2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, California
The Cougars were shut out after the first period while the Golden Bears scored at least 10 points each quarter to win the Pac-10 conference opener at Martin Stadium, Washington State's home field. Cal had over 500 yards (112 yards passing and 392 yards on the ground) and allowed only 162 yards (106 yards passing, 56 yards rushing) to the Cougars.


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
Mark Sanchez became the first USC quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in a half as the Trojans dominated.


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
USC's defense, ranked first in the nation coming in by allowing just 9.4 points per game, held the Cougars scoreless for the first time since 1984, ending a stretch of 280 straight games in which the Cougars had not been shut out. That was the nation's second-longest active streak behind Michigan's 306. For Washington State, it is also the largest shutout loss and largest margin of defeat in school history.


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
"Our guys had a ball playing football today, from the locker room on out", USC coach Pete Carroll said. "Right from the start, we wanted to find that focus that we really hadn't had yet."


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
It was the largest shutout victory for USC (5–1, 3–1 Pac-10) since a 69–0 win over Montana in 1931.


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
"Our intention wasn't to come out and beat these guys by 80 points. Our intention was to come out and play a great football game", star linebacker Rey Maualuga said.


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
The Cougars have now allowed at least 60 points in four games this year, becoming the first BCS team to allow 60-plus points four times in a season. Beset by injuries, Washington State has allowed 66, 63, 66 and now 69 in four of their conference losses. The Cougars, whose only win is against Portland State of the Championship Subdivision, have been outscored 385–111 this season. That's on track to break the Pac-10 record for most points allowed in a season, 469 by Oregon State in 1981.


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
"It's unfortunate for those guys. They are trying to build a program", Carroll said. "It's tough. I don't know what else we could have done.


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
"It was a little bit uncomfortable to see what was going to happen."


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
The Trojans outgained Washington State 408–17 in the first half and 625–116 for the game. They led 21–0 less than 11 minutes in. Patrick Turner and Ronald Johnson each caught two of Sanchez's scoring throws, freshman Broderick Green rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns and C. J. Gable ran for 109 yards and three more scores. Stafon Johnson must have had an off game. He ran for 112 yards but didn't score.


2008 Washington State Cougars football team, Game summaries, USC
It was the first time USC had three 100-yard rushers in a game since 1977.


2008 Washington State Judicial election
Elected judicial positions in Washington State are nonpartisan; in 1912, Washington voters amended the constitution, adopting nonpartisan elections as the way to select judges.


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals, Division I, District King Judge Position 5 - Linda Lau (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals, Division I, District King Judge Position 6 - Ann Schindler (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals, Division I, District Snohomish* Judge Position 2 - J. Robert Leach (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals, Division II, Pierce Judge Position 2 - Elaine Houghton (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals, Division II, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap, Mason, ThurstonJudge Position 1 - Joyce (Robin) Hunt (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals, Division III, Ferry, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Orelle, Spokane, StevensJudge Position 2 - Kevin Korsmo (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals, Division III, Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Klickitat, YakimaJudge Position 1 - Stephen M. Brown (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Asotin, Columbia, Garfield Superior Judge Position 1 - William D. (Bill) Acey (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 1Benton, Franklin Superior Court Bruce A. Spanner (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 2Benton, Franklin Superior Court Robert (Bob) Swisher (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 3Benton, Franklin Superior Court Craig J. Matheson (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 5Benton, Franklin Superior Court Vic L. VanderSchoor (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 1Ferry, Pend Oreille, Stevens Rebecca M. Baker (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 2Ferry, Pend Oreille, Stevens Allen C. Nielson (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 1Klickitat, Skamania Superior Court E. Thompson Reynolds (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 1Pacific, Wahkiakum Superior Court Michael J. Sullivan (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 1Cowlitz Superior Court James Edgar F. Xavier Warme (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 3Grays Harbor Superior Court F. Mark McCauley (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 6King Superior Court Philip G. Hubbard Jr (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 1Mason Superior Court James B. Sawyer II (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 1San Juan Superior Court John O. Linde (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 1Walla Walla Superior Court Robert L. Zagelow (NP)


2008 Washington State Judicial election, Superior Court
Judge Position 5Yakima Superior Court Robert N. Hackett Jr. (NP)


2008 Washington State Senate election
Voters in 26 of Washington's 49 legislative districts voted for their state senators in the 2008 Washington State Senate elections on November 4, 2008. All vote totals are from the Washington Secretary of State's website.


2008 Washington State Senate election
25 seats were regularly scheduled to be up this cycle, along with 1 additional seat holding a special election to fill an unexpired term: the 34th district, held by appointed Senator Joe McDermott, whose former incumbent Erik Poulsen vacated the seat.


2008 Washington State Senate election, Seats up for election
These are the final, official results as taken from the website of the Secretary of State of Washington.


2008 Washington State Supreme Court election
The Washington Supreme Court justices are elected at large by the voters of the state of Washington. The general election was held in November 4, 2008.


2008 Washington elections
Washington has 9 Executive seats, all elected at large. In 2008, all 9 positions were up for reelection. As of 2021, this is the last set of statewide elections in which any Republicans won by double digits.


2008 Washington elections, Offices and Candidates, Lt. Governor
Brad Owen was the incumbent and has held this position since 1996.


2008 Washington elections, Offices and Candidates, Secretary of State
Sam Reed, who held this position since 2000, was reelected.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election
The 2008 gubernatorial election in Washington was held on November 4, 2008. Republican Dino Rossi and incumbent Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire emerged from the August 19 primary. This made the 2008 election a rematch between the candidates from the 2004 election, the closest gubernatorial election in the state's history. In contrast to the recounts and months of legal challenges in their previous contest, Gregoire was the clear winner on November 5, earning 53 percent of the vote. With a margin of 6.48%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2008 gubernatorial election cycle, behind only the election in North Carolina.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, Candidates, Controversy over Rossi's party preference
Under the changes to election law made by the passage of Initiative 872, partisan contests are no longer tied to registered parties, but candidates are allowed to indicate an arbitrary "party preference" to appear next to their name on the primary and general election ballots. An extreme example of this occurred in the 40th District race for state senator, where candidate Timothy Stoddard indicated a preference for the "Salmon Yoga" party.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, Candidates, Controversy over Rossi's party preference
Republican candidate Dino Rossi listed his party preference as "G.O.P." instead of the traditional party name "Republican". Critics of Rossi contended that the choice of party name was an attempt to distance himself from any negative opinions associated with the Republican Party. Rossi's campaign argued that the difference was insignificant, saying voters are already aware that the terms refer to the same party. However, an Elway Research poll taken in August 2008 found that over 25% of registered voters were not aware that the term "GOP" meant the Republican Party.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, Candidates, Controversy over Rossi's party preference
On September 23, the Washington State Democrats, alleging that the latter is a misrepresentation of his true party affiliation, filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State to force the state to list Rossi to on the general election ballot as a Republican instead of with the "GOP Party" label. A King County Superior Court judge dismissed the suit, saying nothing in state law made the choice of party name illegal, but he acknowledged the potential confusion. Had the lawsuit succeeded, many counties would have had to reprint their ballots, and the already-cast absentee votes of military personnel may have become invalid.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, Primary elections
The Washington primary election was held August 19, 2008. For the first time, Washington ran a top-two primary, eliminating the "pick a party" primary used since 2004. Unlike traditional primaries, wherein each party with more than one candidate is reduced to a single person to appear on the general election ballot, the system simply reduces the entire crop of candidates from all parties down to the top two candidates, resulting in no more than two candidates appearing on the general election ballot for a given position. As a result, candidates from all parties were essentially running against each other. To allow for ideological identification, each candidate in a partisan race was allowed to indicate an arbitrary party preference.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, Primary elections, Primary results
While the primary was officially held on August 19, 2008, some counties such as King County allow absentee ballots to be postmarked by that date in order to be valid. As a result, the primary vote tally may not be officially certified until as late as September 9, to allow time for mailed-in ballots to arrive and be counted by the counties. As an increasing number of counties allow, encourage, or mandate mail-in ballots for voters within the county, the number of such ballots can be significant.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, Primary elections, Primary results
The vote tally as of October 10 is as follows:


