This week’s Off the Set Interview: Rep. Dave Upthegrove

Yesterday on The Impact, Jessica Gao interviewed Rep. Dave Upthegrove and Sen. Jim Honeyford about clean energy. After that, we chatted briefly with Upthegrove about gay marriage, digital billboards, and one of his preferred pieces of legislation — a bill aimed at cleaning up oil and gunk from Washington’s boat marinas.

Watch The Impact at 7 and 10 tonight.

Tags: Rep. Dave Upthegrove, The Impact

On tonight’s edition of The Impact, host Jessica Gao had some great interviews with state lawmakers. Watch it right here:

And on Legislative Review, we’ve got all the details on the death penalty hearing, teacher evaluation reforms and workplace bullying:

Tags: Legislative Review, The Impact

On this week’s edition of The Impact, host Jessica Gao outline the major themes of the opening days of the 2012 session, including the various job creation proposals. Plus, why the state’s Supreme Court Chief Justice is doing temp work in county court.

Tags: education reform, jobs package, supreme court, The Impact

Tags: Rep. Marko Liias, same-sex marriage, The Impact

On tonight’s edition of The Impact, I talk with Gov. Chris Gregoire about her tax proposal, the state budget, special session, her thoughts on the Occupy protests at the capitol – and much more. We didn’t have time to air the entire interview on the show, so I’m posting the full, unedited version here.

But don’t miss tonigh’ts show: We’ve also got more on the protests, an on-set interview and news from the first week of this 30-day special session. You can watch at 7 and 10 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: Budget, Gov. Chris Gregoire, Governor, Occupy, protests, taxes, The Impact

This week, the blog’s been slow because I was filling in for Jessica Gao on The Impact. But now, in just about 30 minutes, you can catch up on the week’s news. Enjoy.

Tags: Jim Camden, mary selecky, methamphetamine, Mike Baker, taxes, The Impact

Now’s your chance to watch “Staying Afloat: Challenges facing Washington State Ferries,” a one-hour documentary by TVW’s Jessica Gao. Watch The Impact tonight at 7 p.m. on TVW for follow-up interviews.

Tags: documentary, ferries, The Impact

Within months of taking over the state Transportation Department, Secretary Paula Hammond pulled four 1920s-era vessels from service because of corrosion in the hulls. The decision in November 2007 left the Port Townsend-Coupeville route without vehicle service for two winter months. Transportation leaders scrambled to build new boats to fill the service gap. Two 64-car ferries are now running the route, and a third is on its way. In an in-depth interview, Jessica Gao questioned Secretary Hammond about the boat-building process, as well as funding and management issues.

The interview is part of Jessica’s documentary, “Staying Afloat: Challenges Facing Washington State Ferries.” You can watch the documentary on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. on TVW.

In the meantime, you can also check out the documentary’s page here.

Tags: ferries, Paula Hammond, Staying Afloat, The Impact, WSDOT

On The Impact on TVW at 7:00 pm tonight, you’ll see part of the big weekend ceremony, launching the removal of two dams on the Elwha River. When those dams come down, supporters say the free-flowing river will allow endangered salmon to return.  The National Park Service estimates 3,000 salmon were in the river before the dam removal.  When those dams went up in the early 1900s, it’s estimated that 300,000 salmon ran the river each year.

During the last scientific tour before demolition began, we interviewed two federal scientists who talk about the challenges of restoring salmon habitat, how this effort compares to other dam removals around the country, and how long it will take for abundant salmon runs to return. But there’s so much more to learn, so I’m providing you some links to the National Park Service, a site monitoring the removal through webcams, and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, which all have much more information.

Also on The Impact tonight, I’m interviewing Les Purce, president of The Evergreen State College in Olympia.  Students are returning to campus this week, amid new concerns of another round of budget cuts. You can watch The Impact on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm on TVW and at various times on our four PBS partners.

Tags: Elwha Dams, higher ed, Salmon, The Impact

The Washington State Ferry system has faced challenge after challenge over the past decade or so.  Among the major issues is its boat-building program.  With three new 64-car ferries nearly complete, the next step is to build boats that can carry about 144 cars – these boats are considered more versatile with the ability to serve larger routes throughout the system.  The legislature secured money for the first of two 144-car ferries, and ferry administrators are working toward a contract to start the first one.

Interview with WSF director David Moseley at a Bainbridge Island church, where he had just finished addressing a group of engaged citizens

In a 40-minute, in-depth interview with ferries director David Moseley, he talked about the importance of new boats to the aging fleet, as the three Evergreen State Class ferries near the end of their 60-year lifecycle.

Bidding issues have held up boat-building programs before, and it wasn’t until the 80-year-old Steel Electrics were suddenly pulled from the system in 2007 that the 64-car program was pushed through. With the 144s in the pipeline Moseley told me “we’ve got the money to build, and we’re going to start building the 144s next year.”

Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, has expressed concerns about the direction of the past and present boat procurement process (for background go here), and he’s asking the governor and state auditor’s office to investigate.

Will the state ferry system’s vessel replacement program continue to navigate rough waters in the future, as it has in the past?  It’s just one of the many questions we’re asking in our special report – Staying Afloat:  Challenges facing Washington State ferries.  Stay tuned for the premier on Tuesday, September 27th at 7:00 pm, on TVW.

Tags: ferries, The Impact