State Rep. Richard Curtis, the La Center Republican who allegedly was the target of an extortion attempt by a man he reportedly had sex with, has resigned his legislative seat.

He sent out this statement via the House Republican caucus:

“Today I submitted my letter of resignation to Governor Gregoire effective immediately. While I believe we've done some good and helped a lot of people during the time I served in the Legislature, events that have recently come to light have hurt a lot of people. I sincerely apologize for any pain my actions may have caused.
“This has been damaging to my family, and I don't want to subject them to any additional pain that might result from carrying out this matter under the scrutiny that comes with holding public office.”

That was preceded a few minutes earlier by this statement from Rep. Richard DeBolt, the House minority leader:

“I am very disappointed by the news reports of the conduct by Rep. Curtis last week in Spokane. After discussing this matter with House Republican leaders, he has submitted his resignation, which we feel is best for everyone involved. The troubling details continue to emerge, however, it has become clear that he can no longer effectively represent the constituents who elected him. We pray that Richard and his family have the strength and support they need to meet the personal challenges they face.”

The Columbian has more here.

We published a 36-page voter guide that was distributed with the newspaper on Oct. 21, and have lots left over.

If you missed the guide or lost it, come by our office and the friendly folks at the front desk will give you one. Our address is 1950 S. State St.

Jean Marie Christenson, a Democrat who ran for the Legislature in 2006, is among the first to announce she’s running again.

She announced last week she’s taking another run at incumbent Rep. Jim McCune, R-Graham, in the 2nd Legislative District.

Christenson, 59, is a personal growth counselor who lives between Rainier and Yelm. Last year, she won 43.5 percent of the vote to McCune’s 56.5 percent.

She said she got a late start last year, and has been told she’ll need an early start and $100,000 to even have a chance at winning a legislative race in 2008.

Her campaign can be contacted at 360-446-5620 or at jeantalk@fairpoint.net.

In one of the stranger rituals of American elections, the officials who count the ballots predict how many people will vote.

This year, Secretary of State Sam Reed says 51 percent of registered voters (as opposed to eligible voters) will vote on or before next Tuesday. Interest in the ballot measures and the campaigns for and against them should boost turnout.

Reed used the prediction to beat the drum, yet again, for vote-by-mail.

And what are voters supposed to make of that prediction? Does it encourage more of them to join in the fun? Does it have any impact at all? Probably not. But they make the prediction and we write stories – and blog items – about it.

For the record, Reed predicted that 34 percent of Washington voters would take part in the first-ever August primary. He shot high - only 28 percent actually took part in a very uninspiring primary.

Spokane police are investigating whether a man tried to blackmail a state legislator from Clark County after reportedly having sex with him.

Court records made public today say state Rep. Richard Curtis, a two-term Republican from La Center, met Cody Castagna at an adult store in Spokane early Friday morning. The two went to Curtis' room at the Davenport Tower Hotel, where he was staying during a gathering of Republican lawmakers.

Curtis has denied having sex with the man. He told police he gave Castagna $100 for gas money.

Here's more of what The Columbian reported today:

However, Detective Mark Burbridge of the Spokane Police Department, in a signed affidavit, concluded that Curtis and Castagna engaged in mutual sexual activities, after which Curtis fell asleep. Burbridge's affadavit is based on interviews with both men.

The affidavit alleges Castagna left the hotel room with Curtis’ wallet. He later called the state lawmaker and offered to return it in exchange for money, Burbridge said in his affidavit.

“Cody Castagna also threatened to publicly expose Richard Curtis’ gay lifestyle to his wife,” the detective wrote. “Richard Curtis said he said he only had $200, which Cody Castagna demanded Richard Curtis give to him. Richard Curtis left an envelope at the front desk of the Davenport Towers Hotel containing the $200.”

Read the rest of the story here.

The Washington Poll asked state voters what they thought of Gov. Chris Gregoire, President George Bush, the state Legislature and Congress.

For Gregoire, 25 percent said they strongly approve of her job performance and 38 percent said they somewhat approve. Generally, those numbers are combined to measure a politician's standing with voters. A year ago, the same poll showed Gregoire with 28 percent strongly approve and 38 percent somewhat approve.

