Passenger trains would travel faster between Seattle and Portland under plans reported in today’s News Tribune.
The new route south of Tacoma would cut the distance and allow faster speeds, shaving six minutes off the total trip by 2010. The move would allow closer coordination with commuter rail in Tacoma and should improve the reliability of passenger service by separating it from tracks used by freight trains.
Unemployment rates in Cascadia dropped again in October, a sign of the region’s strong job market.
Washington’s jobless rate dropped to 4.8 percent, sending the average so far this year to 4.9 percent, the lowest since 1999. Oregon’s jobless rate stood at 5.1 percent and Idaho’s stood at 3.2 percent, well below the national rate of 4.4 percent. British Columbia’s rate was 4.6 percent, compared to 6.2 percent nationally.
In the Seattle area, unemployment dropped to 3.9 percent. The lowest rate in Washington was in San Juan County, with 2.9 percent, while the highest was in Columbia and Grays Harbor counties, with 6.4 percent — almost two points less than the month before.
A handful of Cascadia companies are among the top 50 eco-friendly businesses in the U.S., according to Inc. magazine. The subjective list, called the Green 50, is a play on the magazine’s annual ranking of 500 top startups.
A few caught my eye:
Burgerville, a Vancouver, Wash., fast-food chain, shoots for near-sustainability. It buys all its beef from a natural coop, powers its restaurants with wind power and started a program to turn cooking oil into bidiesel.
Ryzex Group of Bellingham recycles bar-code scanners and other electronic equipment. It expects revenue of $75 million this year.
Collins Companies of Portland among the first timber companies to seek certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, an organization that vouches for the long-term viability of forests.
Teragren of Bainbridge Island, Wash., uses sustainably grown bamboo for floors and furniture. Fast-growing bamboo supposedly has less impact that other kinds of wood. The compay is trying to market it for building materials such as trusses that have traditionally belonged to softwood.
Prometheus Energy of Seattle developed a process to capture and purify methane gas, and turn it into liquefied natural gas to power buses. The company taps landfills to power buses in nearby communities.
Democrat Darcy Burner publicly conceded today to Rep. Dave Reichert after the latest round of ballots showed that he won narrow reelection.
There are at least two explanations for Burner’s loss. Some voters likely were turned off by the way she turned almost every public pronouncement into a party-line critique of the Bush Administration’s policies. Voters want to trust candidates — especially in moderate district like Washington’s 8th — so personality trumps well-rehearsed talking points.
Burner was the only Democrat to challenge Reichert, a former sheriff, well before the anti-Republican wave began to swell. But her lack of political experience was Reichert’s best asset. Jim Brunner has an account of Burner’s press conference today on a Seattle Times blog.
One of the 10 most-emailed stories on nytimes.com Monday told how Seattle voters gladly chased away the Sonics by refusing to pay for a new arena. In the photo, the head of the group that sponsored the vote, Citizens for More Important Things, stands in the rain in front of a billboard adverizing a Death Cab for Cutie show.
Clearly Seattleites are tired of subsidizing millionaire owners who won’t even invest in winning teams. In an era when the city can’t properly fund its schools, clinics or roads, there’s no reason to spend another $200 million to rebuild an arena. (Here’s a summary of events so far.)
But it’s also true that the vote missed the importance of major-league sports to the Seattle area.
“I’m not saying it’s the most important thing or the only thing, but I think professional sports are an important component to the overall economy and quality of life in any marketplace,” the new Sonics owner told the New York Times. “It’s about flying the flag of the city nationally and globally.”
Maybe the best outcome would be a privately funded stadium (that could also house a pro hockey team) in Bellevue, right next to the future light rail lines. The state legislature will be under pressure in January to help at least with area infrastructure. That seems reasonable if the funding also covers arts groups and other entertainment that make the area attractive.
Vancouver’s massive new convention center wants financial help, making it the latest project to seek a bailout from British Columbia taxpayers.
Backers haven’t said exactly how much they need, on top of the C$362 million the province has already committed for the 1.1 million-square-foot waterfront project. The bill would follow rising costs for the Olympics and transit projects.
Though the convention center would surely provide future economic benefit, the city is currently considering stifling tax increases now.
During this year’s campaign, Bremerton Congressman Norm Dicks, who first went to Capitol Hill in 1976, told everyone he could that he wanted a Democratic victory so he would finally be called “Mr. Chairman.”
He’s likely to get his wish when Democrats take control of Congress in January. The sea change will give more clout to Washington, where both senators and seven of nine representatives are Democrats, and to Oregon, where one senator and four of five representatives are Democrats.
The federal deficit, spending in Iraq and pressure to live up to campaign pledges of fiscal restraint will limit the spoils. Still, Dicks (WA, 6th), who will chair the subcommittee that controls funding for the EPA and Interior department, has said funding cleanup of Puget Sound is a top priority. Even if funds are limited, at least the region’s representatives will be at the table to do the carving.
Here’s a summary of likely key leadership positions, according to multiple local reports:
Sen. Patty Murray: Appropriations subcommittee on transportation.
Sen. Maria Cantwell: Commerce subcommittee on fisheries and Coast Guard.
Sen. Ron Wyden: Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee on forestry.
Rep. Jim McDermott: Ways and Means subcommittee dealing with health care.
Rep. Norm Dicks: Appropriations subcommittee for the EPA and Department of the Interior.
Rep. Peter DeFazio: Transportation Committee’s surface transportation subcommittee.
Rep. David Wu: Science Committee’s subcommittee on environment, technology and standards.
Cascadia is no stranger to fall rainstorms. But this year’s record-setting onslaught is already causing economic damage across the region — and it’s barely mid-November.
There may have been too much water even for salmon. The floods likely washed fish away from spawning areas, potentially cutting the number of salmon that can be caught in the future.
Despite the intensely local coverage of the storms so far, their impact has been roughly even from southern Oregon to British Columbia. Roads have been washed out, trains halted and ferries cancelled. Farmers face months of costly cleanup from flooding in valleys from the Willamette to the Chilliwack. In Oregon, damage to roads leading to Mt. Hood threatens the tourist industry.
On the flip side, rebuilding should be helped by government disaster aid following declarations of states of emergency in 24 counties in Washington and at least nine more in Oregon. The storms have been dumping heavy snow across the Cascades, which may mean a robust start to ski season — as soon as skiers can get to the mountains.
The first reports are in of the challenge Washington Democrats face with their strengthened majorities in Olympia.
Democrats likely have a 31-18 seat majority in the state Senate and a 62-36 split in the state House. The danger is that they will raise taxes and increase spending, courting a backlash against Gov. Chris Gregoire in 2008. From The Seattle Times:
The wish list that interest groups want Democrats to deliver next year includes salary increases for teachers and state workers, better access to health care, a boost in funding for public schools, paid family leave and a ban on a toxic flame retardant present in televisions, computers and other consumer products.
A Seattle neighborhood group wants to block an expansion of the 520 floating bridge freeway because it would supposedly cause visual blight and add to global warming by encouraging cars in the city.
The new plan would replace the existing earthquake-damaged bridge with one of essentially the same four-lane size. Unfortunately current limits on road capacity — without viable alternate forms of transportation — don’t discourage cars, they just make cars sit in traffic longer. Plans for a new bridge with two extra lanes for transit and a dedicated bike lane would encourage transit use, especially as the time to drive in a car grows longer.
Proponents of the so-called “green alternative” have cost on their side, since supposedly it would be $1.8 billion less a six-lane project, according to The Seattle Times. But residents of the region are unlikely to pony up even the remaining $3.5 billion or so without gaining increased mobility.