Finding trends in local government.

Complete the exercises below and post the answers to your blog by the start of the next class, including the two ledes. Provide answers for the questions or statements in italics.

I. State and local



Using the online resource www.census.gov, answer the following questions

1. What’s the population of Washington state? --6,549,224

a. What's the percent change since 2000?--11.6%

b. Go back to the main page. Now look at 'Washington' under the 'Area Profile with QuickFacts.' What's the median household income?--$58,081

2. Now look at Whitman County.

a. What's the population?--41,664

b. Percent white?--86.6%

c. Percent with bachelor’s degree?--44%

d. Median household income?--$39,691

e. Persons below poverty?--23.7%

3. Let's go deeper. Click on 'Browse data sets for Whitman County.' You'll find a slew of entry points into the U.S. Census Bureau database. This is a great area if you're interested in finding a particular fact (how much federal $ came into the county last year), as well as if you're just browsing, looking for a little light reading.

Click on the 'Building Permits 2009.'

a. Find the annual construction costs for building permits for Pullman from 2004 to 2008. Report it for each individual year.
--2004= 21,793,767
--2005= 40,062,508
--2006= 34,549,367
--2007= 31,922,839
--2008= 14,007,013



b. What’s the most current construction cost for 2009? (Obviously the annual report isn’t yet available, but we can look at the December 2009 report to get the cumulative construction cost.)
--Current : 10,398,856

c. Write a lede based on this information.

From 2005 to 2009 construction costs for Pullman have dropped by $29.6 million, reported The U.S. Census Bureau.

4. Let’s take another big national issue: Health insurance. Return to census.gov.

Click on the QuickFacts page, and then Washington state. Click on 'Browse data sets for Whitman County.'



a. Under People Quick Links, locate “2005 Health Insurance Coverage.



b. Choose Washington and then ‘Submit.’



1. Which two counties have the highest percent of uninsured people?--San Juan and Whitman County

2. What’s the percentage in Whitman County?--29.2%

II. Federal grants and insurance.

Who needs government? Well, Whitman County certainly received some federal help last year. But we want to know how much.

But fumbling through this site can be cumbersome. Plus, the Census Bureau isn't the only government site with information on Whitman County. If only there were an easier way to search all these sites at once (ah, but there is!)

Google/unclesam is a powerful tool that let’s us search all “.gov” Web sites. Go to the search bar and type “Whitman County Consolidated Federal Funds Report.”

a. Click on the first two links and try to find the the report. Any luck? Let's try the third, which takes us to the Office of Financial Management, which overseas $ going into and out of the state of Washington.

b. Click or search for 'Consolidated Federal Funds Report.' At the top of the page, click on 'Online Query System.'

c. Under ‘Available Data,’ choose 2008 and Geography (Federal data almost always lags a year behind). Click ‘Submit.’

d. On the next page, choose ‘Washington’ and ‘Yes’ on County. We want ‘All Fund Types.’

e. On the next page, choose Whitman County.


1. How much did Whitman County farmers receive in Crop Insurance?--roughly



2. How much did Whitman County receive in grants (block, formula, project, etc.)?--$122,982,596

3. Name three of the grants.-- Aging Research, Head Start, Wildlife Services




III. Population
Is Whitman County’s population growing? Let’s look at population trends.



1. Type “Whitman County population" into Google Uncle Sam. We've looked at the Census data so let's try the second link, the Office of Financial Management.




2. On the top, click on the 'Population' tab, then 'County GMA Projections.' (That's Growth Management Act.)




3. We want 2007 projections, which are the most recent. On the next page, we want projections by 'Single Year After 2010.'

a. What’s the 2010 project population for Whitman County?--51,349 people


b. What’s the 2030 projection?--67,031 people

c. What's the projected state population in 2030?--10,026,660 people


d. What's the percent increase for Washington state from 2000 to 2030? What's the increase in Whitman County during that same time period?--
WA increases by 59%, and Whitman County increases by 60%


Spokane City Council Agenda

1. The city of Spokane provides all its City Council information online. Google “Spokane City Council.” Choose the first Google result, which will take us directly to the Council’s home page.

2. Let’s look at the Sept. 14 agenda. Under ‘Current Agendas,’ choose Sept. 14.

3. What’s the number of the ordinance that would create a new alcohol-impact area?--ORD C34475



4. We want to know more about this ordinance. In fact, we want to see the actual document. Under the ‘Services’ tab at the top of the page, scroll down to ‘Documents and Forms.’ Navigate to ‘City Clerk Records.’



5. Type in the keyword ‘alcohol.’ That will bring up the actual ordinance. We have several different listings for the same ordinance. So, under ‘Sub Type,’ find the ordinance designated ‘SMC.’



6. Click ‘View’ and open with Adobe Acrobat.



7. What will the ordinance do? Write a lede based on the City Council’s approval of this ordinance.--ORD C34475 will give local government or police the ability to decide whether or not particular types of alcohol (with emphasis on energy drinks fused with alcohol) can be sold by licensed vendors in the Spokane area.


Lede= The city of Spokane has facilitated a new ordinance, ORD C34475, in response to elevated detox calls and alcohol related crimes. The new ordinance would allow local government officials to limit the sales of fortified alcohol products sold by licensed vendors in Spokane.





8. Google 'alcohol-impact area.' Are other Washington cities enacting similar ordinances. Why?-- Yes, Tacoma and Seattle also have a similar ordinance.