Olympia - Washington has received $1.295 million as part of two national settlements resolving disputed payments from tobacco manufacturers, according to Attorney General Christine Gregoire.

The first settlement resolves a dispute between the states that are parties to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) and Premier Manufacturing, Inc. of Missouri over whether the firm had paid the states in full for all the cigarettes it manufactured.

SPOKANE – Attorney General Rob McKenna warned consumers today to be wary of callers who claim you have won a gift certificate from a local business, and then ask for personal account information to withdraw a fee.

OLYMPIA - Attorney General Rob McKenna said today he was pleased Senate Bill 5735, the Public Disclosure Act legislation he requested, was approved by the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee, despite his concern about an amendment added by the committee.

McKenna said he was not supportive, however, of new language that would expand too broadly the attorney-client privilege exemption included in the bill.

OLYMPIA -- A Thurston County judge has approved an agreement between the Attorney General's Office and Wal-Mart that will help reduce the sale of tobacco products to minors at its retail stores, Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced.

Wal-Mart, which operates 37 stores in Washington including Sam's Club and Wal-Mart Supercenter, signed the multi-state agreement implementing in-store procedures, employee training and other protections intended to curb the sale of tobacco to minors.

10.20.03 SPOKANE - the Attorney General's Office today issued a warning to Eastern Washington residents to be wary of vacuum cleaner sales people who are using unfair and high-pressure sales tactics on vulnerable elderly citizens.

According to a complaint filed by a Brewster woman, two salesmen sold her a vacuum cleaner for $1,200 plus her own vacuum cleaner. They did not leave her a written agreement and may have gained access to personal information such as her Social Security number.

OLYMPIA – Attorney General Rob McKenna will headline a series of Open Government Forums, sponsored by a number of major daily newspapers across the state, in an effort to increase citizen involvement in government and to gather input for model rules on public disclosure. The forums begin next Tuesday, July 26, in Kitsap County at the Olympic College Theater in Bremerton.

OLYMPIA -- Attorney General Christine Gregoire today joined 24 other AGs around the country in urging the film industry to help reduce youth tobacco consumption by cutting the amount of smoking depicted in movies.

In a letter to Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, the attorneys general cited a recent Dartmouth Medical School study that suggested cutting images of cigarette smoking in motion pictures could significantly reduce the number of youth who begin to smoke.

Olympia- August 25, 1997 - Attorney General Christine Gregoire said today that Florida’s $11.3 billion tobacco settlement underscores the need to move forward on a global settlement to ensure the same benefits won for children and adults in Florida will apply nationwide.

Gregoire applauds Florida’s Governor Lawton Chiles and Attorney General Bob Butterworth for their persistence in getting tobacco companies to accept advertising restrictions similar to those called for in the national agreement between state Attorneys General and the industry.

Seattle - 5.7.03 - Attorney General Christine Gregoire today warned consumers to be on the lookout for a direct mail solicitation about the Senior Citizen and Disabled Persons Property Tax Exemption Program that is really a preliminary pitch for a variety of financial products.

Though the mailing appears to come from local county assessors' offices, it is really from a private outfit that sells insurance, estate planning, reverse mortgages and other financial products.

SEATTLE -- Attorney General Rob McKenna today announced a new statewide anti-methamphetamine program that will assist local communities in fighting the production and sale of meth.

"Operation: Allied Against Meth" is a three-pronged effort that will provide direct assistance to local prosecuting attorneys, team with community-based organizations to educate and prevent meth use and develop long-term meth prevention strategies.