TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalHouse Democrats want capital-gains tax to help pay for $52.6 billion Washington budget plan
OLYMPIA — Washington House Democrats on Monday unveiled a sweeping proposed two-year state budget, funded in part by a new tax on capital gains.
Their 2019-2021 operating budget plan would provide for increased K-12 education costs and expand early-childhood learning, Washington’s college state need grant and community college programs for high-demand programs, such as nursing.
It boosts spending on Washington’s problematic mental-health system, providing money for the proposed University of Washington psychiatric teaching hospital and an expansion of community mental-health beds.
The $52.6 billion budget — which provides for prisons, parks, schools, public lands and other programs — would be funded by a roughly $1.4 billion in new or higher taxes over the two years.
Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/house-democrats-in-olympia-unveil-52-6-billion-state-budget-plan/
Michelle Obama brings largest crowd of book tour to Tacoma Dome
“Who are you becoming?” Michelle Obama questioned the audience of more than 18,000 people at Sunday night’s intimate conversation in the Tacoma Dome.
The event to promote her book “Becoming” was originally planned for Feb. 8, but was rescheduled due to severe snowfall in the Seattle area in early February.
Obama captured the attention of thousands, eliciting laughter and thunderous cheers as she elaborated on her childhood and White House memories documented within the pages of her memoir.
Throughout the crowd, audience members danced and sang along to a lively playlist of upbeat songs including “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” by Stevie Wonder to “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé while waiting for the former First Lady.
Read more: https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/michelle-obama-brings-largest-crowd-of-book-tour-to-tacoma-dome/
The Politics of Beto and Amy O'Rourke's Marriage
EL PASO -- Beto O’Rourke plonked down on his living room sofa beside his wife, Amy, and promptly removed his shoes and socks. It was a late February morning, weeks before announcing his candidacy for president, and Beto had just returned from his favorite hike in the nearby Franklin Mountains.
His head was still in the clouds.
“I read Amy this passage last night from the best interview I’ve ever read,” he said. “It’s about myth and different religions. And it said, much the way your unconscious and subconscience .?.?. sorry .?.?. I’m saying both of these words wrong.”
He turned to Amy for help.
“Your subconscious,” said Amy, who like Beto is thin and angular but whose tawny hair is not yet streaked with gray.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2019/03/19/feature/are-amy-and-beto-orourke-the-future-of-politics/
Amid speculation, McMorris Rodgers confirms that, yes, she is going to run in 2020
The speculation over whether Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers would run again was understandable.
Consider these facts:
1) Mayor David Condon will finish his eighth and final year as mayor of Spokane this year, leaving him looking for a new job.
2) As as a resident of the South Hill, Mayor Condon lives in pretty darn liberal Legislative District 3, making a run for state Legislature particularly difficult.
3) Mayor David Condon was once deputy chief of staff for McMorris Rodgers.
Read more: https://www.inlander.com/spokane/amid-speculation-mcmorris-rodgers-confirms-that-yes-she-is-going-to-run-in-2020/Content?oid=16982598
Rancher under investigation after 29 dead cows found
PASCO, Wash. (AP) — An Idaho sheep rancher is under investigation for animal cruelty after 29 dead cows were seen off Highway 395 near Pasco, Washington.
The Tri-City Herald reports a person in the area called the Franklin County Sheriff's Office after spotting the dead cattle on the Bureau of Land Management property north of Pasco.
Franklin County Capt. Monty Huber says deputies flew over the property and saw the animals.
Huber says deputies didn't see any sign of cattle food or tire tracks in the snow and that investigators believe the owner, James Marek, let them starve.
Read more: https://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/state/rancher-under-investigation-after-dead-cows-found/article_939d6097-3816-5ebc-9361-87587953101b.html
Inslee visits Portland training center on campaign stop
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The governor of Washington toured a labor union training center in Oregon as part of his campaign for president.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports Gov. Jay Inslee on Saturday toured the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48's training center in Portland.
Inslee is making climate change the central issue of his campaign.
In a statement, he says the IBEW is a leader in training electricians in clean energy trades.
Inslee says the nation is going to build a new clean energy economy and IBEW members will be at the cutting edge with 40- to 50-year careers.
