chris Hurst
Independent Dem-Enumclaw

Pot committee: Any state that has legalized marijuana, as Washington has just done, obviously needs a state legislative committee to oversee the new pot law and regulatory infrastructure. Meet state Rep. Chris Hurst,  a former Black Diamond police commander and Tukwila detective and member of the so-called Roadkill Caucus of moderate Democrats in the Legislature. With all the excitement in Olympia about who is in charge in the Senate, the House has put Hurst in charge of a new committee that handles pot, alcohol, gambling, tobacco and government efficiencies. They had a hard time naming it, quipped Hurst. It was somewhere between SIN and VICE.

Inslee on clean energy: Publicola has a piece by Gov.-elect Jay Inslee outlining his environmental agenda. State Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, liked what the incoming gov wrote, but wondered why he didn’t get into the whole coal train issue, (not to be confused with Coltrane. )

Every new gov needs an editor, no?

Facebook: So, the Seattle Times Politics team has a new, post-election Facebook page. As with all new Facebook pages, we need likes and friends.