October 2008
4:40 PM Thu, Oct 30, 2008 | Permalink
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Why did we look into the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island to see how sex offenders civilly committed there are accessing all sorts of contraband?
Money. The cost to taxpayers.
Annual budget? More than $45,000,000.
Price per resident per year? $166,876.
That's about five times the yearly cost of housing an inmate in a state prison.
And Washington is one of the spendiest programs in the country. Of the 19 ...
9:13 PM Thu, Oct 23, 2008 | Permalink
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Shelly Farnham was tired of graffiti taggers defacing her garage door.
The Seattle artist painted murals on the door, thinking the taggers would respect another person's art, but it didn't work.
So she painted Barack Obama's face on her garage. To her, Obama is a symbol of hope and inclusiveness. And Farnham hopes it's the one image taggers might leave alone.
Do you think it will work?
>> Continue reading: Deface this!
4:38 PM Thu, Oct 23, 2008 | Permalink
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I put together a story today that is bound to raise some animal treatment issues.
We visited a Seattle home on Lake Washington where nutria had invaded a boat house on the property.
Nutria are non-native species brought to the U.S. from Argentina back in the 1930s. They look like beavers but have tails that resemble rat tails.
An animal control professional captured three of the nutria and the future for them is grim. Ther...
6:18 PM Mon, Oct 20, 2008 | Permalink
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People tell me all the time that they don't trust government. They don't trust politicians. And they don't trust political campaigns.
That's why I think it's important to follow the rules.
The public disclosure laws are there to protect how our tax dollars are used. The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission has clear guidelines detailing what's allowed and what's not allowed for everything from conducting polls to using go...
3:31 PM Mon, Oct 13, 2008 | Permalink
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Mike Patrick and Keith Jackson are two guys who really didn't want to sit in the media spotlight. Both said they agreed to interviews with KING 5 as a last resort, when they were convinced the Washington National Guard wasn't going to right the wrongs against them.
The soldiers felt the Guard didn't fully investigate their claims that re-enlistment documents were forged.
Patrick was concerned people who committed the crime had all ...
3:10 PM Mon, Oct 06, 2008 | Permalink
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In doing this story, I gained a whole new understanding of why patients need to be actively involved in their own medical care.
People react to drugs differently. Powerful painkillers like methadone and oxycodone do help a lot of people cope with chronic pain, but not enough is known about how much is really safe, especially when the drugs are combined with other prescriptions.
The statistics are more clear. According to the Washin...
5:14 PM Wed, Oct 01, 2008 | Permalink
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This week, I produced a rather light piece on the perils of a small community dealing with a large elk herd. I did so to highlight the personalities and issues that are so unique to small towns. (Click here to watch) But the problem does have a serious side and many residents are facing an emotional dilemma.
Some adore the close up wlidlife experience when...
