As a "proud Cougar" (Washington State University grad), Ambassador Nyhus promised to load up a suitcase with Cougar Gold and practice "cheese diplomacy" in the Caribbean.

Nelson says she expects the council “to define the specific outcomes expected from service providers and measure their performance regularly.” Her challenge: “We must have the political will to evaluate and change course if necessary.” Sounds like austerity ahead.

Fixed-route transit was a brilliant invention of the 19th century. Now we need to work on mobility for the 21st century.

Here are the countries, large and small, where stark choices confront voters struggling through economic difficulties and indifference to the political stakes when they fail to engage in decisions that will influence how and by whom they are governed.

Tom Stockley’s “Winery Trails of the Pacific Northwest” was published in 1977 as “a complete guide to the wineries of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia”. It included just eight entries from Washington, and only two of them (Ste. Michelle and AV – now Columbia) still exist, albeit in much-diminished circumstances.

Trump declared, announcing the Department of Hoax: "China is ruining our economy with its climate-change hoax. The Chinese are tremendous hoaxers. They're melting icebergs, engineering monthlong triple-digit heat waves, and flooding the seas to raise water level. Believe me, these guys are beautiful hoaxers, incredible hoaxers."

I keep in mind a warning from an elderly friend: “At my age,” he confessed, “it becomes all-too-easy to join the ‘ain’t it awful club.' That is, 'No one is getting it right. Everything is in decline.'”

Even very limited versions of this idea – broadly known as “school choice” – have been DOA in Olympia for decades thanks to the combined influence of the teachers’ unions and local school districts. Conventional wisdom would have predicted the same fate had such an idea come before voters.

The expectation is that the Huskies late Monday will be trailing by two points with one second left. Then the NCAA penalizes Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for being an all-around scoundrel. The five-yard advance allows kicker Grady Gross to attempt a 60-yard field goal that bounces once, then again, on the crossbar before falling past the uprights for the win.

The Olympics had been designed as a showpiece for the Third Reich. The Olympic torch was carried, for the first time, from Athens to the site of the games. Athletes were greeted by a new Olympic hymn composed by Richard Strauss.

The City studied the availability of rental properties, finding a distinct pattern in the response: houses and units in small properties drop by one-fifth in the four-year period (2018-2022) and units in large properties either increase or stay the same.

"Trump's team is no longer a not-so-organized collection of family members and hangers-on. Instead, it's staffed with political veterans who are building robust get-out-the-vote campaigns in key states, starting in Iowa."

Iowa is a place where candidacies can catch fire. Or get their comeuppance.

Students identifying with the original three ethnic groups now make up 11.5 percent of the UW undergraduate population. Enrollment of Black undergraduate students has hovered around three to four percent for decades. 

Let's raise a toast to companions of four legs and two/ whose presence will enrich us through/ this closer-than-it-may-appear/ and soon, let’s hope, more peaceful year.

Looking at that area of interest this past year, I’d have to say that 2023 was a case of one step forward and one or two backwards. There were notable gains but worrisome setbacks as well.

So we have a system that confines customers to their homes, sometimes for multiple days, and helps crooked drivers – alerted by the OTP requirement as to which packages have valuable cargo – steal orders.

My hunt for onion rings took me to the Old Wild West, an Italian restaurant chain that aims to satisfy the Italian yearning for the American frontier.

Arriving as early as 1838, these tolerant, hardy "Blackrobes" had an important visual aid.

Hedge funds, institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, even Alaska’s state fund have piled into the American housing market, joining and outbidding traditional smaller landlords.

“Think about the signal that delayed Ukraine aid sends to the leaders and people of Taiwan. If, God forbid, they are faced with the decision of whether to fight or capitulate to the People’s Republic of China, they will need to soberly assess the credibility of America’s commitment to helping them defend their island. Right now, we are sending a terrible message."

These were the kind of male role models I grew up with, which boys of my generation were to emulate. One doesn’t see many of these today.

After observing the public safety crisis on Seattle’s streets, Smith contacted Mayor Harrell’s office. She and the Mayor’s office discussed multiple options before agreeing that establishing the third public safety department in Seattle city government was a good “fit” for her background and skills. 

The Constitution does not define the term “insurrection.” I’ll offer a writer’s definition.

Big cities need the contrast and diversity of buildings with varying scale and design.  Religious temples can offer such diversity and architectural appeal.

The Wild Olympics bill, mired in Congress for years, is wildly popular in these parts, at least when measured against the state’s past wilderness battles.

There was only one way, one truth, and there were no “lies” you could tell a soufflé that would not fail to betray its integrity or your own..

Price matters, shelf placement matters, and packaging matters. What counts the most as far as successful wine packaging? I’d say it’s the label’s graphic design and the name on the bottle. Same as shampoo.

Ignoring the negatives in the economy—or, worse, telling voters they are misperceiving those negatives—and trying to generate excitement about the programs in Bidenomics is a risky messaging strategy.

“Historically, the occupier of Palestine has always met disaster, beginning with the Jews themselves,” Barbara Tuchman begins. “The country’s political geography has conquered its rulers.”