Friday politics: stopping flash robs, Valentine’s Day with Al Gore, whither Paula Hammond

Good Morning, Happy Friday.

This definitely puts a damper on flash mobs:. A Lakewood state senator is trying to get ahead of a weird twist on flash mobs. Flash mobs, as you probably know, are groups of people who gather at a set time and place and begin, say, dancing in a well choreographed manner. Flash robs are altogether different. These are groups of people who gather and rob places. This has happened from Portland to Chicago. Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, has offered a bill in Olympia — SB 5178 — that would toughen up on those who use email or text to organize themselves and steal $250 or more of merchandise from a store.

Below is one of the better uses of this organizational and technological phenomenon, the famous flash mob in Belgium.

U.S. Rep. Denny Heck,

U.S. Rep Denny Heck’s observations from D.C. (Shout out to The Olympian for excellent. blog fodder, by the by). The Olympian interviewed new U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, the representative from Washington’s brand new 10th Congressional District. He has been in office less than a month and is surprised to find the partisanship in the nation’s capital even more pronounced than he expected. And Heck knows stuff.

Valentine’s Day with Al Gore. Darn, the Seattle Arts & Lectures event featuring Al Gore is sold out. The former vice president is coming to Seattle for a conversation with Professor David Domke, chairman of the University of Washington Department of Communications. The event is billed as a clear-eyed discussion of the emerging forces shaping our world. Gore has had a rough week following the sale of his network, Current TV, to Al Jazeera. Comedian Jon Stewart interviewed, I mean, grilled, Gore this week on his show.

Is she or isn’t she? PubliCola asks a good question. Is Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond, who occupies a very important profile position with so much happening in transportation around the state, staying or going in the new Gov, Jay Inslee administration? Worth watching.

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Comments | More in Federal, Politics Northwest, Statewide, U.S. House of Representatives | Topics: al gore, david domke, flash robs

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Politics Northwest is the go-to blog for politics in our region. The blog explores national, state and local political news and issues. Reporters from Washington, D.C., to Seattle City Hall to the state capital in Olympia contribute. Editors are Richard Wagoner and Beth Kaiman.

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