President George H. W. Bush’s inaugural address is probably most well-known for the line about “a thousand points of light” – people who step up to do good for their community. Our communities and our government are only as good as the people who step up to get involved. State Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn) took to Twitter to talk about one of those points of light. (Shift WA)

Washington Senate Democrats on Tuesday announced the suspension of the planned senate investigation into the allegation of rape against former state Sen. Joe Fain (R-Auburn). Sen. Ann Rivers questioned the efficacy of the potential investigation, writing, “It would not be conducted with the standards of due process accorded in any courtroom.” Fain has denied the allegation. With the alleged incident having occurred out of state and well before Fain’s election to the Senate, officials have struggled with determining who should investigate. (Seattle Times)

Jay Inslee isn’t the only Washingtonian potentially considering a bid for the Oval Office. When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz started taking more vocal stances on political issues, rumors began floating around that he had aspirations for political office. Jay Inslee, meanwhile, would offer tough competition for other liberal presidential candidates, University of Washington professor Stuart Streichler thinks. “I think Jay Inslee has positioned himself to be a top five candidate,” he said, proving that those who can’t, teach. (My Northwest)

The NHL Board of Governor unanimously approved an expansion to Seattle, with a team set to take the ice in the 2021-22 season. “Today is an exciting and historic day for our league as we expand to one of North America’s most innovative, beautiful and fastest-growing cities,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The Seattle owners are set to pay a $650 million expansion fee to the league, with the total investment for arena renovations, etc. coming in around $1.5 billion. (Tacoma News Tribune)

The city of Spokane will weigh whether or not to ask voters for a $5.8 million increase in property taxes for public safety in a February special election. The additional funds would go toward salaries for 30 firefighters and hiring of 20 news police officers. “I think the need is clear,” said Councilmember Lori Kinnear. “The police have done a remarkable job in working with what they have, but there are still unmet needs that we need to address.” (The Spokesman-Review)

Some Yakima Valley school districts expect to make staff cutsfor what they describe as less stable budgets. “The staff we’re going to lose, it will be awful for them and awful for us to send them or their friends down the road,” said Duane Lyons, the superintendent of the Naches Valley School District. “But the real awfulness is that I won’t be able to offer more classes to the kids.” Many school districts are feeling similar effects after over-spending on teacher pay contracts even though they knew districts were receiving a temporary budget bump. (Yakima Herald-Republic)

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