The Washington Supreme Court is asking the Legislature to approve a $90 surcharge on a court filing fee to help provide legal help for the poor in civil cases, Chief Justice Gerry Alexander said Wednesday. "Some might say, why should we support this when we face tough financial times?" Alexander asked in his State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the Legislature. "It seems to me in America, where we rejoice in the fact that we are a nation devoted to the rule of law, we should not ration access to justice." The recommendation comes from the court's Task Force on Civil Equal Justice Funding, created in 2001 to look for ways to cope with the sparse amount of money available for such cases. As the task force was studying the issue, $900,000 was cut from state support for civil equal justice services. That prompted the state's two main legal services providers - Columbia Legal Services and Northwest Justice Project - to cut their staffs, Alexander said. The change would increase the cost of filing a lawsuit in Superior Court to $200. The total fee would be split, with 54 percent going to counties and 46 percent going to the state for a newly created equal justice account. Alexander also requested money for five additional Superior Court judgeships and one additional District Court judgeships, arguing that increased caseloads require more judges. Two of the Superior Court judges and the District Court judge would be in Clark County, with one Superior Court judge added in the joint district that serves Benton and Franklin counties and one each in Kittitas and Kitsap counties.
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QUESTION: What did Gerry Alexander ask in his State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the Legislature?

In the popular mind, the history of Hong Kong, long the entryway to China for Westerners, begins in 1841 with the British occupation of the territory. However, it would be wrong to dismiss the long history of the region itself. Archaeologists today are working to uncover Hong Kong's past, which stretches back thousands of years. You can get a glimpse into that past at Lei Cheng Uk Museum's 1,600-year-old burial vault on the mainland just north of Kowloon. In 1992, when construction of the airport on Chek Lap Kok was begun, a 2,000-year-old village, Pak Mong, was discovered, complete with artifacts that indicated a sophisticated rural society. An even older Stone Age site was discovered on Lamma Island in 1996. While Hong Kong remained a relative backwater in early days, nearby Guangzhou (Canton) was developing into a great trading city with connections in India and the Middle East. By a.d. 900, the Hong Kong islands had become a lair for pirates preying on the shipping in the Pearl River Delta and causing a major headache for burgeoning Guangzhou; small bands of pirates were still operating into the early years of the 20th century. In the meantime, the mainland area was being settled by incomers, the "Five Great Clans": Tang, Hau, Pang, Liu, and Man. First to arrive was the Tang clan, which established a number of walled villages in the New Territories that still exist today. You can visit Kat Hing Wai and Lo Wai, villages with their walls still intact. Adjacent to Lo Wai is the Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall, built in the 16th century, which is still the center of clan activities. The first Europeans to arrive in the Pearl River Delta were the Portuguese, who settled in Macau in 1557 and for several centuries had a monopoly on trade between Asia, Europe, and South America. As Macau developed into the greatest port in the East, it also became a base for Jesuit missionaries; it was later a haven for persecuted Japanese Christians. While Christianity was not a great success in China, it made local headway, evidenced today by the numerous Catholic churches in Macau's historic center. Intermarriage with the local Chinese created a community of Macanese, whose culture can still be seen in Macau's architecture and cuisine.
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QUESTION: In 900 ad, present-day Canton was beset by what sort of danger?

Physical properties include the state of matter. We know these states as solid, liquid, or gas. Properties can also include color and odor. For example, oxygen is a gas. It is a major part of the air we breathe. It is colorless and odorless. Chlorine is also a gas. In contrast to oxygen, chlorine is greenish in color. It has a strong, sharp odor. Have you ever smelled cleaning products used around your home? If so, you have probably smelled chlorine. Another place you might smell chlorine is at a public swimming pool. The chlorine is used to kill bacteria that may grow in the water. Other physical properties include hardness, freezing, and boiling points. Some substances have the ability to dissolve in other substances. Some substances cannot be dissolved. For example, salt easily dissolves in water. Oil does not dissolve in water.
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QUESTION: What do physical properties include?

A stranger in town meets pretty young Susan Martinez De La Cruz and accompanies her to a barbecue , where wealthy Jason Carberry is saying a few words for the recently departed Robin Randall , a citizen who got shot . Jason objects to the stranger's presence , being Susan's guardian and protective of her . He challenges him to a shootout , but the stranger pulls his pistol before Jason's can even clear the holster . Calaveras Kate , a saloon singer who's in love with Jason , is relieved when the stranger declines to pull the trigger . Rafael Moreno suddenly rides into town and picks a fight with the stranger . Their brawl continues until the arrival of Judge Wallace Wintrop and his niece , Sheila , who have come to town from back East and deplore all this random violence out West . The stranger is recognized as Reb Randall , the dead man's brother . He is looking for the killer , who could be Rafael , or could be Jason , or could even be Billy Buckett , the coward of the county . The women hold their breath to see if the men they love will survive .
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QUESTION:
When Jason challenges the stranger who is relieved at the end and for what reason?