Al Franken will win Norm Coleman’s seat and become the next senator from Minnesota. Yet the Gopher State Senate saga drags on, and it is obvious that many non-Minnesota GOP want it to continue all the way through a U.S. Supreme Court appeal.

To review: Al Franken, the comedian turned politician, has maintained a razor-thin margin of victory (right now it stands at 300-plus votes) throughout five months, three recounts and two court challenges.

When Franken wins this latest vote, Norm Coleman will immediately ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to order yet another recount, this time using a larger pool of uncounted absentee ballots. If Coleman loses this appeal, or if the appeal produces too few votes, he ought to concede.

But he may not.

=> Read more!

This editorial will appear in Thursday's print edition:

Closed-door talks about a coal-fired plant’s pollution may reveal an unforeseen effect of an otherwise well-intentioned law.

The revelation that Gov. Chris Gregoire’s advisers have secretly struck a deal with the owners of the state’s only coal-fired power plant has sparked concern among more than environmentalists.

Open government advocates are also justifiably troubled by what could be an unintended consequence of a 2005 law intended to make mediation a more attractive option.

=> Read more!

This editorial will appear in tomorrow's print edition.

For $1.8 million, the region could provide considerable relief to long-suffering Puyallup drivers.

If there’s a street more plagued with congestion than Meridian Avenue, we’ve haven’t seen it. At rush hour, cars crawl down it like a herd of sloths.

Much could be done to fix the problem. For starters, the Puget Sound Regional Council – which disburses federal highway money – ought to fund a proposed Intelligent Traffic System along Meridian through the entire city of Puyallup.

ITS, as it’s called, employs modern information technology to optimize the movement of traffic on busy corridors. It has three major elements: smart signs, smart signal controls and smart cameras.

The signs tell drivers, in real time, what’s happening on the road ahead. If there’s an accident or other obstruction, they can suggest alternate routes. The cameras, spaced regularly along the road, display traffic in real time – another way to anticipate traffic conditions. The state Department of Transportation uses both on the busier stretches of the state’s highways.

=> Read more!

Tacoma's downtown library has had its share of problems from homeless, mentally ill people using it as a day shelter. It doesn't seem to be alone:

People with Mental Illnesses May Pose a Greater Threat to the Future of Libraries Than the Internet, Treatment Advocacy Center Study Finds

ARLINGTON, Va.—People with untreated severe mental illnesses may pose a greater risk to the future of America’s public libraries than does the invention of the Internet, according to a new survey released in the March/April edition of American Libraries, the journal of the American Library Association.

The survey of 1,300 public libraries finds that 9 out of 10 library staff members said that patrons with a mental illness have disturbed or affected the use of the library by other people, with an almost equal number (85 percent) saying they have had to call the police as a result.

"Our nation’s libraries are turning into daytime shelters for people with severe mental illness who need to be in treatment," said lead study author E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., founder of the nonprofit Treatment Advocacy Center and Executive Director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute."The fact that libraries remain a safe haven from violence and life on the streets for people with mental illness is a sad commentary.Doing so devalues human life and the importance of libraries in our communities."

=> Read more!

In case you haven’t heard, we Americans have all been invited to a tea party, yes, a tea party, but before you scramble off to your bedroom muttering “whatever shall I wear,” know this: It ain’t your Nana’s tea party. This is a tea party served up Revolutionary style, circa 1773.

It’s called a “Tea Party Protest,” or TPP, and this incarnation began when CNBC TV personality Rick Santelli ranted on camera about the “bankrupt liberal agenda” and asked how many Americans wanted to bailout “loser” homeowners.

Known on You Tube as “the rant of the year,” Rick Santelli either “captured the mood of the country” or went for “cheap arrogant populism.” It all depends on whom you ask.

On Feb.27th of this year, the first of these TPPs popped up around the country. One source cites an estimated 30,000 were in attendance, but the gatherings went largely unnoticed. Some blame the biased liberal media for the omission; others say, “We just thought it was a Leonard Skynard concert.”

The next TPPs are scheduled for next Wednesday April 15th, which as it happens is tax day.

=> Read more!

Contrary to today's Viewpoint by conservative Dick Davis, state Sen. Rosa Franklin, D-Tacoma, thinks an income tax will happen in Washington. She introduces an income tax bill just about every session, and this year is no exception.

This Viewpoint will run in the print edition Thursday.

It is inevitable that we will have
a state income tax

By Sen. Rosa Franklin
When it comes to our state tax system, many of us here in Washington behave like someone who needs dental care but is afraid to see a dentist.

You know what I’m talking about — the folks who ignore their pain for weeks and months until their teeth hurt so much there’s no choice but to finally go to the dentist. And by then the damage is far worse than if it had been attended to it early, and the cost is far more expensive. Instead of using their heads, they base their choices on emotion and fear.

We’re doing the same thing today with our state tax system. And just like those of us too scared to make the smart choice with our teeth, we’re going to pay for it. In fact, we’re paying for it already in budget cuts to our schools and social services, health care and much more.

Our current tax structure was developed more than a century ago for an economy based on agriculture, manufacturing and local commerce. It was appropriate then and for many decades afterward, but over time it has become less and less appropriate — and adequate
— for the needs of our modern economy.

=> Read more!