Viva La Cola!

Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

x close
The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Update on Green Schools Bill

This Washington   January 20, 2010 at 4:03 pm Josh Feit

This post has been updated with Rep. Hans Dunshee’s comments.

The PI.com has the latest on a bill we recenlty flagged in Morning Fizz, Everret-area Rep. Hans Dunshee’s (D-44) bill for an $861 million bond measure for a green retrofit of public schools.

Bottom line: State Treasurer Jim McIntire says it would hurt Washington state’s bond rating and add $126 million to the state budget per biennium.

We’ve got a call in to Rep. Dunshee to get a response to McIntire’s bad news.

UPDATE:

Dunshee says, “[McIntire's] wrong. Moody’s expressly says the way to make your bond rating go up is to expand your economy. This is 38,000 jobs a year.”