News Clips— Pass/Fail

October 9, 2006 12:00 am

Pass Fail
  • It’s a bull market for auto shoppers as the dot-com paper millionaires come down to earth—there’s never been a better time to buy a used Ferrari.
  • Alaska Airlines needs a planeload of public relations spinmeisters as federal investigators keep turning up evidence that the air carrier’s planes weren’t held to proper inspection standards; it’s enough to make you ride Amtrak—almost.
  • Loggers love the Bush Administration’s suspension of logging restrictions in national forests; on the downside, supplies of tourist-friendly chain-saw art could dwindle, and the salary scale at the Forks McDonald’s could rise above minimum wage.
  • Republican precinct officers want state Sen. Pam Roach on the King County Council, but her would-be colleagues insist that she quit her Olympia post. Curiously enough, Roach has always held a second job—as an aide to County Council member Kent Pullen.
  • The city of Medina will be a half-million bucks richer after Microsoft President Jon Shirley pays up for multiple violations to his residential building plan; who’d have ever figured his modest 23,000-square-foot home (featuring an art gallery, swimming pool, and two garages) could cause such a commotion?
  • Smokers are fuming over Washington legislators’ plan to emulate California by banning smoking in restaurants—if you liked the earthquakes and the energy crisis, you’ll flip for this latest import.