For Bush, 13 percent of state voters said they strongly approve of his performance with 22 percent saying they somewhat approve. Last year, 22 percent of those polled strongly approved and 16 percent somewhat approved.

For the state Legislature: 8 percent strongly approve and 52 percent somewhat approve - nearly identical to last year.

For Congress: 5 percent strongly approve and 34 percent somewhat approve.

The new Washington Poll was released last night and shows that most of the statewide ballot measures – as well as Puget Sound's Prop. 1 – are in the hands of voters who haven't made up their minds.

So if you haven't mailed in your ballot yet, expect to become very popular with the campaigns.

The poll asked 600 voters how they intended to vote. That means the results have a margin of error of 4 percent.

On Initiative 960, which would require two-thirds votes for future tax increases, 41 percent said they were certain to vote yes or were leaning that way. The certain and likely no vote totaled 40 percent. But 18 percent of those polled said they were undecided or didn't know how they would vote.

On the insurance reform measure Referendum 67, a total of 48 percent of voters said they would support, while 31 percent said they would oppose. But only 35 percent of the yes votes said they were certain of their vote, with the rest saying they could change their minds. And 21 percent were still undecided.

Bigger majorities were supporting the Rainy Day fund (61 percent to 17 percent) and the Simple Majority for School Levies measure (59 percent to 31 percent).

The poll provides a less-exact look at the Roads and Transit measure because the sample size is much smaller – only 325 voters were surveyed producing a margin of error of 5.4 percent). The results (43 percent in support and 46 percent opposed) is well within the margin of error, making the issue too close to predict.

Results of The Washington Poll were released tonight.

The poll is a nonpartisan, academic research project sponsored by the University of Washington, Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race & Sexuality.

The poll, conducted each October, shows such things as:

-Referendum 67 has strong support.

-Initiative 960, the Tim Eyman measure, is in a statistical dead heat, with 18 percent undecided.

-The constitutional amendment reducing the threshold for approving school bonds from a supermajority to a simple majority has strong support.

Here's a link to the poll. We'll have more to say tomorrow.

Pierce County voters looking for “pro” and “con” statements in the voters pamphlet to help them sort out the eight charter amendments on the Nov. 6 ballot will mostly be disappointed.

Four of the amendments have neither a pro nor con statement. Three others are lacking one or the other. That leaves just one amendment with both a pro and con statement.

So who’s to blame? County officials are pointing fingers at each other.

County Auditor Pat McCarthy cites a state law requiring “the legislative authority” of a local jurisdiction – in this case, the County Council – to appoint committees to draft voters pamphlet statements for and against ballot measures.

However, the same law states that if the legislative authority fails to appoint such committees, the responsibility falls to the county auditor. And County Council Chairman Terry Lee says the council almost always defers such matters to McCarthy.

In this case, though, it’s worth noting that the council proposed most of the amendments – including the four with no pro or con statement. If the council doesn’t write pro statements for its own amendments, who will?

Opponents of Refendum 67 have smashed the previous record for the amount spent to defeat a statewide ballot measure.

Consumers Against Higher Insurance Rates – which based on the donor list should be called Insurance Companies Against Higher Insurance Rates – has spent $9,136,005 first to put the measure on the ballot and then to defeat it. That easily breaks the record held by those opposed to Initiative 892 which tried to expand non-tribal gambling in 2004. They spent $6,465,664 mostly from tribes that run casinos.

The insurance-backed group has raised $10,752,137 this year.

On the other side are the state's trial lawyers who have spent $1,378,609 and raised $2,731,345.

The two groups have a slight chance to break another state record - the amount spent on both sides of a ballot proposition. They are now second behind the $15,978,861 spent in 2005 by groups for and against Initiative 330 on medical liability reform.

All numbers come from the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Refendum 67 would change the rules for how consumers can sue their insurance company for failure to pay a claim.

My election story this week on the David Curry/Marilyn Strickland race elicited a response from Dean Nielsen, Washington State Director of the Progressive Majority. The story noted that Strickland had received campaign contributions from several sources outside of Washington, including the Progressive Majority. Nielsen wanted me to know his group has a local connection, even though the reporting to the Public Disclosure Commission shows the money came from the other Washington. He wrote:

We’re here, the bank account’s in DC though. Hope all is well.

