From Our Corner
Happy Fourth!
The Office of Secretary of State wishes you a wonderful holiday weekend celebrating our country. (Also remember that government offices like ours will be closed Friday, July 3, in observance of the holiday. The state also reminds folks that fireworks and wildlands don’t mix, and that fireworks are a no-go on state protected and… Read more
Honoring the history of women
March is Women’s History Month throughout the U.S. The Library of Congress and other national entities are paying tribute to the generations of women who have made a difference in nation’s history. Here http://womenshistorymonth.gov/ is a link to a Web site about this month-long celebration. There have been many women who lived remarkable lives here in Washington. One is Bertha Knight Landes (1868-1943), who became the first woman to lead a major American city when she was elected mayor… Read more
Ready to post -- The story behind our state tree
Image Even though the Douglas fir is more common in Washington forests, the western hemlock has been Washington’s state tree since 1947. (The Douglas fir is Oregon’s state tree.) So how did the western hemlock take its place among Washington’s state symbols? In 1946, an Oregon newspaper teased Washington for not having a state tree. The Oregonian in Portland picked out the western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) for us, but Washington newspapers… Read moreReady to post - So maybe "Twilight 3" will be filmed in Washington
One of the possible reasons why the teen vampire thriller “Twilight” (both the book series and the movie) has been such a hit around Washington is that the book version takes place in Forks, and the movie was shot in Kalama. According to a Seattle P-I story today, the “Twilight” sequel will supposedly be filmed in British Columbia because producers can get a better deal up there. Apparently, our state Legislature doesn’t want that to happen again. The Senate today voted 44-2 to pass House… Read more
Reliving Expo ’74 at Digital Archives
Image -- Photo courtesy of Digital Archives For those who don’t remember it, 1974 was the year when Watergate reached its crescendo and the speed limit was lowered from 70 to 55. It also was the year when the world literally came to Spokane. For sixth months in 1974, the World’s Fair was held along the Spokane River in the Lilac City, attracting more than 5 million people. After Expo ’74 ended, Spokane was left with beautiful Riverside Park, an… Read moreHonoring the history of women
March is Women’s History Month throughout the U.S. The Library of Congress and other national entities are paying tribute to the generations of women who have made a difference in nation’s history. Here http://womenshistorymonth.gov/ is a link to a Web site about this month-long celebration. There have been many women who lived remarkable lives here in Washington. One is Bertha Knight Landes (1868-1943), who became the first woman to lead a major American city when she was elected mayor… Read more
Ready to post -- R-71: check this out
As Referendum 71's validation process continues along, the people working at "ground zero" on this closely scrutinized and controversial ballot measure are the signature checkers themselves. Nearly 30 of them are spending long shifts daily at computers in the basement of the Elections Division building, verifying the names, signatures and addresses of those people who signed the petition sheets submitted by R-71 sponsors. (We now have two shifts of workers to speed up the process.) It's up… Read more
From Your Corner of Washington
After all of the rain we've had this week, it's hard to remember how sunny it was in Olympia last week. Here is a shot of Capitol Lake, Puget Sound and the Olympics taken from the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial on the Capitol Campus. … Read more
Tips for R-71 trackers--don't think we'll use this...
We know that many of you are tracking the signature check for Referendum 71 on the Elections Division R-71 webpage http://wei.sos.wa.gov/osos/en/initiativesReferenda/Pages/R-71SignatureStats.aspx . You should know that the reporting of the "error rate" has been changed today to reflect the fact that some of the previously rejected signatures are later reversed by a master-checker. Some signatures… Read more
From Your Corner of Washington
Image Vancouver Land Bridge, part of a trail along the Columbia River in Vancouver. -Submitted by Secretary Reed, who says:
While visiting Clark County recently, I took a tour of this new pedestrian bridge. It is a key part of the Confluence Project, which features artwork at seven sites in the Columbia River Basin, with each site interpreting the… Read moreHonoring volunteers in Yakima
Secretary of State Sam Reed joined in recognizing and thanking volunteers for the Historical Records project, State Library and State Archives (including its Central Washington branch) for their service. Sam noted that over the past year, more than 10,000 volunteer hours have been tracked – on projects like birth and death returns, marriage, military, nurse applications, school census, naturalization records, and other categories. The event was held Friday at the Yakima Valley Museum.
Holiday Giving Tip: No. 10
Today’s Holiday Giving Tip: Don’t decide right now. It’s hard to tell someone who is raising money for starving families that “you have to think about it” … but the truth is, you do! The most help can be done by taking time to really research a charity and make sure it is using your donations in a way that makes you comfortable. Making an on-the-spot commitment before checking out a charity can be a very bad idea. You want your dollars to have the most impact possible, so research how they… Read moreHoliday Giving Tip No. 7
Today’s Holiday Giving Tip: Know where to file your complaints. While we here at the Secretary of State’s Office help provide consumers with lots of information about charities, we aren’t the place to go if you want to report a charity scam or bad practices. But we can tell you where to go! If you feel a charity or commercial fundraiser is operating in a deceptive or illegal manner, contact the Consumer and Business Fair Practice Division of the State Attorney General's Office at 1-800-551-… Read more
Holiday Giving Tip No. 6
Today’s Holiday Giving Tip: Is someone at your door? Ask for ID! If a solicitor comes a ‘knocking, he better be able to provide an official ID to prove he’s associated with a charity … otherwise you should send him on its way. Sure you may feel like a scrooge, but isn’t that better than giving money to a scam artist? Reputable groups will be glad to provide identification, contact information and materials about their group. If they’re not, you should be skeptical. And then you should slam… Read moreSecretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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