In The News
House bill would help small biz thwart hackers
by Cory Bennett
Two lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bill to help small businesses better protect themselves from cyberattacks. While small businesses are not high-value targets for hackers, they are still peppered by low-level attacks and frequently lack the resources or personnel to establish top-of-the-line digital defenses. The bill, from Reps. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), would direct the federal government to develop a specific cybersecurity plan for these companies that could be … Continue Reading
04.28.16
Conservation in the Age of Climate Change: Moving Taholah Village Before It's Swallowed by the Sea
by Josh Cohen
On the rugged Washington coast, where the mouth of the Quinault River spills into the Pacific Ocean, sits a tiny Quinault Indian Nation village called Taholah. Most of Taholah's homes and businesses are located near the water in the lower village, a half-square-mile area bordered by the Quinault River to the north and ocean to the west. Years of fierce storms and the realities of pervasive poverty have left their mark on battered buildings, but the lower village remains the heart of the neighbor… Continue Reading
04.26.16
An Earth Day weekend plea to save Puget Sound
The headstone of legendary Northwest conservationist Billy Frank Jr. is engraved with an admonition. The words are quintessential Billy, and they are decidedly frank. And they ring even truer today than they did before the Nisqually Tribe leader died two years ago. "We are at a crossroads and we are running out of time." A zealous advocate for Northwest salmon runs, Frank viewed their decline as a harbinger of the death of the Puget Sound ecosystem as a whole. The Sound shelters more than 200 … Continue Reading
04.21.16
Kilmer coming to Aberdeen for public meeting
On Monday, May 9th, Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) will visit Aberdeen to join in the latest of a series of public meetings with timber, conservation, and local leaders from the Olympic Peninsula Forest Collaborative. The hearing will provide a chance for the Collaborative to engage the public in its efforts. The meeting will take place at the Rotary Log Pavilion at 11:00am on May 9th. Members of the Collaborative will give presentations on the group's governance structure, stated goals, … Continue Reading
04.21.16
Renacci bill aims to end budgetary illusion
Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH) on Friday would institute clearer federal budget policies for employer-paid pension insurance premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Pension insurance premiums are currently included in the federal budget and are considered "on-budget," creating the illusion that these revenues can be used for general government spending even though premiums can't be used outside of PBGC. Congress has increased the PBGC pre… Continue Reading
04.21.16
New bill aims to turn open data idealism into US law
by Devindra Hardawar
President Obama's administration has made significant progress in making US government data more transparent -- first with Data.gov, a repository for open data, and then with USASpending.gov, which tracks all of thegovernment's spending. But despite those milestones, there's still plenty of room for improvement. Agencies still aren't legally required to follow open-data practices, even though it's something President Obama has touted for years, and future administrations could drop the idea of … Continue Reading
04.21.16
Data bill setting new default standard for open government
by Meredith Somers
A bill to make it easier to share government data among agencies and one that sets a new default standard for open data will usher in a "new era for government," its writer said. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) said he is almost ready to drop the "OPEN Government Data Act," which according to the 33-page draft bill obtained by Federal News Radio, will maximize "the usefulness of federal government data … [by] … making it readily available, discoverable, and usable - in a word: open."… Continue Reading
04.14.16
Congress wants to turn Obama's open data actions into law
by Greg Otto
A new bill introduced Thursday would give a legislative basis to a number of open data initiatives already underway in the federal government under executive order. The Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act, introduced by Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, would build upon a number open data policies from the Obama administration that push federal agencies to make as much data as possible free for the public to use. A Senate version of the … Continue Reading
04.14.16
Capitol Hill zeroes in on 'ransomware' attacks
by Cory Bennett
Capitol Hill is stepping up pressure on the Obama administration to detail how it is combating the rise of digital extortion. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) on Tuesday became the fourth lawmaker in as many months - and second member in the last week - to press the federal government on the these so-called ransomware attacks. In such attacks, hackers remotely lock computer files and demand ransom payments for their return. The scheme has exploded into a multimillion dollar industry in recent years … Continue Reading
04.14.16
Annapolis dock among ferry projects awarded federal funds
by Ed Friedrich
BREMERTON - Federal ferry grants will fund an Annapolis dock and contribute to renovating Seattle's Colman Dock and replacing its adjacent passenger-only float. Kitsap Transit will receive $4.5 million to make the Annapolis facility ADA compliant, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's office announced Monday. The agency won't use any of the money to buy the dock from the Port of Bremerton. That $947,000 transaction already is underway. Kitsap Transit, which had been leasing the dock, needed to own it or ha… Continue Reading
04.14.16
At White House Event, Kilmer touts PLAs as 'win for everybody'
