2013 election filings underway

The current list is available at the County Auditor's Office. 

Wednesday news & opinions

Tyranny

• OPEN LETTER TO GENOCIDAL EDITOR DAVE PERRY: "Get down on your knees and thank whatever god you worship that there is an NRA"
• Justice Department to monitor special election in South Carolina
• BREAKING: European Commission to criminalize nearly all seeds and plants not registered with government
• WaPo fact checker: Who rewrote the Benghazi talking points?
• Obama tells OSU grads to reject the Founding Fathers' voices
• Byron York: Senate skips details in rush to pass immigration bill
• Good news from Sheila Jackson Lee: The Constitution implies a right to health care and education
• Heritage: Amnestied Illegals Will Get $9.4T in Benefits; Increase Debt $6.3T'
• Rand Paul: I hate to say it, but the immigration bill is a little bit like ObamaCare right now 

Taxes

• Senate Passes Internet Tax Bill (But Watch Sen. Ted Cruz’s Passionate Argument Against It)

Looking Ahead

• Rise of the Republican Governors

Corruption, Foreign Policy

• She KNEW It Was A DAMNED LIE
• Hillary Clinton — culpable for Benghazi from beginning to end
• Obama: We have a moral obligation to end the slaughter and ensure a stable Syria

Liberal Mindset, Education

• Second Grader Suspended for Pointing Pencil Like a Gun

ObamaCareTax

• New Worries for Democrats on Health Law

Bill of Rights

• Obama administration retreating from contraception mandate? 

 
Media

• Does He Listen to Himself? Matthews Compares NRA to Nazis, Decries Use of Nazi Comparisons
• Exclusive: Politico Misreports Tea Party Support for Immigration Bill 

Politics

• H.R. 1826: No Monuments to Me Act of 2013
• Gun control ads have Democrats worrying
• Jeff Flake hints: I'll support expanded background checks in return for changes on Internet sales
• “Very junior senator” Ted Cruz really getting under skin of very senior Sen. Harry Reid

Local Government, It's The Economy, Big Government

• Clark County hangs out ‘Open for Business’ sign to employers

Second Amendment

• Gun Fiction vs. Gun Facts: What Gun Control Supporters Don't Know 
• Media's Anti-Gun Narrative Destroyed By Justice Dept. Report
• Reports show gun homicides down since 1990s
• Biden asks clergy to make moral argument on guns

Big Government

• It's come to this: Solar installer now suing the government for more money 

It's The Economy

• Internet Sales Tax Bill Stalling in House
• 
  
• The Worst Unemployment Crisis In Modern History Is Unfolding Right Now
• Why Friday's Jobs Report Was Ominous

A Small City Has A Big Government

Having a Party? Better Call City Hall 
"The Last Page", By Ken Graham
Waitsburg Times: registration required

Are you planning a little get-together with friends sometime this spring? If you live in Dayton, you may need to get permission from the city first.

City Council member Dain Nysoe is spearheading an effort to require city residents who are planning an event to submit a “Special Events Permit Application” first.

The draft application that was reviewed by members of the council’s public safety committee on Thursday (I got my grubby hands on a copy too) is 12 pages long, single spaced. It’s a lightly edited version of one used by the city of Ephrata, Wash.

(Near the top of Page 1 it actually says, “Don’t let the size of this packet intimidate you!” That made me feel better.) The thing is that nowhere in all its verbiage does the document specify what types of events will need a permit. So I guess we must assume that they all do – including your little back-yard barbeque.

Here are some of the things you’ll need to do before you throw your briquettes on the grill:

First of all, you’ll need to submit something called a fact sheet/timeline. A site map must also be submitted, showing locations of proposed parking, fences, stages, toilets and trash containers. And you’ll need to provide samples of advertising for the event. So you’d better cc the city on those invitation emails.

And call your agent, because you’re going to need liability insurance. $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, to be precise. And don’t forget your health department permit. You’ll also need a temporary use permit, with application submitted to the city planning director at least 30 days prior to the event.