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election
Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi were declared the winners of the primary and placed on the ballot for the November 4 election, which coincided with the national election. However, with all Washington counties either exclusively or (in the case of Pierce and King counties) predominantly voting via mail-in ballot, many votes were cast prior to that date. King County, the largest county in the state, and the one which carried Gregoire to victory in 2004, sent out overseas absentee ballots on October 5, and resident mail-in ballots on October 17.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election
In Washington state, mail-in ballots only need to be postmarked, not received, by November 4, meaning that valid ballots will continue to be received and counted after that date. For the 2008 election, counties had until November 26 to send results to the state, and the Secretary of State had until December 4 to certify all state results.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Police Guild press conference incident
At an August 7 press conference held by the Seattle Police Officers Guild to declare its endorsement of Rossi, the Guild forcibly removed Kelly Akers, a Gregoire campaign staffer who was filming the event, from the premises. The Rossi campaign reiterated a standing policy to prevent opposing campaigns from filming Rossi's appearances, to deny them the ability to take "attack footage." Rossi's campaign staff includes a cameraman tasked with filming Gregoire appearances.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Debates
Five debates were heldbetween Gregoire and Rossi, the candidates in the general election.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Debates
*The Spokane debate was taped in the morning to be aired at the indicated time. All other debates were held and aired live.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Debates
The Gregoire campaign had sought a sixth debate in Tacoma, sponsored by the Tacoma News-Tribune. The Rossi campaign instead sought a sixth debate in Vancouver, Washington, sponsored by The Columbian. The local Camas-Washougal Rotary Club went so far as to reserve a venue for October 8. The campaigns could not agree on either event.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Debates
The Gregoire campaign had set aside August 15 for a pre-primary radio debate with Rossi on Seattle NPR station KUOW-FM. Rossi declined to appear, giving Gregoire solo airtime.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Election results
These are the gubernatorial election results as of 11/25/2008 10:45 PM PST.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Early declaration
Gregoire declared victory after late evening returns were posted, with 42% of the statewide vote counted, showing her with a 52% lead over Rossi. By 10:30 PM PST (1:30 AM EST) all five major television networks had called the race for Gregoire.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Early declaration
The Rossi campaign called the networks' declarations "premature" and did not concede defeat that evening. Rossi held out hope that late ballots would carry him, as late returns had reversed an early Gregoire lead in 2004. Rossi conceded the next morning.


2008 Washington gubernatorial election, General election, Concession
Rossi conceded defeat in the gubernatorial election on November 5. In his concession speech, he indicated that he was not planning a return to politics.


2008 Waterford Senior Football Championship
The 2008 Waterford Senior Football Championship is the championship of the Waterford Senior Football Championship, the premier gaelic football competition in County Waterford, having commenced on 11 May 2008. There were 13 teams in the championship, structured into 2 groups of four teams and 1 group of 5 teams. From these groups, quarter finals, and semi-finals were played with a county final played in Fraher Field. Ballinacourty were the defending champions having beaten Ardmore in the 2007 final.


2008 Waterford Senior Football Championship, Championship Structure
13 teams are competing in the 2008 championship. The 13 teams are split into 3 groups, 2 of which contain 4 teams and 1 which contains 5 teams. The top 2 teams in each of the 3 groups automatically progress into the quarter-finals. The 3rd placed teams in all groups qualify for a Round of 16 game, with two winners gaining entry into the quarter-final.


2008 Waterford Senior Football Championship, Championship Structure
Teams on equal points in each group are ranked by highest points difference (points scored less points conceded). However, no team may be eliminated from the championship who finish on equal points. For this reason, playoffs are needed in both Group A and Group C to decide who finishes 3rd in this group and to decide who moves on in the championship.


2008 Waterford Senior Hurling Championship
The 2008 Waterford Senior Hurling Championship is the current championship of the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship having commenced on 27 April 2008. There are 12 teams in the championship, structured into 3 groups of four teams. From these groups, quarter finals, and semi-finals will be played with a county final being played in either Walsh Park or Fraher Field. Ballyduff Upper are the defending champions having beaten Ballygunner in 2007.


2008 Waterford Senior Hurling Championship
De La Salle won their first Waterford Senior Hurling Championship after an 11 to 8 points win against Abbeyside played in very bad condition at Fraher Field, Dungarvan.


2008 Watford Borough Council election
Elections to Watford Council were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrat party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Watford Borough Council election
The election saw only one seat change hands, Vicarage ward saw the Labour party gain the seat from the Liberal Democrats. However the Liberal Democrats remained firmly in control of the council.


2008 Wayne State Warriors football team
The 2008 Wayne State Warriors football team represented Wayne State University in the 2008 NCAA Division II football season. The Warriors offense scored 222 points while the defense allowed 161 points.


2008 Webby Awards
The 12th annual 2008 Webby Awards were held on June 10, 2008 and emceed by SNL head writer Seth Meyers and help at Cipriani, a massive banquet hall in Manhattan's financial district. The Webby Film and Video Awards were held on June 9 at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts and were hosted by Judah Friedlander. The awards were judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and winners were selected from over 10,000 entries. Lorne Michaels was honored with a lifetime achievement award.


2008 Weber State Wildcats football team
The 2008 Weber State Wildcats football team represented Weber State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Ron McBride, the Wildcats compiled an overall record of 10–4 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play to share the Big Sky championship with Montana. Weber State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they beat Cal Poly in the first round before losing to Montana in the quarterfinals.


2008 Weliveriya bombing
On 6 April 2008, 15 people were killed by an alleged suicide bomber, who exploded himself at the start of a marathon race which was part of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebration in Weliweriya town, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's national athletics coach Lakshman de Alwis, politician Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, former Olympics runner K.A. Karunaratne and army officer Lt Colonel Udayadeera were killed in the bombing which wounded 90 others. The Sri Lankan Government has blamed the Tamil Tigers for this attack because Minister Fernandopulle was a vocal critic of the Tamil Tigers.


2008 Weliveriya bombing, Investigation
Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) of the Criminal Investigation Department were able to identify the bomber as a Tamil that carried an identity card with a Muslim name and further investigations found that he had another identity card with a Tamil name to open a bank account to facilitate his expenses. This allowed the CID to trace his accomplices, including the handler but the handler had escaped to LTTE controlled areas while another female Tamil arrested for questioning committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule she had hidden inside her vagina.


2008 Wellington Sevens
The Emirates Airline Wellington Sevens is played annually as part of the IRB Sevens World Series for international rugby sevens (seven-a-side version of rugby union). The 2008 competition, which took place on 1 and 2 February was the third Cup trophy in the 2007–08 IRB Sevens World Series.


2008 Wellington Sevens, Round 3 table
Fiji was the second team to score over 1,000 overall points in the Group Stage of this tournament.


2008 Wells earthquake
The 2008 Wells earthquake occurred at 07:16:02 on February 21, 2008 just northeast of the town of Wells, Nevada, causing moderate damage, mainly to older brick buildings. The quake was centered on one of the faults of the Independence Valley fault system, about nine kilometers (5.6 miles) beneath the surface and had no known near-surface offset.


2008 Welsh Liberal Democrats leadership election
The 2008 Welsh Liberal Democrats leadership election took place in the autumn of 2008 following the resignation of Mike German. Two Assembly Members contested the leadership Jenny Randerson and Kirsty Williams.


2008 Welsh Liberal Democrats leadership election
Kirsty Williams won the contest with 59.8% of the vote and was declared leader on 8 December 2008, who became the first female party leader in Wales.


2008 Welsh Liberal Democrats leadership election, Election rules
The Welsh Liberal Democrats had reviewed their leadership rules during their 2007 Autumn Conference in Aberystwyth and during their 2008 Autumn Conference in Clydach.


2008 Welsh Liberal Democrats leadership election, Election rules
To stand for leader candidates needed to be an elected member of The National Assembly for Wales and have the support of 10% of AMs (i.e. one other colleague).


2008 Welsh Liberal Democrats leadership election, Timeline
Mike German became party leader in 2007 (having served as Assembly group leader since 1999) and indicated that he would stand down in 2008. Kirsty Williams announced in summer of 2008 that she would run, formally launching her campaign on 10 September. Mike German formally announced his resignation during the Welsh Liberal Democrats Autumn Conference in Clydach on 11 October 2008  and Jenny Randerson formally announced her candidature that afternoon and launched her campaign in early November.


2008 Welsh Liberal Democrats leadership election, Timeline
The winner was announced at an event in the Wales Millennium Centre on 8 December 2008.


2008 Welsh Liberal Democrats leadership election, Result
Williams went on to serve as leader for seven and a half years until her resignation following the following the 2016 elections to the Welsh Assembly.


2008 Welsh Open (snooker)
The 2008 Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 11 and 17 February 2008 in the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales.


2008 Welsh Open (snooker)
Neil Robertson was the defending champion, but he lost his last 16 match against Ali Carter.


2008 Welsh Open (snooker)
Mark Selby won his first ranking title by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8, after coming back from a 5–8 deficit.


2008 Welsh Open (snooker), Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:


2008 Welsh Open (snooker), Prize fund
Winner: £35,000Runner Up: £17,500Semi Finalists: £8,750Quarter Finalist: £6,500Last 16: £4,275Last 32: £2,750Last 48: £1,725Last 64: £1,325


2008 Welsh Open (snooker), Qualifying
Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontin's in Prestatyn, Wales  between 26 January and 28 January 2008.


