JT Wilcox, who is running in the 2nd Legislative District against incumbent Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, in the 2010 race, dropped us a line about his upcoming fundraiser.

Wilcoxflyer

Hi Joe,
I’ll attach a flyer for our Pierce County Kickoff taking place this Saturday.

I hope it qualifies for inclusion in the TNT.

I also wanted to briefly update you on the campaign.

We closed out the Thurston County launch phase with about $19k raised with 95 individual PDC entries. There are some duplicates and I didn’t count all those, but it looks like we will have

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Wouldn’t you know that longtime Poverty Lobbyist Aiko Schaefer of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center (not to be confused with Jason Mercier, who is her polar opposite at the Washington Policy Center) would go out with one more news release that highlights her and her organization’s cause.

Schaefer, after 13 years, will leave the ranks of the legislative Poverty Lobby to join the ranks of the equally poorly paid part-time faculty. She’ll teach a class at the University of Washington. Tomorrow is her last day of formal poverty.

New Census Data Shows 1 in 10 Washingtonians Living in Poverty: Full Impact of Recession Not Reflected in Data

Seattle – More than 11 percent of Washingtonians lived in poverty in 2008 according to new numbers issued by the Census Bureau today. And nearly 14 percent of children in Washington lived in poverty last year. While not a significant increase from the previous year, the 2008 data does not capture the full impact of the recession.

“The 2008 figures are grim and it is likely 2009 will be worse because the recession deepened and unemployment rose,” said Remy Trupin, Executive Director of the Washington State Budget & Policy Center. “But the expected increases in poverty for 2009 could be a little less because of the federal economic recovery package.”
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From his Twitter account (@merritformayor), Tacoma mayoral candidate Jim Merritt recently tweeted the following:

Just heard of 9 more sign stolen from private yards today. Spoke to my opponent &asked her to get the word out to cease this practice.

I spoke with Merritt campaign manager Ronnie Bush this morning, who claims at least 300 Merritt signs have disappeared around Tacoma — what Bush described as part of a “concerted” effort of alleged thefts on the part of  the campaign of Merritt’s opponent, Marilyn Strickland.  Strickland absolutely denies the claims.
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Chief Justice Gerry Alexander announced today he will step aside in January and let one of his colleagues take the top job on the Washington Supreme Court, but Alexander is staying on the bench through the year.

He turns 75 in April 2010 (in case anyone wants to get him a present) and the state constitution says justices must step down at the end of the calendar year in which they turn 75.

GERRY ALEXANDER ANNOUNCES PLANS TO STEP DOWN AS CHIEF JUSTICE IN 2010, REMAIN ON THE COURT FOR REMAINDER OF TERM

Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, the longest-serving Chief Justice in Washington state history, has announced that he will step down as Chief Justice at the beginning of 2010. Alexander will continue to serve the last two years of his term as an associate justice, retiring at the end of 2011, the year in which he will reach the mandatory retirement age for judges in Washington.
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It was brought to my attention only this morning that the Building Industry Association Washington, aka BIAW, has its own blog. And, as you might expect, the builders periodically pillory their favorite target, Gov. Christine Gregoire.

(It appears it started on 9-11. At least, that’s the date of what appears to be its first post.)

This is worth adding to your NetVibes page or Google Alerts or whatever you use to keep track of political news in Washington.

Here’s a link to The Hammer.

Scroll down a bit and you’ll find the picture of The Guv and some ACORN …

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UPDATE: The city council plans to punt on the indemnification issue again this evening, council members said at today’s Study Session.  On advice from city attorneys, the council is giving Hollander and Seattle hotelier Bob Thurston (from whom Hollander is buying the development site) a week to hammer out a private agreement that would transfer a city indemnification Thurston already has to Hollander. It would also keep the city and Foss Waterway Authority out of the matter, which is tilling new ground on authority delegation issues regarding Foss development. TNT business reporter John Gillie will have more details in tomorrow’s

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The Tacoma Public Library and the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County will sponsor a public forum on several ballot measures Wednesday night.

News Tribune columnist Peter Callaghan will moderate a discussion of the following issues:

• Initiative 1033, which would cap the growth of state and local government general fund revenue, based on an annual rate of inflation and population growth.

• Referendum 71, which would expand domestic partnership benefits for gay couples in Washington.

• Pierce County Charter Amendment 1, which would move elections for county executive and council to odd-numbered years by 2015 and increase term …

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That’s sorta what state Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, had to say about Gov. Chris Gregoire‘s release of the case to keep the 2nd assembly line of the 787 in Washington.

What he did say was this: “The only ranking that counts when it comes to Boeing will be the one made in the corporate board room.”

Read Hewitt’s full news release below. And scroll further down the blog for the earlier post on Boeing, et. al.

Sen. Mike Hewitt’s statement on Gov. Gregoire’s 787 ‘business case’ report

Today Gov. Gregoire issued a report titled “The Business Case for Consolidating Boeing 787 Assembly in Washington.” Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, issued this statement in response to the report. Hewitt is the state Senate Minority Leader and a member of Gov. Gregoire’s Council on Aerospace.

“While this report is beautiful and glossy and filled with rankings, is there really any substance here that Boeing hasn’t already considered? I want the company to stay in Washington as much as everyone else, but it’s time to stop resting on rankings and look at where we really are on the ground.
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