And the kicker is that you’re going to have to pay the city for their trouble on account of your little function. You may have to pay a “park and/or open space rental fee and damage deposit.” And here’s my favorite: you’ll have to pay for the cost of city staff “to ensure that park rules and the permit agreement are enforced.” So there.

 Fair Use prevents posting more  of the column,  but here's the conclusion:

Perhaps, to help minimize risk, a certain amount of documentation to the city for large events is in order.

But instead of borrowing a heavy-handed 12-page document used by a city three times Dayton’s size, and then not putting much more thought into it (like not bothering to define what constitutes an “event”), why not start with a blank slate? Determine what the problem is, and then take least amount of action needed to solve it.

 Sounds reasonable.  

Walla Walla City Council: 2 Lanes Are Better Than 4

City takes heat over Rose Street

 Several business owners say city plans to 
reconfigure the four-lane arterial is a bad idea.

WALLA WALLA — A handful of Rose Street business owners at Wednesday’s City Council meeting lambasted plans to remove two lanes of through traffic after a repaving and stoplight project is completed later this year.

The $2.2 million Rose Street reconfiguration from 13th Avenue to Myra Road was not on the Council’s meeting agenda. But that didn’t stop local business operator Tim Demitor, four other business owners and a home owner from saying they thought taking away driving lanes to add biking lanes was a bad idea.

“My big thing is that Rose is an industrial arterial. It is not a walk in the park,” Demitor said, adding that industrial rigs from businesses like Koncrete Industries and Ferrellgas rely on a steady flow of traffic provided by four lanes.

“It’s just basically a bad idea. Keep it four lanes. Repave it. Throw in a light and I would be happy,” Demitor said.

Council members last month argued over the plan to remove two driving lanes in exchange for a center turn lane and bike lanes on each side of the arterial.

The reconfiguration plan narrowly passed 3-2, with Council members Jerry Cummins and Mary Lou Jenkins voting against the configuration. Mayor Jim Barrow and Council members Barbara Clark and Chris Plucker voted for the lane reduction and addition of bike lanes.

Members Conrado Cavasos and Shane Laib were absent.

 Read the rest here.  Registration may be required, the Union-Bulletin allows for a limited number of free views per month.

Wednesday news & opinions

Tyranny

• Don’t You Feel Better?
• The Sum of all Fears
• Reid: We're making good progress on that anti-gun legislation
• Obama Refuses to Send Any Official Representative to Thatcher Funeral; Boehner Will Send Unofficial, Private-Citizen Delegates
• I Went to Bed a Christian and Woke Up a ... Terrorist?

American Exceptionalism

• One Word on the Boston Massacre

Second Amendment

• Reid coming up short on gun control billManchin-Toomey Amendment orchestrates gun registration, read it yourself
• Accidental honesty: Harry Reid touts progress on 'anti-gun legislation'
• Gun Bill May Be DOA As Spaghetti-Spined Republicans Start Taking Heat from Constituents.  BIDEN: TWO VOTES SHORT
• Anti-Gunners Lose More Money.
• GOP plans replacement proposal as Toomey/Manchin background checks bill nears failure

Media

• Powers: Yes, there is a Gosnell cover-up in the media
• The 10 Absolute Worst Media Reactions To The Boston Marathon Bombings
• Breaking media silence: Column
• Jay Mohr Calls for Gun Ban in Wake of Boston Bombing
• CBS News continues to hope Boston bomb suspect can be tied to the Tea Party
• The man on the roof

Abortion

• Eric Holder’s wife co-owns abortion clinic building run by indicted abortionist

State Government, Legislation, Taxes

• Dems will use 9th Order to resurrect Dream Act, abortion bill
• Washingtonians tell Olympia to restore 2/3s rule for tax hikes
• House snubs GOP amendments, OKs transportation budget

Budget Battle

• WaPo/ABC poll shows Obama under water on budget proposal 
• Role reversal: GOP blasts Obama plan to sell TVA

Corruption

• Desperate Dem Terry McAuliffe sues Watchdog.org over green tech/cash-for-visas exposé

ObamaCareTax

• Doctors Go Shopping: Price Comparisons Lead MDs to Lower Testing Costs

Taxes

• Most People Are Supposed To Pay This Tax. Almost Nobody Actually Pays It.

