Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

In the Newsroom with Gov.Inslee ~~

05/17/2015 Nativegrl77

May

Governor declares statewide drought emergency

Governor Inslee announces appointment of Brian Coughenour to the Clallam County Superior Court
Statement by Gov. Jay Inslee on signing of bill to create a health care database for patients and providers

April

Inslee announces hire of Alex Alben as state’s first Chief Privacy Officer

March

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Find Business Success – en Español

05/17/2015 Nativegrl77

Introducing our New Spanish Language Website

We are excited to share the new Spanish language SBA website. Utilize thousands of business resources now en Español!

> Visit the new site

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

‘Paddle in Seattle’ protesters gather against Shell oil rig

05/17/2015 Nativegrl77

Activists in kayaks protest Saturday near the Polar Pioneer, Shell’s giant oil rig, which is moored at the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times) By Coral Garnick

Seattle Times staff reporter

Activists in kayaks protest Saturday near the Polar Pioneer, Shell’s giant oil rig, which is moored at the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)

Saturday’s protest flotilla was meant to show environmentalists’ disapproval of the Port of Seattle and of Shell, even if the massive oil rig, the Polar Pioneer, is staying put for a while.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/paddle-in-seattle-protesters-gather-against-shell-oil-rig/?

By Coral Garnick

Seattle Times staff reporter

Conrad Ely drove from Olympia with three friends, a double kayak and a canoe.

Amy McKendry arrived with her family and a canoe she’s had since she was 8.

Brandon Juhl came in from Snohomish without a boat, but was able to launch into Elliott Bay with an extra kayak another donated to the cause.

The Shell oil rig in Seattle:

They joined more than 200 other boats Saturday for Paddle in Seattle, a flotilla organized by a coalition of environmental groups, activists and tribal leaders from around the country to demonstrate concern about the impact of fossil-fuel consumption on climate change and to show disappointment in the Port of Seattle’s decision to host Shell’s offshore Arctic oil-drilling fleet.

The coalition, Shell No! Action Council, has said the protests will culminate Monday with a day of peaceful civil disobedience that will attempt to shut down Shell operations at the Port. That protest is to start at 7 a.m. at the Duwamish Fishing Dock.

“We are building a movement, and this is how it starts,” said Renny Reep, one of Seattle’s Raging Grannies, who stayed on land with hundreds of other activists for Saturday’s events.

“We just have to stop Shell Oil,” she said.

The Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 has been the center of an environmental and political standoff since the Port commission announced in January that Foss Maritime would lease the vacant terminal to use as a home base for Shell’s fleet during the winter months.

The 307-foot-tall Polar Pioneer oil rig arrived Thursday despite a request by the Port commission that it and support vessels stay away while the Port challenges a city ruling aimed at keeping them out.

The rig is the biggest piece of Shell’s 25-vessel fleet in the Pacific Northwest that is set to resume its controversial oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s North Slope. Company officials view that area as one of the world’s top prospects for a major oil find.

Terminal 5 offers a deep-water berth, and has enough space to handle the big equipment needed to load a drilling rig.

“The tiny boats on the water against the backdrop of the giant oil rig … It is a chance to show how much people care,” McKendry, of Kenmore, said Saturday morning at Seacrest Park. “It is just very Seattle.”

The flotilla of hundreds of kayaks, sailboats and canoes made its way up the Duwamish River to get as close as possible to the hulking oil rig.

Chanting “Shell No” and banging oars and paddles against the sides of their boats, the demonstrators mostly stayed outside the official 100-yard buffer zone surrounding the Polar Pioneer.

Seattle police and the U.S. Coast Guard were on the water monitoring the protest, and Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Dana Warr said the demonstration remained peaceful.

“There were no arrests or warnings; everyone was very respectful of the safety zone,” he said. “One hundred yards is pretty close to the rig.”

“This was really a show of strength … of how many people are appalled by this” Shell No! spokeswoman Emily Johnston said.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.Coral Garnick: 206-464-2441 or cgarnick@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @coralgarnick

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Washington in the News …sensible Washington

05/17/2015 Nativegrl77

Support Senate Bill 6083 and House Bill 2196 to Legalize Cannabis Cultivation

I support medical use of cannabis, patients rights and #HouseBill1024 ~ Nativegrl77

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A Meeting at Camp David

05/16/2015 Nativegrl77

A Meeting at Camp David:

President Barack Obama shakes hands with His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders prepare to have a group photo with the President outside of the Laurel Cabin at the conclusion of a summit meeting at Camp David, Md., May 14, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

More from 1600 Penn

Must Watch: 5 of Our Favorite Obama Administration Commencement AddressesAs the President prepares to head to Connecticut to deliver the address to the United States Coast Guard Academy’s graduating class of 2015 next week, we decided to pull together a few of our favorite commencement addresses from Administration officials.READ MORE

3 Important Thoughts the President Shared on Poverty in America:

On Tuesday, President Obama traveled to Georgetown University to sit down with Harvard professor Robert Putnam and American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks to share his views on poverty in America. The President also outlined what we can do to ensure every American — no matter who they are, where they come from, or where they live — has access to the opportunities they deserve.

This week, the Obama administration took important steps to eliminate any ambiguity around the reforms that the Affordable Care Act calls for. Under the law, most insurers must now cover at least one form of birth control with no out-of-pocket expenses in each identified category.

READ MORE

“You have impacted my family in ways that are priceless and I can not thank you enough.”

— Siobhan F. on how the Affordable Care Act has helped her family

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Poverty and Opportunity in Your Community: What Are You Seeing?

This week, we asked you to talk about the pressing issues in your own community related to poverty and opportunity, and what steps you think we can take to expand opportunity for more people.

Here’s a look at what you told us:

“I live in a rural county in Central Texas. People here have little access to good jobs because of the lack of public transportation. There aren’t many jobs available in the small towns in our county, and most are very low wage jobs. We need a way for our people, particularly our young people, to get training for good blue-collar skilled jobs, and the transportation to get to the training centers, and then when they graduate, the jobs.”

— Rochelle from Franklin, TX

“There’s very little manufacturing in my community. By eliminating the shipment of jobs overseas, we would create more trainee jobs for young people and regain our manufacturing capability.”

— Roman from Surprise, AZ

“Our country needs to encourage companies that are looking to expand, to look at rural areas for locations to do so in…Our country needs to penalize those who moved to foreign countries and grow our manufacturing base back to old days. Every American should be able to have a job and be productive.”

— Richard from Emporia, VA

If you haven’t joined the conversation yet, it’s not too late. Tell us how these issues are playing out in your community, and how you think we can continue expanding opportunity for more Americans.