I replied, asking Nielsen if we can expect to see his group contribute to more Tacoma races. The short answer was "yes."

Here's more of what he said:

=> Read more!

There's a multiple-choice question on the Nov. 6 ballot in Pierce County.

It's part of a package of eight proposed amendments to the county charter. Three amendments seek to tweak or delay the implementation of instant runoff voting (the county now calls it ranked choice voting). That's the system voters approved last year that lets them rank candidates for county offices in order of preference, instead of choosing just one.

But county leaders got hung up over what they perceive as a glitch: the software the county uses allows voters to rank only three candidates. The measure voters approved last year was silent on the number of candidates voters could rank. Some say voters believed they’d be able to rank an unlimited number of candidates.

So the County Council wrote three charter amendments that would:

--Specify that voters can rank only three candidates beginning in 2008.

--Allow voters to rank three candidates in 2008, and more when technology improves.

--Postpone instant runoff voting until 2010 to work out the bugs.

Council Chairman Terry Lee, R-Gig Harbor, told county reporter David Wickert that the council was divided over which solution to adopt. So it sent all three to the voters.

But if voters approve more than one fix, things could get complicated. For example, a majority of voters could approve one of the plans to implement instant runoff voting in 2008, but also approve the proposal to delay it until 2010. Those solutions would be in conflict.

Lee said language in each proposal specifies that the one receiving the most votes would be implemented. But some wonder if it will be that simple.

“It’s not clear to me what happens,” said Kelly Haughton, a financial industry executive and proponent of instant runoff voting. He blogs on it here.

It’s also not clear to County Auditor Pat McCarthy, who is responsible for implementing the new voting system. “We’re going to have to cross that bridge when we come to it,” she said.

Haughton supports the proposal to rank three candidates now and more later. McCarthy said she can live with either proposal to begin instant runoff voting in 2008.
Neither supports the proposal to delay implementing the new system until 2010.

Councilman Dick Muri, R-Steilacoom, proposed the delay. He said the extra two years could give the county time to “get it done right.”

McCarthy said she doesn’t need a delay. She’s confident the new system will be ready for 2008.

“There’s really no reason for the delay,” Haughton said. “The auditor’s office is ready to go.”

From one of our education reporters, Debby Abe:

Richard Semler, superintendent of the Richland School District and a WASL critic, wants to be the state’s next schools chief.

He announced his candidacy for state Superintendent of Public Instruction on Tuesday at the Richland School Board meeting. The seat is currently held by three-term incumbent Terry Bergeson, who has not announced her plans for 2008.

Semler is a 37-year educator who plans to retire from Richland in June 2008. He has led the district since 1997.

“My professional life has been focused on doing what's best for students and teachers,” Semler said in a press release. “I've searched my soul about this and decided that I'm not ready to retire and go out to pasture. My work is not yet complete. I will use my skills in managing people, improving systems and forming partnerships to improve the educational system in Washington state.”

He earlier served as assistant superintendent of the Issaquah School District and superintendent of the Vashon Island School District, the release said. He started his education career as a teacher at the elementary and middle school levels. He earned his doctorate from the University of Washington in 1994.

Semler and the Richland School Board have been lobbying the Legislature for changes in the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test and other aspects of the state assessment system.

“The WASL is expensive to administer. Schools across the state lose many hours of instructional time administering the test,” Semler said. “The results are known months later so the data is not timely and can't be used effectively to guide and plan instruction. And certainly, we shouldn't use the results from one test to determine whether a student graduates from high school. The good news is that there are alternative assessment tools which are more effective than the WASL.”

The Tri-City Herald reports that Semler got a standing ovation from the school board when he announced his campaign.

The Pierce County Democratic Women’s club will meet at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 1 at the Tacoma Elks Club, 1965 S. Union Ave. Linda and Kent Sternhill-Davis will talk about how health care reform and other issues are affected by current campaign finance laws. For more information about the meeting, contact Elizabeth Ogden at elizogden@rainierconnect.com.