It's The Economy

• Yikes: IMF lowers global economic growth forecasts

Terrorism

• Shock the system? Electrical grid, comms attacked near San Jose

Local Government

• Tea partiers hold tax day rally in Walla Walla (read the comments)
• Sheriff waylays deputy who plans to run against him

Saturday news & opinions

Tyranny

• Obama’s Tin Ear
• Here's The Democrats' Plan To Get Gun Control Through The Senate
• RED ALERT TRANSCRIPT: Mark Levin Says a Powerful Republican (*cough* John Boehner *cough*) is Trying to Silence Him

Communism

• Inside North Korea: Shock video and photos show true horror of Kim Jong-un's evil regime

Budget Battle, Taxes

• Morning Bell: Obama’s Fake Budget Marketing Exposed
• Video: Sessions plays Stump the OMB Director by asking ... about deficits
• By the way: Total student loan debt now topping one trillion dollars
• Taxpayers beware: Federal tax collections to hit record highs

Legislation

• The POPVOX Blog (Congressional) Weekly Roundup: April 5 - 11

Big Government

• Duplicative Government Programs Are a Symptom of the Problem
• City of Olympia votes itself incompetent
• Yep: EPA definitely putting the brakes on those power plant regs. 

State Government, Taxes, Budget Battle, Civil Discourse

• GOP irked by House committee’s late-night budget passage
• Bill would give publishers, broadcasters a do-over after errors
• State GOP’s AR-15 auction ignites far left fury

Abortion, Media

• The Scathing Speech That Takes the Media to Task for Blackout of Gruesome Abortion Trial: If the ‘Doctor’ Used An AR-15, You Bet They’d Care
• Planned Parenthood: This Gosnell case is “appalling”
• Reversal in WSJ/NBC poll: Majority once again thinks abortion should be illegal in most or all circumstances
• Photo of the Day: Media Row at the Gosnell trial
• Media Seating Area at the Gosnell Trial
• Horrifying: Teen Intern at #Gosnell Murder Factory Recalls Hearing Aborted Fetus 'Screeching'
• The #Gosnell Horror Prompts Flashback to Bush Derangement Syndrome

It's The Economy

• Retail sales fall 0.4% in March, most in 9 monthsToomey-Manchin Regulates All Advertised Sales
• The eurozone crisis: Back with a vengeance?

 Liberal Mindset

• Boomers Push Doctor-Assisted Dying in End-of-Life Revolt

Second Amendment

• Schumer-Toomey-Manchin gun bill allows the creation of federal gun registry
• Peter King promises House version of Manchin-Toomey by Tuesday
• More on the Toomey-Manchin Amendment 
• NEW SUPPORT GROUP: Gun Owners Against Illegal Mayors

Corruption

• Democrat Senator Cashing in on Newtown

Civil Discourse

• Gravedancing: Anti-Gun Nuts Using Increasingly Graphic Images of Newtown to Advance Agenda
• Connecticut senator to Rupert Murdoch: You should refuse to air the NASCAR race that the NRA's sponsoring

ObamaCareTax

• Cost of exchanges shoots up

Local Government

• County online by-name tax record search box to remain off

Budget woes in Walla Walla

County to tap sales tax for DHS budget fix 

WALLA WALLA — Sales tax money raised to expand Walla Walla County’s mental health and substance abuse services will be used to halt “hemorrhaging” of reserve funds in the county Human Services Department, county commissioners decided this week.

At their Monday meeting, commissioners approved the use of up to $335,000 collected last year to offset the costs of providing mental health services to Medicaid clients in 2013. Under the plan, the use of the sales tax funds to support current operations will end on Dec. 31 of this year.