2008 Welsh local elections
The 2008 Welsh local elections,  were held on 1 May, in 22 local authorities.


2008 Welsh local elections, Result
In all 22 Welsh councils the whole of the council was up for election.


2008 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election
The 2008 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2007. The Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives hold on to control of the council with 40 seats, as compared to 5 for Labour and 3 for the Liberal Democrats. Overall turnout in the election was 36.32%.


2008 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election, Election result
A few days after the election the new Conservative councillor for Hatfield Central, Darren Gilbert, was forced to resign after it was alleged that he had made up a claim that he had had cancer, meaning that a by-election had to be held.


2008 Weng'an riot
The 2008 Weng'an riot (Chinese: 瓮安骚乱) was a riot on June 28, 2008 involving tens of thousands of residents in Weng'an County, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in the Guizhou province of Southwest China. Rioters smashed government buildings and torched several police cars to protest against an alleged police cover-up of a girl's death.


2008 Weng'an riot, Incident, Alleged rape and murder
A 16-year-old local girl by the name of Li Shufen (李树芬, born in July 1991) was found dead in a river. She had been earlier spotted with two younger men who allegedly had familial ties with the local public security bureau. Li Shufen's family and friends have alleged that she had been raped and murdered by the son of a prominent Weng'an official and another youth and that her corpse had then been thrown into the river.


2008 Weng'an riot, Incident, Alleged rape and murder
The subsequent media release denied the claims, and stated the two young men and one young woman involved were of local farmers' families.


2008 Weng'an riot, Incident, Defending the coffin
The parents were guarding the girl's coffin day and night in fear the local police might attempt to tamper with the evidence. "We won't accept an evil deal," say parents. The parents reported there had already been two attempts to steal the dead body. An additional 100 local residents helped them guard the coffin.


2008 Weng'an riot, Claims, Police
The girl's dead body was pulled from the river on June 22, 2008. Initial police report said that the girl was  drowned  or jumped into the river and committed suicide. A document submitted by the local government stated the girl was unhappy with life because her parents favored her elder brother.


2008 Weng'an riot, Claims, Girl's family and relatives
Relatives of the girl blamed the local police for shoddy investigation and possible corruption. One of the parents said a police officer threatened them, telling them: "Don't even try to file a lawsuit; there [is] no justice in this world."


2008 Weng'an riot, Claims, Three murder suspects
Guizhou's official media published the first interview with three of the girl's friends (the murder suspects) on July 4, 2008. They were the last people to see the girl alive.


2008 Weng'an riot, Protests
About 500 middle school students had gone to protest at the public security bureau, but they were turned away and beaten. Rumors were circulating that the girl's uncle, a local teacher, had been beaten when he questioned the police, and had died from his injuries at the local hospital but this was not confirmed. This roused an angry mob of thousands of people, who began overturning cars and setting fire to government buildings, including the local Communist party headquarters. The Associated Press reported "30,000 angry citizens swarmed the streets". The riot lasted 7 hours with 150 people injured. About 160 office buildings and 40 cars were torched.


2008 Weng'an riot, Role of Chinese bloggers
Zhou, as well as many other like-minded Chinese netizens, provided on-the-scene information on events like this, as a means to give voice to ordinary Chinese whose stories get overlooked or censored in a country where all the media is under the control of China's Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.


2008 Weng'an riot, Role of Chinese bloggers
All night and morning, I was clicking on posts about it. First it was there. Then it was gone. Then it was there again. Then gone. Every few minutes it was being deleted, sometimes every few seconds. The site had orders to block it. That was obvious. But they couldn't keep up. Every time they did, we Netizens got angrier and angrier.


2008 Weng'an riot, Role of Chinese bloggers
Roland Soong of East South West North, a well-known website for Chinese-to-English translations, wrote:


2008 Weng'an riot, Role of Chinese bloggers
For example, the first item says that oveseas media are paying a great deal of attention to the lives of people living in the plateau of the Yunnan-Guizhou area. The second item says that the people of X'an (Guizhou) are lighting an extra large sacred flame to celebrate the Beijing Olympics. The third item just says, "Delete this!! Your mother's c*nt!" The fourth item says that "when the army arrives in southwestern China, I think something big will happen! I believe that our troops(人民子弟兵) have conscience." The fifth item says that the anti-American(反美) posts from the anti-American warriors(反美鬥士) have all met death -- the revolution has not yet succeeded and our comrades need to keep working(革命尚未成功,同志尚須努力, a famous quotation from Sun Yat-sen). What was that last one? The term "American" is being used for "Chinese government"!


2008 Weng'an riot, Arrests
Authorities rounded up 300 people accused of taking part in the riot. Other sources have said 200 rioters were arrested. Over 1,500 paramilitary and riot police were dispatched to the county. Police detained 59 people for their alleged roles.


2008 Weng'an riot, Government response
Photographs as well as comments on the Guizhou protest in chatrooms and forums were quickly deleted by the mainland Internet censors. The government launched a campaign to defuse protest ahead of the Beijing Olympics to continue projecting an image of social harmony and stability. An "Olympics Stability Drive" was announced after the incident. Public security officials in Guizhou offered a total of 9,000 yuan (about $1,300 or £700 or €800) to the parents of the teenage girl, with 3,000 paid by each suspect. The father said "We will never accept an evil deal like this, we need to seek justice for our daughter."


2008 Weng'an riot, Government response
Guizhou's Communist Party chief, Shi Zongyuan (石宗源), estimated that prior use of force by local officials have contributed to the widespread discontentment. He further said the deep rooted reasons behind the protest were "rude and roughhand solutions" by local authorities to solve disputes over mines, demolition of homes for public projects, relocation of residents for reservoir construction, and many other issues. Several local officials, including Weng'an's Party chief, were dismissed for breach of duty on July 3 and 4, 2008.


2008 Weng'an riot, Investigation
The government Guizhou Daily newspaper claimed the family was too emotionally unstable to accept the findings. The Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said three men were questioned, but were let go. Xinhua News Agency reported on July 1, 2008 that the investigation would be reopened. The provincial government sent 10 criminal investigators and forensic experts to re-investigate the death. The autopsy was carried out by five experts from the Guizhou public security department and the Higher People's Court. After three autopsies, there were no signs of any sexual attack according to state officials.


2008 Weng'an riot, Investigation
The girl's father, Li Xiuzhong, did not accept the autopsy findings. He said "There is nothing I can do, they have sent 10 officials to my home, watching me day and night. They told me what to say when the reporters interviewed me. They threatened me that [if I said anything wrong], then another riot can happen and I must bear in mind that national security is at stake." Li Shufen was buried in her hometown about 20 km from Weng'an. Provincial authority said that every year, about 600 to 800 criminal cases take place in the county, but half of them are not solved.


2008 West Coast Conference Baseball Championship Series
The 2008 West Coast Conference Baseball Championship Series was held on May 24, 2008 at San Diego's home stadium, John Cunningham Stadium in San Diego, California, and pitted the top two finishers from the WCC regular season. The event determined the champion of the West Coast Conference for the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball season. San Diego won the series two games to none over Pepperdine and earned the league's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2008 West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2008 West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place on March 7–10, 2008. The first round was held in San Diego, California at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The semifinals were televised by ESPN2. The West Coast Conference Championship Game was televised by ESPN.


2008 West Lancashire District Council election
The 2008 West Lancashire District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of  West Lancashire District Council in Lancashire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 West Lancashire District Council election, Campaign
Before the election, in which 19 seats were being contested, the Conservatives ran the council with 33 of the 52 seats. The seat in Tanhouse was being contested after the death of Labour councillor Sally Keegan in December 2007, while Conservative Martin Forshaw was unopposed in Hesketh with Becconsall. The Conservatives were strongly favoured to remain in control and were particularly targeting the last Labour held seat in Burscough.


2008 West Lancashire District Council election, Campaign
The Conservatives campaigned on plans to regenerate Skelmersdale, build new council offices on a site in Ormskirk and a pledge to keep council tax rises as low as possible.


2008 West Lancashire District Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives increase their control of the council after making 2 gains from Labour. They gained the seats of Burscough West and Up Holland, with the margin of victory in Up Holland being only 3 votes after 2 recounts were required. Labour also only held the Tanhouse seat by 34 votes after a recount. The results meant the Conservatives had 35 seats compared to 18 for Labour and 1 independent. Overall turnout in the election was 30.51%.


2008 West Lancashire District Council election, Election result
The Conservative council leader, Geoff Roberts, saw the results as a sign they could take the parliamentary seat in the next general election, while Labour blamed their defeats on national issues.


2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election
The 2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of West Oxfordshire District Council in Oxfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election, Background
Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 36 councillors, compared to eight for the Liberal Democrats, four Independents and one Labour councillor. 17 of the 49 seats on the council were up for election in 2008, which meant the Conservatives were guaranteed to keep a majority.


