- ....Breaking News.MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) - The Washington Transportation Department says 67,000 vehicles a day used the stretch of Interstate 5 through Mount Vernon that is now blocked by the collapse of the Skagit River bridge. Mount Vernon is about 60 miles north of Seattle and 40 miles south of the Canada Border. The roadblock on both directions of I-5 is expected to cause a major disruption in trade and tourism between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. The Transportation Department has set up detours. The closest is within sight of the I-5 bridge and mostly used for local traffic between Mount Vernon and Burlington. The department also is recommending detours using Highway 20 and Highway 9 that add tens of miles to a trip. Officials are urging drivers to avoid the area if possible. .. ...

12/30/12 College Tuition



SEATTLE (AP) - Gov. Chris Gregoire's goal of not raising college tuition over the next two years is not sitting well with the leaders of Washington's universities. They say the proposal fails to recognize the budget problems they face.  A decade ago, state dollars paid about 70 percent of the cost to educate an undergraduate student and tuition covered most of the rest. Those numbers have now flipped.  University of Washington President Michael Young says state government can't reverse the damage it's done to Washington's six, four-year schools just by stopping the cuts that took away half their state money and replaced most of it with higher tuition.  He and his colleagues from the state's four year colleges and universities say that by encouraging no tuition increases while not finding more money for higher education, Gregoire is leaving universities to solve their own financial problems.

 


A   A   A