Trump’s Billionaire Pick For Commerce, Oceans Chief Is Keeping His Oil Tankers

If there's one thing that's clear from Wilbur Ross's financial disclosure forms, it's that the billionaire nominee for secretary of commerce lives in a world most Americans can only fantasize about. His many holdings include at least $150 million in cash accounts.

Feds’ disability education website: Still down, still no response

Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., They are asking U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos when a popular website explaining the federal Individuals With Disabilities Act will again be available to the public. It has been down for three weeks, supposedly for technical difficulties.

4 Washington state electors to be fined $1,000 for vote

Four Washington state electors who cast their vote for someone other than Democrat Hillary Clinton will each be fined $1,000 next week, the secretary of state's office said Thursday. David Ammons , a spokesman for Secretary of State Kim Wyman , told The Associated Press that the electors will have 60 days to pay the fine, and said the office is putting together an appeals process in case of a challenge.

Trump revolt goes nowhere as Clinton loses more electoral votes

While demonstrators made their voices heard at Electoral College gatherings all across the country, their plea to individual electors to rebel and drop Donald Trump went absolutely nowhere, as Hillary Clinton was actually the candidate who had more electors refuse to vote for her, with the final outcome moving President-Elect Trump one step closer to the White House. The biggest group of rogue electors was in Washington State, where three of them cast votes for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and one voted for a native American environmental activist named Faith Spotted Eagle, instead of Clinton.

COLUMN-U.S. Energy Department unfairly criticised over spending, forecasts: Kemp

LONDON, Dec 15 The U.S. Department of Energy has become a lightning rod for criticism in parts of the Republican Party and the fossil fuels industry unhappy about the Obama administration's energy and climate policies. Presidential candidate Rick Perry promised to abolish the Department of Energy along with the Departments of Commerce and Education during a debate in 2011.

Sue Lani Madsen: In the gritty details of growth management, local…

The Growth Management Act was passed in 1990 to address development pressures on farmland, the challenge of building schools to match development, and growing traffic congestion. It hasn't delivered, according to many of those testifying at a House Local Government Committee work session in Olympia on September 20th.

Carbon fiber recycling agreement signed today

An agreement was signed today creating a new partnership in carbon fiber recycling among the Composite Recycling Technology Center, Peninsula College and the Institute for Advanced Composite Manufacturing Innovation. Officials representing the three organizations signed memorandums of understanding following remarks by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace, and representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy and the Port of Port Angeles in a packed room at the Composite Recycling Technology Center - referred to as CRTC - located at 2220 W. 18th St. In July 2015, the Port of Port Angeles was awarded a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to retrofit a facility to house CRTC.

Senators float bipartisan wildfire bill

A bipartisan group of senators are taking input on a draft bill to reform how the federal government pays to fight wildfires on federal land. Lisa Murkowski Senators float bipartisan wildfire bill Overnight Energy: Lawmakers closing in on chemical safety deal GOP chair pushes Obama official on Arctic drilling plan MORE Maria Cantwell Senators float bipartisan wildfire bill Dems pressure Obama on vow to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees Moulitsas: Can Hillary pick Gillibrand as her veep? Yes.