2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election, Background
The Conservative leader of the council, Barry Norton, in North Leigh ward was one of four Conservatives who were elected without opposition, with the Conservatives being the only party to have a full 17 candidates. Both the Liberal Democrats and Green Party had eight candidates, Labour had five candidates, UK Independence Party two and there were two independents.


2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election, Background
13 councillors sought re-election, with the councillors who stood down at the election including the Conservative former council chairman Tony Walker from Kingham, Rollright and Enstone ward, the Liberal Democrat group leader Stuart Brooks of Freeland and Hanborough ward, and Independent Derrick Millard of Stonesfield and Tackley ward.


2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election, Election result
The Conservatives gained four seats to win 11 of the 13 seats contested. This took the Conservatives to 40 of the 49 councillors and reduced the opposition to its lowest level on the council as of 2008. Conservative gains included taking Witney South from independent, former Witney mayor, Peter Green, while Conservative Ian Hudspeth held Woodstock and Bladon by 45 votes.


2008 West Oxfordshire District Council election, Election result
The Liberal Democrats lost two seats to be reduced to four councillors, although Margaret Stevens narrowly held Eynsham and Cassington for the party by four votes. Meanwhile, the number of independents was reduced by two to two councillors, while Labour remained with one councillor. Overall 11 of the 13 councillors who stood were re-elected with average turnout at the election being 39.84%.


2008 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary
The 2008 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary took place on May 13, 2008 with polls closing at 7:30 p.m. EST. It was open to Democrats and Independents. The primary determined 28 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, who were awarded on a proportional basis. West Virginia's Democratic delegation also included 11 unpledged "superdelegates". The primary came late in the nomination race. Hillary Clinton won by a very wide margin, but her opponent Barack Obama maintained a substantial lead in the overall number of pledged delegate votes.


2008 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary, Polls
As of May 4, 2008, opinion polling showed Sen. Hillary Clinton holding a 56% to 27% lead over Sen. Barack Obama, with 17% undecided.


2008 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary, Polls
Some of West Virginia's superdelegates also endorsed a candidate prior to the primary. By February 20, more than a month before the election, three superdelegates had announced support for Sen. Hillary Clinton (DNC Members Marie Prezioso, Pat Maroney, and Belinda Biafore), while three had endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (Rep. Nick Rahall, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, and Sen. Robert C. Byrd).


2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football team
The 2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football team competed on behalf of West Virginia University during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Bill Stewart, who took over after he led the Mountaineers to a 2008 Fiesta Bowl victory over the #3 Oklahoma Sooners as the interim head coach after the departure of former head coach Rich Rodriguez. The team finished the season with a 9–4 record and a win over North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.


2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football team, Coaching staff
Head coach Bill Stewart is the Mountaineers 32nd head coach in school history. He returns defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel and defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich. His new hirings are associate head coach, recruiting coordinator, fullback, and tight ends coach Doc Holliday, assistant head coach and safeties coach Steve Dunlap, running backs coach Chris Beatty, offensive line coach Dave Johnson, and cornerbacks coach David Lockwood. Jeff Mullen, former quarterbacks coach at Wake Forest, was announced as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The receivers coach was named on January 29, Lonnie Galloway, the receivers coach from Appalachian State.


2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football team, Spring Game
The Gold & Blue Spring Game was held on Saturday, April 19, 2008, at Mountaineer Field. A record crowd of over 25,000 fans attended as the Gold defeated the Blue 59–15. Kicker Pat McAfee was four-for-four on field goals with a long of 47 yards, and starting quarterback Pat White and backup Jarrett Brown both had touchdown passes. Brown also had a four-yard touchdown run and two backup kickers hit a field goal each. The defense recorded six sacks in total, and walk-on defensive back Darnell Christianled all corners with 3 passes deflected. Sophomore linebacker Pat Lazear had the only interception on the game off of a White pass. Backup runningback led all ballcarriers with 54 yards on 17 carries while sophomore Brandon Hogan led all receivers with 49 yards on 6 catches.


2008 West Virginia Republican presidential caucuses and primary
The 2008 West Virginia Republican presidential caucuses took place on  February 5, 2008 to select 18 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention. An additional nine delegates were selected in a primary election on May 13, 2008, for a total of 27 delegates to the national convention. Mike Huckabee won the caucuses, and John McCain later won the primary.


2008 West Virginia Republican presidential caucuses and primary
Romney entered the caucus with the most pledged convention-goers, but delegates for McCain defected to Huckabee. In the first round of caucusing, the results were Romney 464, Huckabee 375, McCain 176, Paul 118, Giuliani 0. Since no candidate had a majority, Giuliani dropped out and the delegates took a second vote. At this second vote, most Paul and McCain supporters, reportedly acting on commands from their coordinators, shifted to Huckabee, ensuring him the majority. As a result of a deal with Huckabee's camp, Paul's delegates swung to Huckabee in exchange for 3 of the State's 18 national delegates.


2008 West Virginia Republican presidential caucuses and primary
The West Virginia caucus was the first of the 21 "Super Tuesday" contests to be counted, with the results being reported in the mid-afternoon. Huckabee's win over the favored Romney was considered a major loss of momentum for Romney's campaign, while it revitalized Mike Huckabee's hopes for the nomination.


2008 West Virginia Republican presidential caucuses and primary
In the primary election, three delegates were awarded for each of West Virginia's three congressional districts. The winner in each district was awarded all three of that district's delegates. McCain, the presumptive nominee, easily won all three districts.


2008 West Virginia gubernatorial election
The 2008 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Governor Joe Manchin III was the Democratic nominee, challenged by Republican nominee Russ Weeks and Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson. Manchin won every county in the state and was reelected by the largest margin for any gubernatorial candidate in West Virginia's history. Manchin won by over 44%, even as Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, lost the state to John McCain in the presidential election.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
The 2008 Cincinnati Masters (also known as the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 107th edition of the Cincinnati Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier III Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. Both the men's and the women's events took place at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, with the men playing from July 26 through August 3, 2008, and the women from August 9 through August 17, 2008.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
The men's field was led by World No. 1, French Open and Wimbledon runner-up and Cincinnati Masters defending champion Roger Federer, ATP No. 2, French Open, Wimbledon and Canada Masters winner Rafael Nadal, and Australian Open titlist Novak Djokovic. Other top seeded players were ATP No. 4, Pörtschach and Warsaw titlist Nikolay Davydenko, Valencia and s'Hertogenbosch winner David Ferrer, Andy Roddick, James Blake and Andy Murray.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
The women's draw featured Paris, Eastbourne and Montreal semifinalist, Standford finalist Marion Bartoli, Eastbourne runner-up and Wimbledon quarterfinalist Nadia Petrova, and Estoril, Barcelona winner Maria Kirilenko. Also competing were Strasbourg finalist, French Open and Wimbledon mixed doubles runner-up Katarina Srebotnik, Amelia Island quarterfinalist Amélie Mauresmo, Aleksandra Wozniak, Ekaterina Makarova and Tamira Paszek.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, Finals, Men's Doubles
Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan defeated  Jonathan Erlich /  Andy Ram 4–6, 7–6(7–2), [10–7]


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, Finals, Women's Doubles
Maria Kirilenko /  Nadia Petrova defeated  Su-wei Hsieh /  Yaroslava Shvedova 6–3, 4–6, [10–8]


