Monday’s Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) had an eye-catching story about our local airplane manufacturer and their plans to rank colleges around the nation based on the job performance of the more than 35,000 engineers who work for the company worldwide. Richard Stephens, Boeing’s Senior VP for Human Resources and Administration and a member… Read More

Some big changes this week at the Senate Ways and Means committee (as you know, my old stomping grounds). David Schumacher, who has served as senior staff coordinator for the past four and a half years will be leaving at the end of the month to become Director of NW State and Local Government Affairs… Read More

Last week, the state Senate held committee hearings in Vancouver, WA as part of their September “assembly days.”  Tomorrow and Friday, the House of Representatives takes their turn in Olympia. Rep. Helen Sommers will chair what might be one of her final hearing as chair of the House Appropriations Committee tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.  Sommers, who has served… Read More

I meant to note this on the blog last week, but I got so darned sick on Friday I actually had to go home (and that last happened around Thanksgiving in 1990 – I think). David Postman, chief political reporter for the Seattle Times and a fixture in Olympia for years is leaving the profession.  Postman announced… Read More

Yesterday afternoon, a friend of mine sent me a link to a blog post on the website of the Washington Policy Center — a conservative think tank based in Seattle. Seems they ran across a personal services contract between the UW and Robert Longman which they correctly pointed out was for “legislative drafting and fiscal analysis related to the 2008… Read More

The state has found a permanent replacement for Dr. ChangMook Sohn as executive director of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. Arun Raha, Vice President for Economic Research and Consulting at Swiss Re in New York was named yesterday as the state’s second “chief economist” the person who decides how much general fund money the Governor… Read More

Here’s a blog post I wish I hadn’t read today. Ralph Thomas, one of the Seattle Times political reporters who works out of the Olympia bureau is leaving the paper to work for the Katz Communications Group.  As his co-worker and office buddy David Postman points out in his entry this morning, Ralph is not… Read More

The Bellingham Herald reported this week that Western Washington University’s waterfront development plans took another step forward when the Port of Bellingham approved an agreement to partner with the school to create an independent development entity to develop a key portion of the city’s waterfront.  Dubbed the “Viking Development,” the move permits the Port to sell… Read More

Now that I have managed to pour over Tuesday’s primary election results the way I used to read baseball box scores in the newspaper when I was a youngster, here are my highlights (or maybe races worth noting) for you blog readers who just can’t get enough political insider stuff.  Enjoy! Governor No big surprise… Read More

Today of course is Tuesday August 19 — primary election day and the unofficial beginning of the state 2008 political season.  You might think the most controversial issue in the state capital would be the impending Gregoire-Rossi rematch for the Governor’s office, or perhaps which of three candidates for State Treasurer will come out ahead today,… Read More