The numbers are in. The Washington State Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division announced its annual list of the top 20 classes of companies about which consumers complain.

The winners — or more accurately, the losers — are telecommunications companies, which generated 1,581 complaints in 2011. Collection agencies, which ranked number one in complaints in 2010, fell to number two. Broadband companies generated the third most complaints. All three classes of companies were in the top three in 2011 as well. read more »

The Kitsap County Washington Women Lawyer’s (WWL) Judicial Evaluation Committee (JEC) will again be conducting interviews for individuals seeking judicial appointments in Kitsap County. The JEC works to produce meaningful evaluations of judicial candidates. The evaluation goals of Kitsap WWL are:

• To sustain and strengthen the judiciary through the appointment and election of excellent judicial candidates; and
• To encourage qualified candidates, sensitive to women’s issues both within the profession and under the law, to seek and obtain positions of responsibility and stature within the legal profession and community in general.

The Kitsap WWL provides a rating for a judicial candidate read more »

Former federal prosecutor and Attorney General Candidate Reagan Dunn condemned efforts by Democratic legislators to strip the Office of Washington State Attorney General of its independent authority. Dunn sent a letter to Senator Adam Kline, prime sponsor of the measure, voicing his concern for the effect of the bill.

“This is obviously retaliation from partisans who are upset about Attorney General McKenna joining the federal health care lawsuit,” said Dunn. “Those legislators should be very careful not to go too far. The people of the State of Washington count on having an independent Attorney General to protect their rights. This is bad public policy and bad for the people of Washington State.” read more »

At a press conference in Olympia, on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 2:30 p.m., Washington Policy Center (WPC) and small business owners will present lawmakers with practical ways they can improve Washington’s small business climate and spur economic recovery in the state. The press conference will take place in the John A. Cherberg Conference Room at the state capitol.

The National Federation of Independent Business and the Association of Washington Business will join Washington Policy Center to host the press conference. Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt and Sen. Janéa Holmquist Newbry, ranking member on the Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee, will speak at the event, along with a group of concerned small business owners. read more »

The Washington Supreme Court upheld a challenge to state water law, affirming the state’s position that groundwater used for stock-watering purposes is exempt from the requirement to apply for a water permit.

The case stemmed from a dispute over whether Easterday Ranches in Franklin County was required to obtain a permit to withdraw water from a well to operate a cattle feedlot serving roughly 30,000 head of cattle.

Mary Sue Wilson, ecology division chief for the Attorney General’s office, argued on behalf of the state that state law clearly exempts this type of activity from water right permitting requirements. In its 6-3 decision, the state Supreme Court agreed, “Under the plain language of the statute, withdrawals of groundwater for stock-watering purposes are not limited to any particular quantity.” read more »

The Kitsap County Washington Women Lawyer’s (WWL) Judicial Evaluation Committee (JEC) will again be conducting interviews for individuals seeking judicial appointments in Kitsap County. The JEC works to produce meaningful evaluations of judicial candidates. The evaluation goals of Kitsap WWL are: read more »

Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna joined 52 of his fellow state and territorial attorneys general in calling on Congress to reauthorize the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) to ensure that vital programs to keep women and families safe continue uninterrupted.

“The Violence against Women Act was a huge leap forward in acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as serious crimes,” McKenna said. “It strengthened federal penalties for sex offenders and when it was reauthorized in 2000, it created new protections for stalking victims. These are among the reasons we’re calling for its renewal.” read more »

On Tuesday, January 10, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a class-action lawsuit initiated by eight California civil servants against the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, a state affiliate of the SEIU.

In 2005, Local 1000 union officials imposed a “special assessment” to raise money from all state employees covered by a union monopoly bargaining contract for a union “Political Fight-Back Fund,” regardless of their union membership status. read more »