Other measures in the proposal call for developing program plans to minimize use of reserve funds and extending the loan payback period Community Service Center building at 1520 Kelly Place from 10 to 15 years.

The proposal was one of six alternatives put forward by Harvey Crowder, interim director of the county’s Human Services Department, to stop a drain on the department’s reserve funds that began several years ago. If left unchecked, Crowder told commissioners, the reserve funds could potentially be exhausted in 18 months.

The rest is here (registration may be required). 

Opinions and news for Thursday

The Constitution, Bill of Rights

• “…if that’s what you believe, then all of this talk of revolution suddenly doesn’t seem so crazy, it seems almost mandatory.” 
• Enjoy This Montage of People Refusing to Cooperate with DHS Checkpoints

Liberal Mindset

• Rep. Ellison Calls Hannity 'Worst Excuse For a Journalist I've Ever Seen'; Hannity Calls Him 'Waste of Time'

Budget Battle

• The Sequester Revelation
• Senate GOP ponders ceding power to President Obama
• Under the bus: Homeland Security official resigns over release of illegals from detention centers; Update: Retiring, not “resigning”
• Obama Suddenly Cares About the Military When It Serves His Interest

Foreign Policy

• Benghazi talking points e-mails a bust?
• CBS’ Sharyl Attkisson May Get A Personal Threat from the Obama White House After This

Second Amendment

• Testimony Today Before the Senate
• The Sad Spectacle
• Free Concealed Carry eBook from Beretta
• Huge win for Bloomberg as Chicago district nominates, er, anti-gun Democrat

It's The Economy

• Obama Mega-Bundler and Donor Announces Layoffs, Possibly Linked To China Outsourcing
• Durable-goods orders drop 5.2% in January

Looking Ahead

• Let’s kill Hitler

Local Government, Taxes

• "While 53 percent of voters said yes (failing to reach the mandated 60 percent supermajority threshold for passage), about half the registered voters didn’t bother to mail in their ballots. The $48 million bond proposal had support, but it had detractors — and a number of those who were strongly against the bond were not shy about sharing their views publicly in the newspaper or on the Internet."
• Sheriff John A. Turner: Comments on Oath of Office and Reverence for the Law

State Government, Taxes

• State admits costly mistakes on 520 bridge
• House committee mulls funding scheme for health exchange
• Bills would raise vehicle costs in King, Snohomish counties

Tyranny

• President Obama Is Our Extortionist in Chief
• White House to Woodward: You'll 'Regret' Challenging Us

ObamaCareTax

• Why Did Democratic Party Operative and Pundit Donna Brazile's Insurance Premiums Increase?

Media

• Getting It Right

Monday news & opinions

Looking Ahead

• Most Pundits Miss The GOP’s Biggest Advantage: Time

Media

• CBS's Bill Plante: Obama Administration 'Undercutting First Amendment,' 'It's State-Run Media' 
• Fox’s Kirsten Powers To Panel: Chris Wallace ‘Should Be Proud’ Obama Won’t Go On His Show
• Biden’s questioner: His answer on shotguns was pretty sexist
• Unlike Conservative Media, We Don't 'Make Stuff Up' at MSNBC, Proclaims Ed Schultz

Budget Battle

• Obama weekly address: Congress must act now to stop the ‘Republican’ sequester that I insisted be included in that bill I signed

ObamaCareTax

• Recipient of $341 million Obamacare CO-OP loan runs insurance company with New York’s worst record of complaints
• As Cuts Loom, Governors Seek More Control of Federal Funds to Lessen the Pain
• Does ObamaCare Suck Enough, Or Need It Suck More To Get Us To Single Payer?

