OLYMPIA -- The National Association of Attorneys General has given its annual award for excellence in legal brief writing to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

This year’s award went to the team working on the Locke v. Davey case. Team members include Attorney General Christine Gregoire, Solicitor General Narda Pierce, Senior Assistant Attorney General Bill Collins and Assistant Attorney General Michael Shinn.

OLYMPIA -- Anacortes Port Commissioner Pat Mooney has agreed to resign effective Sept. 1 to settle state claims that he won reelection in 2003 by committing violations of state campaign-finance reporting laws.

The resignation creates a vacancy that will require a special election to fill the unexpired term. Under state election law, a special three-day filing period will precede the special election, which may occur during the Nov. 2 general election.

OLYMPIA -- The unexplained disappearance of a family member or friend can be terrifying, but a partnership between the Attorney General’s Office and other state law enforcement agencies has produced some new tools to help police respond and assist those facing a missing-person crisis.

OLYMPIA -- May 27, 2004 - Attorney General Christine Gregoire has sent a letter to Gov. Gary Locke urging him to delay the July 1, 2004 implementation of a new state rule that could affect health care for thousands of needy children in Washington.

The rule would require Medicaid families whose incomes are more than 150 percent of the federal poverty level to pay monthly premiums to help control rising costs of the program.

SPOKANE -- A Spokane County couple, Cheryl Kay Edlin and Claude Allen Edlin, were each charged today with nine counts of theft and filing false statements to obtain state Medicaid reimbursements in connection with the unlicensed denturist services they provided at two Spokane clinics.

The charges were filed by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) in Spokane County Superior Court. The Edlins each were charged with four counts of first-degree theft, two counts of second-degree theft and three counts of Medicaid false statement.

OLYMPIA — Attorney General Rob McKenna today issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review the case of Washington v. Washington Education Association. The case concerns the right of the Washington Education Association to decide how to spend compulsory fees paid by public education employees who are not union members.

Olympia – News reporters would be legally protected from being compelled to disclose the identity of confidential sources under legislation approved today by the Washington State House of Representatives.

“A free society requires a free press with access to information, including information from confidential sources,” explained Attorney General Rob McKenna, who proposed House Bill 2452, which was approved 87-11. “This bill would give potential whistleblowers greater confidence that they can disclose information of corruption or scandal without fear of being revealed.”

OLYMPIA --- Attorney General Rob McKenna has again called upon Hollywood’s major motion picture studios to insert anti-smoking public service announcements in all DVDs, videos and other newer home viewing formats of movies in which smoking is depicted.

This time, McKenna sent each studio three "classic" truth® anti-smoking campaign messages that were created by the American Legacy Foundation and are available at no cost for the studios’ unlimited use.

OLYMPIA - Attorney General Rob McKenna today announced the state will appeal the recent U.S. District Court ruling that Initiative 297, the Cleanup Priority Act, is unconstitutional.  Attorneys in the case, representing the state Department of Ecology, filed their appeal today with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
 
“ We respectfully disagree with the federal district court's conclusion that Initiative 297 is unconstitutional and we are not content to let this decision rest with a single district court judge,” McKenna said.
 

OLYMPIA – Attorney General Rob McKenna today announced that Washington’s Medicaid program will receive $660,500 as part of a national settlement with drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. The settlement resolves allegations that the company improperly inflated the “average wholesale price” paid by government health plans for two prescription medications used to assist cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.