Column

The Joann Fabric and Crafts store near where I live is closing, one of their 800 stores being shuttered around the country after the company filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Chapter 11 reorganization.

Washington’s mail-in voting system is often criticized from the right for security that is too lax, but is not immune from challenges from the left for being too restrictive.

As a lifelong library lover and voracious reader, the idea that access to reading material has become controversial boggles my brain.

Washington legislators spend some of their time and energy proposing bills that send a message, but is that message getting through?

I read a little thing online that both amused and somewhat irritated me – “Is there anyone out there who still writes appointments down on a wall calendar?” – the inference, of course, being how quaint and so yesterday that must be. Smile sweetly if you do.

Legislative proposal to toughen rules for initiatives gets support from Democrats, criticism from Republicans.

I flew to the desert

A few problems with President Donald Trump trying to change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America with the stroke of a pen.

I’m developing a new relationship with snow.

Legislative committee considers a proposal to rename Presidents Day to honor state's namesake.

Almost a year has passed since my last Mom update.

When I was a child living in the borough of Queens in New York City, I would often go on Saturdays with my father to the 5-acre family-owned piece of property (referred to as “the land”) out in rural New Jersey, where he would do some maintenance or mowing or puttering.

This time, he had to wait for her – 14 long years.

President Donald Trump predicted a new golden age of America in his inaugural address. Past golden ages haven't been golden for everyone.

I have three odds and ends that don’t necessarily blend smoothly into one column, so I’m just going to lurch from one to another – research blunders, words of the year and flying carrots.

The Washington Supreme Court is wrestling with a case that could decide the fate of the state’s 2022 law banning the sale of large-capacity magazines.

For many years, I posted the same cartoon on social media every December. It features a woman sitting on Santa’s lap, reading her Christmas wish list. “… And I also need a gripping opening sentence, help with my 14th and 28th chapters, an agent with excellent connections in the publishing world, and a home office with a door.”

I recently rang in 2025 by turning the big 6-0. That equals 3,120 weeks, 21,900 days or 525,600 hours. A milestone? Hardly. More a reminder that I need to begin thinking about selecting my tombstone.

The Legislature convenes Monday with the state facing a $12 billion budget shortfall over the next four years and major changes in the leadership in the executive branch of Washington government.