Local Government, Education

• It’s time for change in leadership

State Government, Legislation, Taxes, It's The Economy

• Uphill Road for Transportation Proposal – One Thing Certain, It’s Going to the Voters
• State’s Costly Renewable-Energy Rules in the Crosshairs as Senate Committee Passes ‘Don’t Buy Before Need’ Bill
• To create jobs, keep process affordable
• After Years of Assaults on Initiatives, Senate Now Casts a Friendly Eye — Eyman’s ‘Initiative on Initiatives’ Passes Committee and Heads to Floor
• Taxapalooza! — $38 Billion in Democratic Tax-Hike Proposals Get a Courtesy Hearing in the Senate, and Maybe There’s a Back-Handed Message
• Car tab, bike fees part of House transport package
• A Tiny Legislative Drama

 Politics, Corruption

• The Baiting Game: Obama Doubles Down
• Google: The Halliburton of the Obama Administration

• Never Forget: Joe McCarthy Was Right!
• As Country Club Republicans Link Up With The Democratic Ruling Class, Millions Of Voters Are Orphaned 

Legislation

• Weekly (Congressional) Roundup: Feb. 21

Second Amendment

• Thousands attend Day of Resistance rallies in support of Second Amendment [photos]
• Senator Slams National Gun Registry
• Senate Negotiators Not Close to Deal on Gun Background Checks, Coburn Says
• Senators near a deal on background checks for most private gun sales
• GOA Bringing Pro-gun Victim to Testify Before Congress on Monday   
• New York Boycott
• The Police Loophole
• What does "the right to bear arms" really mean?
• The Gun Ban Lobby and Its Funders [PDF]

Monday news!

Looking Ahead

• "Are you ready for the long haul in this battle?"

Foreign Policy

• Lindsey Graham Goes Ballistic On Obama Over Benghazi, Pledges To Block Nominees Until Gets Answers
• Brennan’s Evasions

Media

• Occupy… the comic book
• The Blame Righty mob falls silent
• When Crazed Shooters Can’t Be Linked To The Tea Party, Media Displays Admirable Restraint
• The Obama Ogling Cop Killer Is Using Assault Weapons with High Capacity Mags

State Government, Taxes, Budget Battle, Second Amendment

• Heritage Center important project, but not vital
• With Republicans Like This, Who Needs Democrats?

Local Government, Taxes

• Taxpayers don’t ‘deserve’ higher rates

Big Government, EPA

• Explosive Fed. Mandate Killing Thousands of Red Snapper
• After Public Backlash, Iowa Town Buries Plan to Ban Front Yard Gardens
• Obama's EPA Bans D-Con
• The Voter Fraud That ‘Never Happens’ Keeps Coming Back
• "I don't want to use the word buffoonery but it really is unbridled police lawlessness," said Robert Sheahen, Perdue's attorney. "These people need training and they need restraint."

Politics

• Despite Talk Of Cooperation, Democrats Sharpen Political Knives
• Cheney: Obama appointing second-raters to nat-sec positions

Liberal Mindset

• Given the history of race in this country, why are black leaders anti-gun?
• Evolving Christian Attitudes Towards Personal and National Self-Defense
• One wonders if perhaps it isn't the size and type of weapon...

Tyranny

• Pelosi: "We Avow The First Amendment," "People Have A Right To Have A Gun"

Education

• America’s Sex-Crazed Colleges

Budget Battle

• Many 2011 federal budget cuts had little real-world effect

Tuesday opinions and news

Civil Discourse

• Video: The obligatory “Michelle Obama rolls her eyes at Boehner” clip
• The Left's Inability To Be Civil
• The President's Hyper-Partisan Inaugural Address
• Obama Crowd Boos Paul Ryan 
• Show Some Civility, You Nazi Racists!

Socialism, Corruption

• Dems and Their Gun Money
• Obama's Second Inaugural: Definition of 'Liberty' Subject to Debate

Politics

• Cantor: Say, maybe we can get something done this year
• Former RNC Chair Steele Rips GOP For Skipping Inauguration
• Cuomo abortion bill outrageous, says … Democrats for Life

 Second Amendment

• Sen. McConnell: I Will Stop Obama's Gun Grab
• Sen. Ted Cruz Calls Out Obama’s Gun Control Hypocrisy
• Thousands Gather in Olympia for the Guns Across America Rally

Local Government, Taxes

• Voters to decide on Wa-Hi bond issue

State Government, Big Government

• House Bill 1128 Moves Transparency in the Wrong Direction
• Why isn't the Legislature as open as local government?