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters – Doubles
Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram were the defending champions, but Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan defeated them 4–6, 7–6(7–2), [10–7], in the final.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters – Singles
Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in the final 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5), to win the Men's Singles title at the 2008 Cincinnati Masters. It was his first ATP Masters 1000 title.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters – Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Ivo Karlović.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open – Doubles
Bethanie Mattek and Sania Mirza were the defending champions, but Mattek chose not to participate, while Mirza chose to compete the Beijing Summer Olympics instead.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open – Doubles
Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova won in the final 6–3, 4–6, [10–8], against Su-wei Hsieh and Yaroslava Shvedova.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open – Singles
Anna Chakvetadze was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open – Singles
Nadia Petrova won in the final 6–2, 6–1, against Nathalie Dechy.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis
The Western Australian gas crisis was a major disruption to natural gas supply in Western Australia, caused by the rupture of a corroded pipeline and subsequent explosion at a processing plant on Varanus Island, off the state's north west coast on 3 June 2008. The plant, operated by Apache Energy, which normally supplied a third of the state's gas, was shut down for almost two months while a detailed engineering investigation and major repairs were carried out. Gas supply from the plant partially resumed in late August. By mid-October, gas production was running at two-thirds of normal capacity, with 85% of full output restored by December 2008.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis
In a state heavily reliant on continuous supply of gas for industrial processing, manufacturing, residential use and electricity generation, the sudden loss of almost 35% of gas supply had immediate social impacts, and significant short and long-term economic effects. Many businesses were forced to curtail or cease operations, resulting in workers being stood down or forced to take annual leave, and the government requested that businesses and householders conserve energy usage. An emergency coordination committee of government and industry representatives rationed and redirected remaining gas supply sources. When many large gas users switched to diesel for power generation, the risk of a shortfall in transport fuel led to the federal government authorising the release of emergency fuel reserves stored at the Garden Island naval facility.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis
The incident raised significant public and political issues related to energy security, adequacy of existing infrastructure, contingency planning, and the role of regulatory agencies. The plant took three months to repair, although partial supplies were restored within six weeks of the explosion. A major investigation was launched by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA), with separate investigations conducted by the plant operator and several other government agencies. NOPSA's report was published on 10 October 2008, and confirmed early suggestions that the explosion was caused by structural failure of the export pipeline due to significant corrosion. A Senate Committee inquiry was established to investigate the economic impacts and the state government's response to the crisis. The committee's report was handed down on 3 December 2008.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Background
Since 1996, Varanus Island, 70 kilometres (43 mi) from the Western Australian coast, has operated as a hub for oil, condensate and gas gathering infrastructure belonging to several petroleum joint ventures, including Harriet JV and John Brookes JV. The island's facilities include large tanks where condensate is stored prior to being offloaded onto tankers, and five gas plants. Condensate, water and other impurities are removed from the gas arriving from the offshore platforms connected to the island. Most of the carbon dioxide is removed so the gas can meet the specifications of the onshore pipelines and end users. Gas from the plant is sent via two subsea pipelines to the mainland, where the pipelines connect to the Goldfields Gas Pipeline and the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline. Before the incident, the plant produced 365 terajoules of gas per day for the state market.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Background
The gas plant is licensed under the WA Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969. Safety and health regulation under this Act is the responsibility of the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP), which engaged National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) to provide inspections and reporting.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Incident
At 1:40pm on Tuesday 3 June 2008, an export gas pipeline ruptured near the gas plant, causing a fire in a large section of the plant. No one was injured and all employees on the island were moved to a safety point within 20 minutes of the explosion. One hundred and fifty-three staff were evacuated later that day, with 13 staff staying on the island to monitor the situation.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Incident
Chief Executive Officer G. Steven Farris said, "Our priorities are the safety of our personnel, securing the facilities, assuring that the environmental impact is limited to the island and resuming throughput of oil and gas production... No-one was injured, all personnel are safe, and the rupture and fire appear to be contained on the island."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Incident
The explosion and resulting fire caused a full plant shutdown, reducing Western Australia's supply of energy by up to 35%. Apache's managing director, Tim Wall, said, "It's pretty easy to say there is a lot of damage here and we are looking at alternatives to try to get gas to market as soon as possible but it will be at least several months before we have partial sales." He estimated it would be at least three months until the plant was at least partially operational, when the less-damaged processing plants for John Brookes and East Spar are brought back online.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Incident
The John Brookes and East Spar plants produce 150-200 terajoules of gas daily, compared to 370 terajoules when all plants, including the significantly damaged Harriet plant, were fully operational. Approximately 80-90% of the island's gas is used by industrial customers, with small amounts provided to Synergy, the state's largest electricity retailer.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
The explosion was investigated separately by Apache Energy, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) and other agencies. The WA State Opposition called for a Royal Commission, with Energy Spokesperson John Day saying, "It's a matter of making sure that this major disaster, which is now facing WA, does not happen again". Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter said this was unnecessary because the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority was investigating and it could compromise their inquiry. Carpenter said their investigation will take 10–12 weeks to complete and its findings will be released to the public. State Opposition Leader, Troy Buswell, said that NOPSA had a conflict of interest as it helped perform safety inspections on the island, and therefore "are conducting an investigation which will in part be an investigation into themselves".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
Premier Carpenter held a meeting on Sunday 8 June with key stakeholders in WA's gas industry and announced that gas would be sourced from alternative suppliers, and a coal-fired power station, which was shut down for maintenance, would be brought back online. He also asked domestic users to save energy where possible, as the saved energy could be used by industries in need.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
On 11 June, Carpenter warned he might need to invoke emergency powers and take control of all of WA's gas and electricity supplies, which would result in rolling stoppages, blackouts and brownouts. He also said he had discussed accessing emergency diesel supplies stored by the Department of Defence at Garden Island with Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The state's Energy Minister, Fran Logan, said the decommissioned Muja AB coal-fired power station at Collie would be returned to service to supply 25 terajoules to industry. He estimated it would take up to six weeks before the plant was operational, and said, "These units are old and not as environmentally friendly as new generators. However, the state is facing a significant gas shortage and we need to look at all avenues".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
Power consumption will be reduced from 22 megawatts to four megawatts a day at the State Government's water desalination plant in Kwinana, announced Carpenter on 12 June. He said this "will save around about five to six terajoules of energy a day which can be redirected to where it's needed... The decision will not jeopardise water supplies. We are able to switch the desalination plant back on to full production within a few hours ... four to five hours."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
On 17 June, two weeks after the explosion, Carpenter made an unprecedented public address on television and radio.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
"Gas is not only a direct fuel source for industry, we use it in our homes and it's used to generate a large proportion of our electricity. While the State Government has the power to guarantee gas supplies to essential services and households, some industries and business have been hit hard. A number of them are being forced to scale back operations and others have temporarily closed.... We need your help. By continuing to work together we can lessen the impact of the gas shortage on our state, on our businesses and our families." – Carpenter, 17 June 2008


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
David Black, a political analyst, said Carpenter's address shows that the situation is serious: "Probably in terms of the total amount of gas and electricity being used, the community is a relatively small player... But politically, it is so important that they share the burden and that they be aware of the fact that they should be sharing the burden." Opposition Leader Buswell called for daily publication of a gas supply allocation for businesses. After Carpenter's address, power consumption fell 2% the next morning, on the coldest day since September 2007. Carpenter said, "The saved consumption was very, very significant, enough to power the city of Geraldton".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
On 18 June, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told Federal Parliament that Premier Carpenter had established a Gas Supply Coordination Group, involving government agencies and industry representatives. Rudd said the Royal Australian Navy was supplying six megalitres of diesel fuel to WA, and the Federal Government would consider invoking the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act if necessary, enabling federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, to control production, transfer and stock levels of crude oil and other liquid fuel.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
"This is a serious matter for Western Australia therefore it is a serious matter for all Australians... We believe that is an appropriate level of coordination between the two governments... I think people in the east have not quite caught up with the severity of the impact which this is having across the WA economy. It is huge... If there is a significant impact on WA economic activity and growth and on exports from that state, given the significance to the overall Australian economy, there will be wash through from us all on this over time." – Rudd, 18 June 2008


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
On 21 June, it was revealed that the state-owned electricity generator Verve Energy continued to use hundreds of terajoules of gas each week, despite having access to diesel fuel. A spokesperson said the company had not been instructed to cut back its gas usage, and there was "no intention to use very expensive diesel instead of gas, especially when supplies and deliveries of diesel are stretched and Verve Energy continues to receive its supplies of gas from the North West Shelf". Opposition Leader Troy Buswell said, "This is arrogance and hypocrisy of the highest order...


