Government

The first members of Washington state’s new Charter School Commission are due to be appointed Wednesday. The commission will be able to approve some of the 40 charter schools allowed under the law voters passed last fall.

Both of King County’s death penalty cases are on hold pending appeal to the Washington Supreme Court. A key issue in both cases is whether the defendants have experienced any hardships that should have required prosecutors to be more lenient.

What do politics have to do with professional sports? More now than ever according to Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation. Ross Reynolds talks to Zirin about the impact of politics in professional sports and what he learned while researching his new book "Game Over."

At least 1,000 children could be kicked out of Head Start programs in Washington due to the automatic federal budget cuts that began today.

The King County Housing Authority has stopped issuing new Section 8 vouchers. The program is federally subsidized through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The move is a result of the impending reduction in those funds due to sequestration.

Today marks yet another sink-or-swim deadline for bills in the state Legislature to make it out of committee. Which ones have the best chance of survival? It’s all part of our end-of-the-week update with reporters Austin Jenkins and Tom Banse. They will cover everything from sick leave, to education reform, to the State Supreme Court’s recent ruling that lawmakers should only need a simple majority vote to raise taxes. 

Halfway through the enrollment season for Washington's Guaranteed Tuition Savings program, the number of new enrollments is lagging compared to the last two years. Consumer confidence in the program is slipping, at least for now, even as state lawmakers express their concerns about the $600 million shortfall in the program.