Media

• CBS political director urges Obama to 'go for the throat' of GOP to cement legacy

ObamaCareTax

• Universities Bludgeon Adjuncts With Obamacare Loophole

Big Government

• Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Washington, D.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Racket

Financial, It's the Economy

• Moody’s New Pension Rules Would Bankrupt Six Cal Counties
• China Equities Turn Inside Out

Monday thoughts, opinions, and news

Budget Battle, Taxes

• Averting the Fiscal Cliff

Budget Battle, Taxes, State Government

• Inslee still says no tax hikes needed for state budget

United Nations

• In the Time of Cholera: How the U.N. created an epidemic -- then covered it up.

Media, Corruption

• Surprise: David Gregory won't be prosecuted for displaying high-capacity magazine on "Meet the Press"

Education

• Survey: Higher ed tuition prices hitting an economic wall?

ObamaCareTax

• Electronic records turn out to potentially add costs rather than reduce them

Big Government

• The Consumer Financial "Protection" Bureau steps into the fray
• Note from a Wise Man

Politics

• White House may back armed guards in schools after all

Looking Ahead

• I Gotta Agree With This

Socialism, Liberal Mindset

• Pretty Nervy for a Guy Whose FIRST Campaign Was ALL About “Traditional Marriage”
• The Wrong Kennedy

Education, Local Government

• How Do You Plan To Vote in the Walla Walla High School Bond?

Education

• Higher Education Bubble: Humanities v. Community College

Second Amendment

• Take Action Now!
• Gun Restrictions Have Always Bred Defiance, Black Markets
• Guns and freedom

News, thoughts, and opinions for Monday

Politics

• Lindsay Graham: Obama's 2nd Term Will Be 'In Your Face'

 
EPA, Big Government, Corruption

• Barack Obama’s $7 million Hawaii vacation is an insult to America’s struggling middle class 
• Did EPA chief Jackson resign in protest over the Keystone pipeline?
  Graphic of the day: Thanks to government stupidity, Social Security is in worse shape than thought
• Obama's 'Cash For Clunkers' Unleashed 'Environmental Nightmare'
• Welfare recipients take out cash at strip clubs, liquor stores and X-rated shops

Foreign Policy

• Canada speaking up for persecuted Christians in Middle East
• Assad speaks while Russia acts

 
Looking Ahead

• H.J.Res.15 - Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.
• Non-believers on rise in Congress 

 Local Government, Taxes

• Port commissioners: Have cash, will build

 
It's The Economy

• Forget discouraged, 3 million workers hopelessly unemployed

 
Budget Battle, Taxes

• Pols Prep for Fiscal Fight, Round 2
• Dem Sen: 'In The Future' We Should Raise Federal Gas Tax
• Treasury Mulls Coining $1 Trillion Loophole

State and County News

Local Government, Taxes

• No wiggle room seen in budget (registration may be required)

State Government, Politics, Taxes

• Court: WA Legislature failing at education funding
• Gregoire’s Final Budget Defeats Shortfall in a Few Quick Moves, But Proposes More Than $1 Billion in New Spending, Taxes
• Gregoire's plan to pay for school buses may cost motorists
• Senate Dems Make Counter-Offer – Denied Majority Control, They Suggest Co-Chairs for All Committees

Fiscal responsibility

School board votes to return excess dollars

Walla Walla Public Schools Board of Directors voted to return excess funds to the taxpayers should voters approve the February 12, 2013 special election proposal to modernize Walla Walla High School and the project comes in under budget.

Board members approved Resolution No. 15-2012 to officially revise the bond proposal to state the district will reduce the tax burden on the district’s property owners should there be any excess bond funds once the project is completed. 

“If this helps us pass the bond, then I’m all for it,” said Anne Golden, School Board President. “We are good stewards of taxpayer’s dollars and we want to continue to model this practice.”