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
They should be substituting gas for diesel, given the fact their plants can run on diesel. Gas could be re-directed to businesses which don't have choice about using gas or diesel." The State Government had also delayed approval of a new gas processing plant for Apache Energy by over six months, only allowing Apache to proceed after the gas crisis commenced and worsened.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
The lack of a State Government contingency plan was criticised by Robert Amin, Curtin University's chair of Petroleum Engineering and chair of the Woodside Research Foundation, who said the Government should have stored enough gas in underground reservoirs to power the state for at least one month, to mitigate a potential crisis. Amin said gas could be stored in parts of the Perth Basin depleted of gas, like Dongara, and companies could be offered tax incentives.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
Federal Opposition spokesperson for trade, Ian Macfarlane, called for a national audit of all gas pipelines, and highlighted the vulnerability of the single pipeline that carries WA's gas from the North West Shelf. Macfarlane said, "At the very least this event comes as a wake-up call for the construction of a second pipeline from the North West shelf to supply gas to industry especially in the south-western part of Western Australia."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Political response
Professor Dong-ke Zhang, Director of the Centre for Petroleum, Fuels and Energy at the University of Western Australia, said, "I would have thought it was quite silly for a very advanced state like WA that we are not able to cope with an incident like this by not having the ability to divert gas from an LNG plant to the domestic pipeline. At a policy level, the infrastructure needs to be longer term and the Government should encourage major players like Woodside and Chevron to invest in the infrastructure and give the incentives for the industry to come to the party because they get much bigger margins by selling LNG overseas."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Restoration of supply
A statement released by Apache Energy on 13 June 2008 said the company had sourced pipe and valves needed to repair the pipeline. Apache said it was increasing the number of staff on the island conducting integrity checks, with over 140 staff expected on site the following week. On 18 June, Apache Energy said it had commenced demolition and restoration of the damaged pipeline and expected this to be finished by the end of the following week. The pipe was already in Karratha and valves and fittings from the United Kingdom were expected to arrive in early July. Gas supply from the plant partially resumed in late August. By mid-October, gas production was running at two-thirds of normal capacity, with 85% of full output restored by December 2008.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Restoration of supply
On 23 June 2008, Apache Energy released a statement that said limited production of 200 terajoules of gas from the East Spar Joint Venture would start by 15 August, with full production expected by December. Also on 23 June, the Muja power station came back online.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Restoration of supply
Western Power spokesperson Ken Brown said the plant will provide "very minimal megawatts because it has been out for many months, not just for pure maintenance, it's had a complete overhaul of the machine and the control, and it's going to take quite a while to commission that, but by next week it will be producing some significant coal megawatts and that's really good." Kwinana Unit 1, a power station located at Kwinana closed for maintenance before the explosion, was reactivated on 8 July. The 110 megawatt station operated at 60% capacity for the first few days before running at full capacity. Kwinana Unit 1 is expected to free up to five terajoules of gas daily.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
While household gas supplies were largely unaffected, some businesses faced higher energy prices, most notably in the manufacturing and mining sectors. The supply disruption was partially mitigated by the availability of alternative fuel sources such as diesel (for power generation), additional supplies of gas from the North West Shelf plant, and the return to service of coal-fired power generation units.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
Overall, the gas shortage had a large impact on Western Australian industries, particularly mining, construction, and hospitality. Some affected companies declared force majeure, and others are expected to make large insurance claims. If Apache Energy was found responsible for the pipeline explosion, compensation claims could be made against the company.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
State Premier Alan Carpenter said the Government will not offer compensation to businesses affected by the energy shortage, because "I don't think that the ordinary West Australian taxpayer would take too kindly to the State Government taking on a massive compensation bill for an interruption to a supply contract between commercial partners".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
A survey of 301 businesses conducted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed on 18 June 2008 that nearly 630 employees had already been, or could be, stood down or made redundant - nearly 1% of the workforce surveyed. Almost 50% were affected by the gas shortage, with 11 companies already completely shut down. Up to 15% of companies surveyed could potentially close after three months of energy shortages.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
Chief Economist John Nicolaou said "To the extent that WA represents about 20 percent of the growth in the national economy over the past year, then that means it is going to have broader implications for the national economy. So it's important people around Australia understand the issue is significant from a national perspective, not just WA's perspective."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
Macquarie Group economists estimated the energy crisis could reduce gross domestic product growth by 0.25 percentage points in the third quarter, as gas prices increased and the percentage of gas production allocated to export reduced. Natural gas sales were worth $5.2 billion in the 2006/2007 financial year, and its five-year trend growth rate is 16.8%. Chief Macquarie economist Richard Gibbs said, "WA supplies the lion's share of the gas exports.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
The effect on exports is that as there is a shortage of gas in the system, the capability to export will be diminished because the gas that there is will be directed towards domestic use... The gas exports have been pretty healthy. In the next couple of quarters that will be moderated dramatically if not stalled altogether. I think this will have an impact on the broader commodities side and the trade gap could widen".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
Modelling undertaken by the WA Department of Treasury and Finance estimated that the gas crisis would affect Western Australia's exports of chemicals, metal products, textiles, clothing, footwear and rubber and plastic products. Treasurer Eric Ripper said, "In the long term, the disruption is estimated to reduce WA's economic value by $1.8 billion between 2007-08 and 2011-12... this $1.8 billion figure (estimated at 2008–09 values), only equates to 0.2 percent of the economy over the same five-year period."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
The WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) released its quarterly report on 10 July, which said, "The gas crisis has already cost the Western Australian economy in the vicinity of $2.4 billion... With gas supply expected to be restricted until December 2008, CCI estimates the overall cost to be around $6.7 billion".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact
The Reserve Bank reported in September that "the disruption is expected to result in a temporary reduction in national GDP growth of around 0.25%, with the impact spread across the June and September quarters".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Mining industry
Western Australian-based mining companies could have potentially lost hundreds of millions of dollars, because the state is the world's largest producer of iron ore and one of the largest producers of gold and nickel, exporting $48.4 billion of minerals and energy in 2006. Three days after the blast, the world's largest mining company, BHP Billiton, said it was assessing the gas shortage's impact, but its iron ore mines at Mount Newman and Nickel West were running normally.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Mining industry
On 13 June, BHP Billiton brought forward the closure of its nickel smelter in Kalgoorlie by four months, which increased its gas supplies for its Worsley Alumina refinery. A spokesperson for Rio Tinto, the world's third-largest mining company, said the company was prioritising its power usage and using diesel and other alternative fuels for its mines, shipping terminals and railways.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Mining industry
The world's third-biggest gold producer, Newmont Mining, said it was "investigating alternative gas and energy sources", and Iluka Resources, the largest zircon producer, shut down its Western Australian operations on 5 June and said it was awaiting advice from power supplier Alinta Gas. Oxiana Limited, soon to be the world's second-largest zinc producer, used standby diesel power at its Golden Grove mine until 6 June, when they obtained an alternative source. Newcrest Mining, a gold mining company located at Telfer, switched to its limited stockpile of diesel fuel. Fonterra Co-operative Group also switched to diesel power.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Mining industry
Minara Resources, the country's second-largest nickel producer, was "using the time opportunistically on plant maintenance", as natural gas was its Murrin Murrin mine's only energy source. Minara Resources predicted that its full-year production would be reduced by 8%. Alcoa, which operates bauxite mines and alumina refineries with Alumina, declared force majeure as a precaution on 11 June. A spokesperson said, "We are continuing production, which is down a bit, and we are fuelling our energy needs with diesel supply... we have enough diesel to last us for weeks, but not months". Alcoa's United States parent company said it expects the company's second-quarter earnings to be reduced by $12–17 million due to the extra cost of gas and diesel.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Mining industry
Woodside Petroleum's North West Shelf Venture increased production of natural gas to meet Apache Energy's shortfall. Apache's managing director Tim Wall said it was a small quantity of relief; Premier Carpenter said Woodside was providing an extra 50 terajoules of gas per day for the domestic energy grid.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
The construction and hospitality industries were strongly affected by the energy shortage. Brick producers Midland Brick and Austral closed their kilns within the first week after the blast, and on 11 June, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned that 14% of local businesses could close. UnionsWA said thousands of workers were being stood down or made to take annual leave, and the secretary Dave Robinson said mining, timber, beef, pork, laundries and transport industries workers were worst affected. Supplies of gas and electricity to residential customers are protected by state government legislation introduced in 2006.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
The impact of the crisis on Wesfarmers' subsidiaries caused a slump in the company's share prices. Wesfarmers managing director, Richard Goyder, said, "At this stage, our best estimate is that the pre-tax impact on group profit will be up to $20 million per month at the current level of gas supply. A portion of that loss is expected to be recovered from insurance". The subsidiaries affected are CSBP, which can no longer produce ammonium nitrate, Wesfarmers LPG, which has delayed commissioning of a new liquid natural gas plant in WA, and Premier Coal, whose sales have been reduced due to the closure of some of its customers, such as Iluka Resources.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
There was speculation in the media on whether the AFL football game at Subiaco Oval on 21 June between the West Coast Eagles and Geelong Football Club should be moved from night to daytime, to avoid using the oval's lights.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
According to Western Power, the electricity used by the oval's lights for four hours of operation could power more than 1,300 homes, but a spokesperson from the Office of Energy said, "Effectively the amount of energy used to light a game at night is less than what would be used if those thousands of people were at home with lights and other services operating".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
Western Australian Trotting Association chief executive, Rob Bovell, said if they were forced to move races at Gloucester Park from night to day, they would "probably lose half a million dollars in turnover and our customers would drop by 70 percent. Clearly this would cause major damage to us financially because our business is set up to race at night time. However if we are using energy that is affecting emergency services we will close down tomorrow."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
Fifty representatives from shopping centres and office towers met on 16 June to discuss energy-saving ideas. The WA Property Council said "Non essential power including decorative lighting in shopping centres will be switched off. We'll also be looking at chillers and heating systems to ensure they use less power. At the moment we are in winter mode and they are running to heat the buildings so we will have to lower them, while main buildings will look at switching off non essential lifts". Perth's tallest building, Central Park, turned off its heating on 17 June, with General Manager Tim Ward saying, "We're not expecting anyone to be anything but compliant".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
Royal Perth Hospital's plans for coping with decreased gas supplies were leaked to the media at the end of June, which showed a 30% reduction in gas would cause phase 1, changing linen "only when soiled" and having "one towel per patient". Phase 2, a further 20% decrease, would result in "reductions in elective surgical procedures", "prioritisation of equipment for sterilisation", sourcing oxygen supplies from interstate and restricting patients' showers to "four minutes, second daily". Further reductions could lead to cancellations in elective surgery, rationing food and transporting "infectious linen" interstate for laundering.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
Industrial gas provider BOC reduced its supply of carbon dioxide to pubs for draft beer, whilst the shortage also threatened WA's wineries, who use carbon dioxide for bottling. BOC gave priority to the health industry, which uses carbon dioxide to sterilise equipment and in anaesthesia. The state's other major carbon dioxide supplier, Air Liquide, also shut down production, leading to fears that WA's largest pork abattoir would close.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Impact, Other industries, businesses and domestic customers
Westpac offered help to personal customers affected by the gas crisis, by allowing customers to defer home loan repayments for up to three months and restructure loans at no fee, increasing credit card limits and speeding up insurance assessments. Other banks and credit-lenders offered similar assistance to their customers.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Technical investigation by NOPSA
Following a four-month investigation, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) handed down its report into the causes of the incident on 10 October 2008. Numbered copies of the 92-page report were made available to members of the public upon request to the Department of Mines and Petroleum.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Technical investigation by NOPSA
According to the report, the plant was operating normally up until the incident. The immediate cause was the rupture of the 12" Sales Gas Pipeline at the NNE beach crossing, and that "the gas released from the ruptured pipeline ignited very soon after the rupture". The rupture of the pipeline was caused by corrosion of the external surface of the pipe "resulting in excessive stresses of the pipe wall".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Technical investigation by NOPSA
The report provides the likely sequence of events following the initial rupture, including the failures of other pipelines located near the 12" Sales Gas line, contributing to the intensity of the fire and damage to the gas plant. According to evidence available to NOPSA, the main causal factors in the incident were:


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Technical investigation by NOPSA
A section of the report titled "Impediments to the Investigation" refers to the investigation team's frustrated attempts to interview staff of Apache Energy in relation to pipeline inspection, monitoring, and the company's maintenance and repair regime. The company declined to make its key personnel available for questioning by NOPSA. The investigators' efforts were also hampered by Apache's delays in releasing the results of laboratory analysis of pipeline materials related to the incident. Apache produced a comprehensive "corporate response" to a set of written questions provided by NOPSA, seven weeks after receiving the request. The report notes that "these matters directly impacted on the ability of the investigation team to develop its findings within the agreed time period and resulted in aspects of some lines of inquiry not being fully settled".


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Technical investigation by NOPSA
The report identified that Apache and its co-licensees may have committed offences under the Petroleum Pipelines Act and associated regulations, and that there may have been non-compliance with pipeline license conditions.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Senate inquiry
On 28 August 2008, the Senate referred a number of matters relating to the gas crisis to its Standing Committee on Economics. The inquiry focussed on the economic impact of the crisis (losses faced by business and industry; relevance of contractual arrangements) and government responses (crisis management; emergency measures; alternative energy sources). Written submissions were made by numerous business and industry bodies, and six days of public hearings in Perth, Bunbury and Canberra were held during October.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Senate inquiry
Written submissions to the inquiry included claims of unfair allocations of gas, inadequate communication of important information during the crisis, and the scale of the impact on individual businesses and industries. The committee was initially expected to report by 13 November 2008. The Committee tabled its 84-page report on 3 December 2008, listing six key recommendations to minimise the impacts and risks of future supply disruption, including developing a comprehensive energy security plan, and changing the methods of allocating remaining supplies during a major disruption.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Senate inquiry
In terms of the macroeconomic impact of the gas crisis, the Committee relied heavily upon State Treasury forecasts provided during its inquiry, including that "the June 2008 disruption in gas supplies... is expected to cost the Western Australian economy around $2 billion in Gross State Product (GSP) terms, with roughly half of this impact in each of the June and September quarters of 2008. This translates to approximately a 0.5 percentage point reduction in estimated GSP growth in 2007-08, from 7.5% at budget-time to 7.0%."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Senate inquiry
The report refers to the Reserve Bank's modelling of the national impact of the crisis, "that the disruption is expected to result in a temporary reduction in national GDP growth of around 0.25 percentage point, spread across the June and September quarters... as national GDP is around a trillion dollars, a 0.25 percentage point represents about $2½ billion, so the Reserve Bank estimate is broadly consistent with that of the Western Australian Treasury."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Senate inquiry
In assessing the state government's response to the crisis, the report recommended that the newly elected state government honour the Carpenter government's pledge on 6 August 2008 to develop an energy security plan. The plan should include possible contingency options, but warned any contingency option that would be of sufficient scope to mitigate significantly the impact of a gas shortage on the scale of that experience after the Varanus Island incident would be very expensive and could present significant technical and environmental challenges."


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Senate inquiry
The inquiry examined the mechanisms and emergency supply protocols established by the WA government to mitigate the effects of the crisis. According to the committee, the protocols were appropriate, and the residential supply "was crucial to ensure that negative health impacts were minimised, particularly as the incident occurred in winter." The Committee said it received submissions that the campaign to reduce household gas consumption "was misplaced as (households) only directly account for around three to five per cent of overall gas consumption." However, the Committee concluded that the campaign was appropriate under the circumstances.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Senate inquiry
The document contained a 15-page dissenting report written by the five Coalition members of the Committee. This report directly criticised the Labor government's lack of a contingency gas supply plan, despite two previous supply disruptions in 2006 and early 2008. The government "ignored these precedents, as well as industry advice, to develop an appropriate contingency response plan to deal with such a crisis and accordingly deserves strong criticism". The government's communication with industry and customers was "sporadic at best", and it should have declared a state of emergency to control gas distribution, rather than leaving distribution to market forces and a bulletin board system.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, Official inquiries, Joint Commonwealth-State inquiry
On 23 December 2008, the State Government formally announced a joint inquiry (funded by the Commonwealth) into the Varanus Island gas disaster. To be set up as a 2-person expert panel inquiry and expected to conclude by April 2009, it will "focus on the effectiveness of the regulatory system and the regulators for upstream petroleum operations and recommend improvements to the existing system." According to the new WA Premier, Colin Barnett, the original inquiry focussed solely on the cause of the explosion, rather than considering surrounding issues. The Premier said that any recommendations arising from the report would ultimately be referred to the Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources (MCMPR) for implementation.


2008 Western Australian gas crisis, 2012 report release
On 24 May 2012, the Western Australian government's minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore tabled in parliament the Bills-Agostini Report, and further public comment has come from lawyers representing Apache in response.


2008 Western Australian state election
The 2008 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council. The incumbent centre-left Labor Party government, in power since the 2001 election and led since 25 January 2006 by Premier Alan Carpenter, was defeated by the centre-right Liberal Party opposition, led by Opposition Leader Colin Barnett since 6 August 2008.


2008 Western Australian state election
The election resulted in a hung parliament with no party gaining a majority. Labor was two seats short of a majority in the expanded legislature. Ultimately, the Liberals were able to form a coalition government with the WA Nationals, supported by three independents. While both parties agreed to National demands that at least 25 percent of mining proceeds go to regional projects, the Nationals ultimately went with the Liberals. According to Nationals leader Brendon Grylls, a Labor-National coalition would have required Green support to get mining legislation passed in the Legislative Council.


2008 Western Australian state election
The coalition agreement gave National Party ministers "the right to exempt [themselves] from Cabinet and vote against an issue on the floor of the Parliament if it's against the wishes of the people [they] represent," an explicit rejection of the pattern of former non-Labor coalition agreements under which the Nationals had been seen as virtual co-owners of Liberal policies.


2008 Western Australian state election
The election was the first to be held since a major electoral redistribution was implemented in 2007. This redistribution involved significant changes to the geographic distribution of parliamentary seats and regions in Western Australia, and brought the state into line with the rest of Australia in adopting one vote one value for the lower house.


2008 Western Australian state election
The election was called earlier than expected by Alan Carpenter, who requested the Governor to dissolve parliament on 7 August 2008.