Read more: https://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/state/inslee-visits-portland-training-center-on-campaign-stop/article_ae9b7a22-f180-5358-9430-396411f7c876.html
Idaho Power aims to end use of coal and natural gas -- a 'big deal,' conservationist says
Idaho Power has announced a bold goal to operate its grid entirely on clean energy by 2045.
The investor-owned utility is one of the first to set such an ambitious goal. Only six years ago, Idaho Power used coal for more than 40 percent of the power it generates for its 560,000 customers across Southern Idaho and part of eastern Oregon.
“This is a big deal,” Ben Otto, an energy attorney for the Idaho Conservation League, said in a telephone interview. “There’s only a handful of utilities in the country that are doing this.”
Darrel Anderson, the president and CEO of Idacorp, the parent company of Idaho Power, has taken the utility back to its roots before 1974, when its power was all carbon-free hydroelectricity. He said the company is giving customers what they want.
Read more: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/environment/article228300044.html
Burlington Passes Resolution Condemning Canada For Not Exporting as Much Marijuana as Mexico
URLINGTON – Much praise was heaped on Burlington, VT’s police force last week at a town hall meeting to address the opioid crisis. With fewer arrests and more leniency towards people currently attempting recovery from opioid addiction, the city has been held up as an example for modern policing. But one startling piece of news that came out of the meeting was the previously unreported fact that no illegal drugs ever come across the Mexican border other than marijuana.
“[President Trump’s] wall would have almost zero impact on stopping drugs coming into the United States,” said Gil Kerlikowske, a panelist and ‘drug czar’ under Obama. “The only drug that comes across the border on the southern border is marijuana.”
This new information shocked many in attendance, as many had assumed that previous reports were true that showed over 5 tons of meth was seized last year at our southern border, and that cocaine, heroin and opioids in large quantities were also routinely seized. When Kerlikowske announced that Mexico only sends marijuana, a drug now legal to possess in Vermont, it caused an uproar at the meeting.
“So you’re saying all the meth, heroin, oxy, cocaine, and fentanyl, it’s all coming from Canada?!” shouted one angry resident. “Why can’t they be more like Mexico and only send us weed?!”
Read more: http://thewinooski.com/index.php/2019/03/25/burlington-passes-resolution-condemning-canada-for-not-exporting-as-much-marijuana-as-mexico/
Nevada bill looks to license banks for marijuana industry
CARSON CITY — A new Nevada bill seeks to create a process for licensing banks and credit unions that would serve marijuana dispensaries.
The legislation filed Monday says it aims to provide those dispensaries with a "safe and efficient way" to invest in the economy and pay taxes.
The measure asserts that most marijuana businesses are forced to operate almost entirely in cash because banks are reluctant to serve them as customers. It says the reluctance stems from marijuana still being illegal under federal law.
Accounts from the licensed banks and credit unions under the bill would not be required to be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Read more: https://lasvegassun.com/news/2019/mar/25/nevada-bill-looks-to-license-banks-for-marijuana-i/
Cortez Masto says she's close to a deal to remove plutonium secretly shipped to Southern Nevada
U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto says the head of the U.S. Department of Energy may be willing to commit to removing plutonium secretly shipped to Nevada late last year.
Cortez Masto, speaking to reporters after a brief speech delivered to a joint session of the state Legislature in Carson City, said Energy Secretary Rick Perry told her he could commit to a timeline for removing the half-ton of radioactive bomb-making material if Cortez Masto agreed to lift her blockade on future Energy Department nominees. Those nominees need Senate confirmation that Cortez Masto, like other senators, can all but unilaterally withhold.
“(Perry) called me to express his concerns about my holding the nominees up,” she said. “I made it very clear I was looking for something in writing that ensures no more plutonium comes to Nevada and a commitment to a time frame for when they will ship this out.
“We had a very good, cordial conversation. He said he could give me that commitment. So we left the conversation with both of us agreeing to have designated staff work on the written letter and we’ll go from there.”
Read more: https://www.rgj.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/20/watch-sen-cortez-masto-addresses-nevada-legislature/3229643002/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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