Attention property owners! (Updated and bumped)

UPDATE:  The Union-Bulletin reports that the meeting will be held at 11 a.m. on 21 December, in the District's board room at  364 South Park Street.

========================================

The Walla Walla School Board has an opportunity to give rather than take.  They are considering how to use any "excess" from the proposed WaHi bond, should it pass next February (registration may be required):

The Walla Walla School Board plans to hold a special meeting before Dec. 28 to decide what to do with any excess funds from a Walla Walla High School bond should the measure pass in February.

The board held a brief work session Tuesday to hear feedback from community members and leaders of the Wa-Hi bond committee on the matter of potential excess funds.

Craig Sievertsen and Shannon Bergevin, co-chairs of the bond committee, were at the work session and expressed concerns about the potential for board members to use any excess funds rather than return them to taxpayers or pay down debt.

Sievertsen said the matter continues to come up in the public, with many people saying the board’s previous decision to use excess funds from the Edison Elementary bond for other projects as costing them yes votes on the Wa-Hi initiative.

Sievertsen said the board has an opportunity to make it a nonissue. While he personally sees the value of reinvesting dollars into the district, he said the committee simply doesn’t have enough time before the election to make a case for the benefits of using any excess money.

Their options are:

• Spend any"excess" funds left over from the WaHi on Lincoln High School
• Pay down the debt incurred by the bond

According to the article, the public will have another chance to comment on the matter, at a meeting is "set in the next few days" (the article is dated December 19th, 2012).

Considering that this is the Christmas holiday season, there are only a few days on which they can actually hold the meeting, and expect any sort of respectable public attendance. Assuming that the board won't meet on weekends or holidays, that leaves December 20th, 21st, 26th, 27th, and 28th.  This doesn't leave much notice for a public announcement.  And considering that people can be out of town, or paying more attention to holiday cheer than school board politics, this isn't very good planning on the part of the board.

In fact, the school board calendar has "12:00 PM - Special School Board Meeting - Location: District Office Board Room (364 S. Park St)" set for the 21st of December, but no other information is on their web site.  If this is that meeting, it's poorly written, and not much of advance notice. 

If you can't make the meeting, you can contact the School District by the following methods, and offer your input:

• Mail: Walla Walla Public Schools, 364 South Park Street, Walla Walla, WA 99362
• Voice: (509) 527-3000
• Facsimile: (509) 529-7713
• Email: mhiggins@wwps.org
• District Suggestion Box

If you pay taxes that go into the Walla Walla School District, attend the meeting this Friday, or contact the District as noted above.  Or you could write a letter to the editor of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Make your voice heard.  This is a local matter, and your input matters a great deal.

Touchet bond vote

Touchet voters to see bond for secondary school work

The Touchet School Board recently approved a resolution to put a $6.5 million bond measure before voters in February. The funds would be used along with state matching funds for complete renovation of the secondary school.

#According to Superintendent Susan Bell, the proposed renovation would be the first major work on the building, which was completed in 1975 and currently houses students in fifth through 12th grades. “The secondary building is badly in need of repair,” she said. “We’re to the point of having serious roof leaks when it rains.”

Read the rest here.  Registration may be required.

Budget not done, but levies passed

From the Walla Walla Union Bulletin*:

Walla Walla County commissioners approved property tax levies Monday, but took no action on the 2013 budget.

Commissioners Greg Tompkins, Perry Dozier and Jim Johnson voted unanimously to have no increases in property tax levies for the county’s current expense, road and Mill Creek Flood Control District funds. They approved a 1 percent increase in the Emergency Medical Services levy.

 ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ........

According to county Auditor Karen Martin, despite the latest revisions the current expense budget, which pays for much of the county’s day-to-day operations, remains about $1.1 million out of balance.

 ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ........

“We are mandated to provide services and we’re mandated to balance the budget,” Tompkins said. In that situation, non-mandated services will be cut first and the major question becomes “what is county government really responsible for?”

Saturday news & opinions!