2008 Western Australian state election, Results, Legislative Assembly
Western Australian state election, 6 September 2008Legislative Assembly << 2005–2013 >>


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Electoral changes
The 2008 election takes place with entirely new boundaries determined in a redistribution finalised on 29 October 2007 by the Western Australian Electoral Commission. Prior to the redistribution, the Electoral Act 1907, which governs elections in the state, specified that the metropolitan region which includes Perth and its suburbs, was to be divided into 34 Assembly districts or 60% of the seats, while the rest of the state was to be divided into 23 or 40% of the seats. However, at the 2006 census, taken on 8 August 2006, 73.76% of Western Australians lived in the metropolitan region. This meant that each member of the Legislative Assembly, as at 30 September 2007, was representing either 28,519 metropolitan voters or 14,551 country voters.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Electoral changes
One vote one value had long been sought by the Labor Party, that party claiming to be disadvantaged by the familiar reality that country constituencies have tended to elect non-Labor members.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Electoral changes
The Burke Labor government (1983–1988), with the conditional support of the National Party, managed to achieve limited reform—through the Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987—in increasing the metropolitan quota from 29 to 34, redesigning the Legislative Council (or Upper House) into a Senate-style body with six uneven multi-member seats filled by a system of STV proportional representation, and creating a permanent, funded Electoral Commission as a body fully independent from Parliament and the executive. Between Burke's retirement from politics in 1988 and Labor's election loss five years later, the government faced a hostile upper house, considerable distractions by way of the WA Inc royal commission and, after 1991, was a minority government unable to achieve further electoral reform.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Electoral changes
Following Labor's win at the 2001 election, the new premier Geoff Gallop and attorney-general Jim McGinty were committed to implementing 'one vote, one value'. By this time, all other states and territories had eliminated electoral malapportionment. Unlike their predecessors, they could count on the support of half of the upper-house members for passage of the electoral legislation but, as the proposed legislation involved constitutional change, an absolute majority of the members was necessary.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Electoral changes
The Government went to the High Court in 2003 to determine whether the Legislative Council president's casting vote could be used to obtain the majority, but the High Court answered that it could not. Change occurred, however, when the Liberal Party, which staunchly opposed the reform, failed to preselect one of their North Metropolitan MLCs, Alan Cadby, in a bid to get Peter Collier into the Legislative Council at the 2005 election. Cadby resigned from the Liberal Party and completed his term as an Independent, consenting to Labor's electoral legislation with some amendments. On 20 May 2005, just before newly elected upper-house members were to take their places, the Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005 (No.1 of 2005) passed.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Electoral changes
The passage of the Electoral Reform (Electoral Funding) Act 2006 into law on 26 October 2006 means that, for the first time, candidates, parties and Legislative Council groups will be able to receive public funding based on their performance in terms of votes at the election as well as a refund of their nomination deposit if they receive over 4% of the primary vote, as is the case in several other states and in federal elections. The rate for the 2008 election has been set at $1.56888 per vote.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Electoral changes
The legislation, which was Attorney-General Jim McGinty's second attempt to introduce the measure, was explicitly based on the 1992 reforms of Queensland's Electoral Act and was intended to improve accountability and increase candidates' immunity, or perceived immunity, from outside influences. Prior to the 2008 election, candidates could receive a refund of their nomination deposit only if they achieved 10% of the total primary vote. Earlier similar legislation had failed in November 2003, despite an in-principle agreement with then opposition leader Colin Barnett, owing to Liberal backbench opposition and a campaign against the proposal by the West Australian newspaper, which termed the measure as a 'poll tax'.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, The electoral system
The Western Australian Legislative Assembly has a total of 59 seats, up from 57 in the last parliament. The last increase in seats, from 55 to 57, occurred before the 1983 election. Since the enactment of the Electoral Act 1907, each seat is filled by a single member selected using instant-runoff preferential voting. In order for a valid vote to be cast, voters must number all candidates on the ballot paper in the order of their preference as with Australian House of Representatives elections.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, The electoral system
At the election, 42 of the seats are located in the metropolitan area, 12 in the Agricultural and South West regions, and 5 in the Mining and Pastoral region in the north and east of the state. Seats in the Mining and Pastoral region are permitted to be under quota on account of their significant geographical size, but all other seats have a quota of 21,350 voters with a maximum variance of 10%.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, The electoral system
The Western Australian Legislative Council, sometimes referred to as the 'upper house', consists of 36 members, with 6 elected from each of 6 multi-member regions (also known as constituencies). The system used for voting is known as Single transferable vote, which is a variant of the proportional representation system. The ballot paper (voting form), traditionally printed on pink coloured paper, is divided into two sections.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, The electoral system
The voter casts a vote in either one of two ways – by writing the numeral "1" on the left hand side corresponding to the party of choice, or by numbering all candidates on the right hand side of the form according to his/her preference. If the voter chooses the first method, the vote is then counted according to the publicly known preference listing for the party chosen by the voter. The same voting system is used for electing members to the Australian Senate.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, The electoral system
Members of the Legislative Council, unlike those in the Legislative Assembly, hold their seats for a fixed term of four years. They take their seats in the house on 22 May following the date of their election. The Legislative Council is not dissolved prior to the end of each four-year term, even if a general election is held several months prior to the end of the term. For this reason, members elected to the Legislative Council in the 2008 election did not take their seats until May 2009.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Counting the votes
More than 100,000 electors (7.5% of the electorate) cast their votes prior to election day, either by post or in person. Checking the eligibility of these votes commences 3 days prior to election day at the Count Centre in Fremantle. After the close of polls at 6:00 pm, ballot boxes are emptied and a provisional count of ordinary votes is conducted at each of the 800 polling places. Preliminary results are telephoned to District and Regional Returning Officers, who forward aggregated results to the Tally Room at ABC's East Perth studios.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Counting the votes
Election night results are provisional for several reasons. Firstly, there is insufficient time to conduct a full distribution of voter preferences in those Legislative Assembly seats that require it. The official count for all Assembly districts does not commence till after the closing date for postal votes which is the Thursday following the election. Secondly, only ticket votes and first-preference votes for candidates on non-ticket ballots for the Legislative Council are counted on election night, providing only a notional distribution for each region. The high proportion of early votes cast in this election along with the large number of absentee votes cast on election day (caused by elector confusion arising from the recent changes to electoral boundaries) was expected to delay the determination of final results, particularly in closely fought seats.


2008 Western Australian state election, Background, Counting the votes
Legislative Council ballot papers and all declaration (absentee and provisional) votes cast on election day are delivered to the Count Centre on Sunday where the official count of these votes continues for 7–10 days. Ticket votes are sorted (ticket/non-ticket/informal) then manually counted, while preferences on non-ticket ballots are entered into a computer database under the scrutiny of party officials. The ticket vote results are added to the full preference results and the final result determined. Finally, all Legislative Assembly votes are officially counted by each District Returning Officer who then declares (announces) the successful candidate for the particular district.


2008 Western Australian state election, Polling
Newspoll polling was conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes normally consist of around 800–900 electors, with the 10 – 14 August poll consisting of 1088 electors, and the 2 – 4 September poll consisting of 1802 electors. The margin of error was around ±3.5 percent, while the 2 – 4 September poll had a declared margin of error of ±2.3 percent.


2008 Western Carolina Catamounts football team
The 2008 Western Carolina Catamounts team represented Western Carolina University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Catamounts were led by first year head coach Dennis Wagner and played their home games at Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium. They are a member of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in SoCon play to finish in eight place.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team
The 2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team represented Western Michigan University in the 2008 NCAA football season. The team was coached by Bill Cubit and played their homes game in Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team
Western Michigan was 9–4 overall and 6–2 in the Mid-American Conference after defeating conference opponents Northern Illinois, Temple, Ohio, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and Toledo, Big Ten Conference member Illinois, Western Athletic Conference member Idaho and Football Championship Subdivision team Tennessee Tech. Western Michigan lost to Nebraska, rival Central Michigan and Ball State. Western Michigan played in the 2008 Texas Bowl, where they fell to Rice on December 30, 2008.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team
Over the course of the 2008 season, the Broncos received votes in the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll, culminating with a top 30 ranking and 9–2 record in week 13. The Broncos no longer received votes after dropping their final two games.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team, 2007 summary
The Broncos finished the 2007 season 5–7 overall and 3–4 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The highlight of the season was the 28–19 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes, a team that finished 5th in the Big Ten Conference.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team, Pre-season
WMU was picked to finish third in the West Division, according to the MAC News Media Association. The Broncos also earned two first place votes and one vote to win the MAC Championship Game. Rival Central Michigan was picked to win the West Division. Bowling Green was selected to win the East Division.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team, Pre-season, Recruiting class
The 2008 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the MAC and #65 overall by Rivals.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team, Game summaries, Nebraska
Nebraska jumped out to a 17–0 lead in the second quarter that Western Michigan could not recover from.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team, Game summaries, Nebraska
WMU quarterback Tim Hiller was 30 of 49 for 342 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Branden Ledbetter caught nine balls for 123 yards and a touchdown. The Broncos were held to eight rushing yards for the game.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team, Game summaries, Northern Illinois
In the Mid-American Conference opening game for both teams, WMU overcame a 19–14 fourth quarter NIU lead with two Tim Hiller touchdown passes in the span of three minutes and six seconds. Hiller completed 21 of 30 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns for the game and running back Brandon West carried the ball 25 times for 175 yards.


2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team, Game summaries, Northern Illinois
NIU was playing without its freshman starting quarterback Chandler Harnish who left the game in the first quarter due to an injury. NIU outgained WMU 439 to 384 in total yards and had possession of the ball for 34:20 opposed to WMU's 25:40 time of possession.