Our editorials only occasionally stray from local topics. Plenty of pundits are already pontificating on every move made in Washington, D.C. Why add our voice to the din?

There are plenty of topics to choose from this week, but the Legislature’s efforts to produce a balanced budget remain top of mind. The Senate passed its budget this week, and the plan is an improvement over the House version in at least two important ways. 1) It doesn’t bank on a one-shot jolt to the state treasury from selling the state’s liquor wholesale business. 2) It assumes some savings from reforms to Washington’s worker compensation system.

“Junior’s grown a foot since we moved next to the nuclear plant.” That caption appeared under a cartoon depicting a nuclear family — pun intended — standing in the front yard, a steam plume rising from nuclear reactor’s cooling tower in the background. Junior has a foot growing from the top of his head.

We’re happy to see work start on bridges at the Highway 124 and Humorist Road intersections with Highway 12. Enough carnage has occurred along that dangerous stretch. Families in Burbank will have a lot less to worry about when the work is completed in 2012.

The Kennewick City Council is split over provisions in the new city managers contract. The delay can be a good thing, especially if it gets the entire council on the same page. It’s also an opportunity to re-examine what belongs in a public employee’s contract, and what doesn’t belong.

One topic we’re certain to explore this week is the potential for Japan’s crisis to stymie the fledgling nuclear renaissance. We’re vexed but not surprised to see the anti-nuclear movement seize the opportunity to help spread panic.

Here's some ideas for editorials we're kicking around this week. Let us know what you think.

Busy week, and I may not get around to posting a poll to gauge our online audience’s reaction to this week’s editorial topics.

The Pasco School Board is considering options for dealing with overcrowding if its $59 million construction bond fails. It’s a good move. Voters need as much information as possible before casting their ballots. That includes knowing what to expect if the bond measure fails.

The Tri-Cities Animal Control Authority is approaching Pasco, Richland and Kennewick with $4 million plan to build a new 11,800-square-foot animal shelter. Meanwhile Benton County and the Humane Society are moving ahead with separate facilities. Is it too late to replace this piecemeal approach with a comprehensive plan?

At the start of the new year, our thoughts are on Congress and the state Legislature, and frankly we’re not optimistic about either one’s chances for improving things. We’re trying to come up with an editorial position that will add something worthwhile to the din. Your thoughts are welcome.

On Sunday, we’re presenting readers with a list of interesting but unlikely headlines for 2011. We ran the same exercise a year ago, so I guess it’s our new New Year’s tradition.

Here are some editorial topics we are considering this first week of December. As always, you’re encouraged to post your thoughts on any or all topics.

This is a long entry, containing three elements: A letter slamming us, followed by the two editorials that prompted the letter.

I’m going to forego the usual poll on editorial topics, at least for today, and ask you to weigh in on our Thankful Thursday experiment.

It’s a relief to have the election behind us and some time to start thinking about editorials on other topics.

Our editorial pages will be dominated by election recommendations for another week, but we’re starting to think about other topics.

Just a quick hit on some topics were looking at for the week of Sept. 1-8.

Just a quick hit on some topics were looking at for the week of Sept. 1-8.

Fall is a good season to buckle down to business. In the dog days of summer, I’ve been hit and miss on my goal of weekly updates for the Inside Opinion blog.

Our Inside Opinion blog will never be in any danger of going viral, but there might have been a few people wondering about the lack of updates. A simple answer — vacation.

We’re still planning to migrate from our weekly mass e-mailing to a daily newsletter that will automatically alert you to recent editorials, letters to the editor and more. Instructions on how to subscribe are at the end of this blog.

We’re introducing an editorial page newsletter that will automatically send summaries and links to our most recent editorials, letters to the editor and more to anyone who signs up.

Is the 4th of July really here already? That means one editorial topic is assured regardless of this week’s poll results. We’ll continue our relatively new tradition of publishing a short civics quiz on the Independence Day editorial page. It’s a fun reminder that the celebration is about more than hot dogs and fireworks.

We have more ideas for editorials this week than we can fit onto the column reserved for our voice. There are worse problems for editorial boards to have.