Local News

Some tidbits from the week. To wit: 1. Climate activist fuels fight to switch control of state Senate. 2. Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant tries, fails to flatten the city’s light rates for residents. 3. Nick Hanauer, advocate for $15/hour minimum wage, speaks in Eastern Washington (Addy Hatch/SR). 4. NRA endorses Dan Newhouse in Fourth Congressional District; Didier asks…

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane WASHINGTON — The former spokesman for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers who allegedly filed an ethics complaint against her last year broke his silence Monday, alleging the Spokane Republican retaliated against him and claiming her staff may have lied to investigators. In a four-page email sent to The Seattle Times and other media outlets, Todd…

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler The Associated Press A choked-up House Speaker John Boehner has interrupted a series of votes to praise a doctor who helped a congresswoman’s infant survive a rare condition. In a break from his chamber’s often acrid political divisions, the Ohio Republican prompted two bipartisan standing ovations Wednesday by introducing Washington state Republican…

Republican Pedro Celis is trying to keep the focus on Obamacare and the economy in his bid to unseat first-term Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene this year. But at a GOP candidate forum Thursday night at an Everett restaurant, Celis was reminded that some conservative Republicans also care deeply about social issues, including abortion and…

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane Updated at 11:04 a.m. with Cantor’s planned resignation: WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s unanticipated defeat in Tuesday’s Virginia primary election has opened up a chance for promotion for Spokane’s Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers for the second time in two years. McMorris Rodgers, the fourth-ranking House GOP leader as chairwoman of the Republican…

Former state agriculture chief Dan Newhouse has emerged as the leading early fundraiser among a pack of Republicans vying to represent Central Washington’s 4th Congressional District. Newhouse raised $162,000 through the first quarter of the year, topping five other Republicans and one Democrat in the race so far, according to reports filed with the Federal…

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith of Bellevue, ranking Democrat of House Armed Services Committee. WASHINGTON — The political spectacle over the Benghazi investigations has cost the Pentagons millions of dollars — and the tab shows no sign of ending soon. All 17 Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday demanded that its chairman,…

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, Democrat of Medina and one-time UPS deliverer. WASHINGTON — Some politicians knock on doors for votes. U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene will knock and deliver your UPS package. The freshman Democrat from Medina on Monday announced plans to go “undercover” as a Woman in Brown to make delivery rounds in Redmond Wednesday morning. The reasons?…

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn. WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert on Tuesday introduced a bill to ban the use of welfare benefit cards at stores selling marijuana, adding them to a prohibited list that includes casinos, liquor stores, strip clubs and tattoo parlors. Reichert, a Republican from Auburn, joined 11 other lawmakers in sponsoring the…

Four members of Washington’s congressional delegation representing Snohomish County on Thursday asked the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to extend the tax-filing deadline for victims of the mudslide in Oso. The IRS in the past has granted such reprieve for victims of natural disasters. Most recently, it gave a six-month extension for people affected by September 2013…