By Cindy Alia 1/16/26

Ecology's unsurprising over-reach in interpreting incorrectly a federal law about stream tempuratures applying it to non fish bearing streams thereby expanding no touch buffers in forestry.

Credit to Washington Forest Protection Association

By Cindy Alia 1/5/26

Concise Analysis of HB 2089 (Wildfire Alleviation Support Act) –

The Core Change:

Effective July 1, 2026, the bill amends RCW 82.04.29005 by removing the "located in more than ten states" qualifier for banking institutions. This eliminates the B&O tax deduction for interest on residential first mortgages (previously available to lenders operating in 10 or fewer states), subjecting all such interest income to Washington's B&O tax at the service rate (~1.5–1.8%).

Stated Intent vs. Actual Effect –

December 4, 2025

By Dominique Scarimbolo, CAPR King County President

King County’s Outside Counsel Monopoly: How Taxpayer Dollars Are Used to Block Taxpayers

Through extensive public-records requests, CAPR has uncovered a deeply troubling pattern inside King County government: the County has spent over $56 million on outside legal counsel since the year 2000—despite already employing hundreds of attorneys in-house.

The records we obtained show 20,334 payments to 1,607 different payees, with a staggering $43.6 million (about 78%) of all spending going to 629 private law firms. These are not small solo practices—many are major institutional firms with the staff, resources, and litigation power normally needed to stand up to government agencies.

By Cindy Alia 11/21/2025

Media is quick to publish stories related to the phrase "food deserts" and blaming it for the most part on evil corporations that market foods.  There are a lot of reasons for the so called food deserts, including corporate decision making on the vialbility of certain locations impacted by crime, theft, or other societal ills that make doing business at a given location that is unpoliced too much of a business challenge.