Looking Ahead

Socialism, Communism

• French Socialist in Mittal Row: We're Just Doing What Obama Does

Taxes, Local Government

• Walla Walla City Council OKs tax hike  (registration may be required to view)

 Taxes, Budget Battle, Politics

• "Walk Away" Gaining Steam
• Does Government Want To Drain Americans' 401(k) Plan?
• HEY, DEMOCRATS: I'll listen to Warren Buffett's tax hike ideas when he decides to PAY HIS OWN **** TAXES
• Buffett's Billions Can't Buy Him Exemption From His Tax-Averse Past
• Krauthammer: Robert E. Lee was offered better terms at Appomattox than Obama is offering Republicans
• Charlie Gasparino: Warren Buffett Is Just an Obama Mouthpiece (Video)
• Obama's opening "fiscal cliff" bid seeks debt limit hike, stimulus
• Mitch McConnell On Barack Obama: He Can't Get Anything He Wants. Those Days Are Over
• Obama's Real Fiscal Problem
• Ramirez on compromise
• Jeff Miller could be MVP in Congress

It's the Economy, Unions

• NYC Fast-Food Workers Strike: 'Supersize Our Wages,' They Demand
• Video: Small-business America
• Eurozone unemployment rate hits new high in October

Media

• See No Evil
• Leno: Hey, Obama might be in trouble if journalists start asking questions

Big Government, Corruption, EPA

• Obama Interior Dept: Full steam ahead with the offshore wind farms
• Gitmo North returns: Obama’s shady prison deal

Foreign Policy, Terrorism, Corruption

• Yuan Yawn: Treasury Department Won’t Call China “Currency Manipulator”
• New Rice controversy: business ties to Iran?
• Susan Rice & Benghazi, the Reality Keeps Getting Worse
• Senate blocks Gitmo closing ... again

Second Amendment

• City attorney’s comments spotlight how California gun laws endanger citizens

Law Enforcement budget discussions in the news

With the 2013 county budget coming up for finalizing (discussed here in a previous post), the Union-Bulletin has printed a series of items opening discussions on the budget for the County Sheriff.

Briefly, that budget has been a point of concern for the Commissioners, especially given the cost overruns by Sheriff Turner in his 2011 budget, and the sharp disagreements between the Commissioners and Sheriff Turner during the 2011 run up to completing the 2012 Sheriff Budget.  Those resulted in an editorial by the Union-Bulletin on December 9, 2011, titled "Meetings between Commission, sheriff should be public".

(That editorial can be viewed here, if you don't have an account with the Union-Bulletin.)

The two articles are linked below (registration may be required, if you have used your monthly quota of free views).

• Badges and budgets: Do we have enough?
• Constitution lays out authority, not numbers

The discussion concerning the requested budget increases is a difficult one, given the revenue decrease, as noted by the Union-Bulletin on November 22 (No easy answers for budget gap), a projected $1.9 million county wide budget gap, and several as yet incomplete labor contract negotiations.  As noted in that article:

A worst-case scenario would have elected officials and department heads having to deal with increased labor costs in 2013 with the money they’ve been allotted in 2012, commissioners said. With no other place to cut expenses, layoffs may be the only option.

“It’s not that we (commissioners) are telling them to cut people,” Dozier said. “If they (elected officials and department heads) can find a place to cut without layoffs, then do it.”

At Monday’s discussion, county Treasurer Gordon Heimbigner said county officials need to take on strategic planning to decide what are the “bare essentials for each office and where do we want to be in four years?” He said that just as federal officials have warned of being “close to a fiscal cliff, so are we.”

The budget is set to be completed in December.  Short of a major increase in revenues for the county, the question facing the Commissioners is balancing the budget for the entire county.  The Sheriff either has to live within what he gets, or somehow takes something out of another county agency's budget.  This is a very difficult problem for all concerned, especially considering the cash flow problems discussed at the special meeting in October (discussed here in a previous post), and unplanned but inevitable emergency needs.

If you are interested in attending the Commission meetings, for either information, or to offer your opinion, the public meeting are held each Monday, 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM, or you can check the county calender here.