Avista Utilities background information

Any blog about infrastructure in Washington state should include news and information about Avista Utilities. The most recent news about Avista, at least from the Spokesman-Review, is that the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and the attorney general’s Public Counsel Section both oppose Avista's proposed rate increases for electricity and natural gas. See the full story here.

There is a lot of back story to Avista is the area as well. This link, also to Spokesman-Review, will take you to a list of all their stories tagged Avista Utilities. It's a great resource for getting background on the company and its interaction with people and government within the state.

Infrastructure improvements everywhere

There seems to be a never-ending number of infrastructure improvement projects on campus and in Pullman. The majority of these tend to be construction projects, but the past several years has also seen a lot of attention addressed to technological improvements as well. Just to get an idea of the number of projects, during the first week of school, The Daily Evergreen had four infrastructure-related stories.

One-way street to ease traffic -This has been a project at the university that began last year. The area in front of the Old Bookie has been redone and now includes a much nicer bus station and new one-way streets. The change is supposed to increase the safety of the area, according to Capital Planning and Development.

Pullman Transit revamps routes and buys new buses - A story about how Pullman transit is adjusting to better meet demand on some of its routes.

Pullman feels impact of stimulus money - The city of Pullman also saw some infrastructure improvements this summer. Stimulus funds from the federal government allowed the city to repave some of its roads. Also funded was technology improvements for the transit system.

City council debates water usage - The sewage and water infrastructure in Pullman has been discussed regularly in the past year by the city council. The council last week discussed ways to pay for the increased cost of this infrastructure within the city. The current proposal is a a sewer and water utility rate increase for each of the next five years

J 425 Beat ideas

Cops and courts - This beat would be interesting because it can be addressed at a variety of levels. Stories could talk about issues at WSU, in Pullman and the county. I want something that will give me some reporting opportunities outside of WSU, while also being a topic that can be covered locally.

City council/Pullman - I have previous experience covering the university, but have not done very much reporting on the city of Pullman. Covering the city council would give me some new reporting experiences.

Infrastructure - This beat could have a lot of applications and include covering construction and transportation projects. It would have local stories, but also county and possibly state stories as well. Especially because Whitman county is a rural county, improving infrastructure is of ongoing concern.

Science - Always another possibility as there is a ton of research being done at WSU that has impact far beyond the university.