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 12, 2016) - On Monday, U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) joined U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Celia Munoz at the White House with a local building trades leader Lee Newgent, members of Congress, and other officials for a meeting on growing opportunities for local workers that can make it easier to complete large, complex construction projects on time and under budget. The discussion focused on the benefits of … Continue Reading
03.28.16
Port Angeles police: More lives saved with heroin overdose antidote
by Rob Ollikainen
PORT ANGELES - The Port Angeles Police Department has saved 10 lives since it began to administer a heroin overdose antidote, including two in the past week, interim Chief of Police Brian Smith said. Sgt. Josh Powless gave two doses of naloxone to a suspected heroin user who was found unconscious in an alley behind a residence on the 900 block of West Sixth Street on Tuesday. The 25-year-old man had shallow and sporadic breathing when Powless responded to a report of a heroin overdose at about… Continue Reading
03.28.16
Olympic forest group cites progress in timber project
SHELTON - Progress is being made to increase tree harvest levels in Olympic National Forest in a sustainable fashion. That was the consensus of timber industry representatives and environmental activists Thursday night during a meeting of the Olympic Peninsula Forest Collaborative at Mason County Public Utility District 3's Skookum Room in Shelton. U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, led the latest of a series of public meetings with timber, conservation and area leaders on the collaborative … Continue Reading
03.28.16
Former Allen Logging workers can pursue employment help; information sessions set April 7
by Rob Ollikainen
FORKS - Forty-five mill workers who lost their jobs when Allen Logging Co. closed last summer are now eligible for federal job training assistance, U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer announced. The idled West End workers can acquire new skills through the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which helps those who have lost their jobs due to increased imports from other countries. The U.S. Department of Labor recently approved Allen Logging for Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) benefits. It had not been eligible … Continue Reading
03.28.16
Special Forces Make Appearances at Sheriff's Breakfast
Sheriff Casey Salisbury hosted multiple speakers at the monthly Sheriff's Breakfast held at the Little Creek Casino including Chief Warrant Officer Bruce Barker and Congressman Derek Kilmer who spoke of our active military personnel as well as veteran services. Student members of the Shelton High School NNDCC presented the flags to start the meeting. Several service awards were also presented to members and volunteers for the Mason County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Casey Salisbury said, "Two th… Continue Reading
03.21.16
Olympic Hot Springs Road temporary bridge in works; no time set yet to begin construction
by Rob Ollikainen
PORT ANGELES - Funding has been requested and plans are under review for a temporary one-lane bridge over a 60-foot washout near the Elwha Campground on Olympic Hot Springs Road. Once plans are approved by such agencies as the Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Fish and Wildlife, construction would take from six to eight weeks, said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman. She didn't know when plans would be approved or when construction would … Continue Reading
03.17.16
OP Collaborative Meeting in Shelton
SHELTON, WA - On Thursday, March 24th, Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) will visit Shelton to join in the latest of a series of public meetings with timber, conservation, and local leaders from the Olympic Peninsula Forest Collaborative. The hearing will provide a chance for the Collaborative to engage the public in its efforts. The meeting will take place in the Skookum Room at Mason County Public Utility District #3 in Shelton, WA. Members of the Collaborative will give presentations on the… Continue Reading
03.17.16
Bremerton clinic gets $325,000 to fund heroin treatment
by Josh Farley
BREMERTON - Peninsula Community Health Services of Bremerton won $325,000 in federal funding to begin a treatment program for people addicted to heroin and other opiates. The clinic will use the money to train and authorize medical staff to prescribe a medication called Suboxone. It's part of a $94 million nationwide allocation, which will be used to treat 124,000 new patients. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the money a "critical step" in tackling the country's opiate abuse epidemic. … Continue Reading
03.17.16
Rep. Kilmer goes to White House state dinner after talking Victoria sewage with Trudeau
by Joel Connelly
Two-term U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., had two very different encounters on Thursday with Canada's new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Kilmer went to the White House on Thursday night with senior members of Congress, diplomats, business leaders and Canadian-born celebrities as guests at a state dinner honoring Trudeau. Kilmer was in the company of actor Michael J. Fox, "Wayne's World" star Mike Myers, and "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels. The dinner even featured a celebrity … Continue Reading
03.17.16
A chance to talk on television about the wonders of Puget Sound
by Christopher Dunagan
More than 50 people came together at the beginning of this month in Washington, D.C., to share their stories and concerns about Puget Sound. The annual event is becoming known as Puget Sound Day. The group included leaders from local government, tribes, non-profit groups, businesses and state agencies, noted U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, who organized the get-together and discussion about federal legislation and funding. Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido, who is involved in these issues, … Continue Reading