Dino Rossi will announce his gubernatorial candidacy during two appearances Thursday:

When: 10:00 a.m.
Where: Issaquah Village Theater, 303 Front Street North

When: 4:30 p.m.
Where: Doubletree Hotel, Salon V, 322 North Spokane Falls Court

A poll of 817 registered voters in the Sound Transit/Regional Transportation Improvement Distict areas of Puget Sound show both sides have a lot of work to do.

The SurveyUSA poll, conducted for KING TV, shows that 37 percent of voters remain undecided. Of those surveyed, 30 percent said they intended to support Proposition 1, 32 percent they would vote no and the rest said they aren't certain how they will vote.

The poll also showed that Sound Transit has a slightly more favorable rating among voters than the state Department of Transportation. Neither, however, are especially popular. Thirty eight percent of voters said they have a favorable opinion of Sound Transit while 24 percent said they thought favorably toward DOT.

Finally, just 25 percent said they felt they are getting their money's worth out of the taxes being spent on the first phase of Sound Transit.

Paula Hammond, the new secretary of the state Department of Transportation, told the Tacoma City Council moments ago that the state must close the 94-year-old bridge for "life safety reasons."

The Stadium High School commons will be the site for Gov. Chris Gregoire's Tacoma town hall meeting set for Nov. 5.

The event, the last in a series of meetings during which the governor responds to questions from residents, will begin at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 and the governor's staff suggests people arrive early.

The meetings are designed to seek public comment on the governor's spending priorities prior to the 2008 session of the state Legislature. Some Republicans have said the meetings instead are taxpayer funded campaign events.

Earlier meetings have been held in Seattle, Bellingham, Yakima and Aberdeen. She'll be in Spokane Oct. 30.

That Draft Dino movement that got underway this week must have really been powerful because Sound Politics is reporting this morning that Rossi is going to declare for governor Thursday. At least it appears that way if a Facebook posting for a campaign related event is a declaration and not an annoucement of a committee to explore forming a steering committee.

OK, so Rossi was probably going to run anyway. And any announcement was likely already planned. But if I was running the Draft Dino website, I might just take credit for it anyway.

Some of you on the Gig Harbor Peninsula may have the same question about the $18 billion Roads and Transit ballot measure, so I'm posting the question and answer here.

John Wollenweber asked: "I live in Gig Harbor and recently received my mail-in ballot. However, Prop 1 was not on it. Don't Peninsula residents get to vote on this measure? I hope this area hasn't been gerrymandered out of the voting process again. Can you shed some light on this?"

Here's the answer: The area west of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was deliberately left out of the Regional Transportation Investment District because of the Gig Harbor delegation in the Legislature.

State Rep. Pat Lantz, then-Rep. Derek Kilmer, and the late Sen. Bob Oke persuaded their colleagues that paying for the new Narrows Bridge was more than enough of a burden, so a law passed in 2006 basically told Pierce, King and Snohomish counties to leave the peninsula alone.

"We're already paying $2 billion in tolls, and the project list (for RTID) had no projects for our side of the bridge," said Kilmer, who replaced Oke in the state Senate. "We were paying our fair share."

So, look on the bright side: You can't vote, but you don't have to pay the new taxes, either. Unless, of course, you still do your shopping on the Tacoma side of the twin bridges. That's where the sales tax would increase from 8.8 percent to 9.4 percent if Proposition 1 passes.

Not that it is really necessary, but for those who think Dino Rossi is really undecided about a second run for governor of Washington, here's something you can do to convince him.

A Lacey woman has created an on-line petition drive to collect signatures of voters who want Rossi to run.

"Why should anybody run for an office if they don't know the strength of support they have?" asked Rebecca Stiles in announcing draftdinorossi.org. "We hope to collect enough signatures to present to Dino Rossi to urge him to commit to running for governor."

Rossi has said he'll decide by December. But he has spent much of the last three years doing everything to prepare for a campaign except say he's preparing for a campaign.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will raise some money for herself and for the state Democratic party tonight during an overnight stay in Seattle.

Clinton will be the big draw at the state party's Warren G. Magnuson Awards. The event begins with a silent auction, then Clinton gives the main speech. It all starts at 5:30 at Benaroya Hall (200 University Street in Seattle).

Clinton's campaign sent out some polling data last week that attempted to show her strength in the West. She is leading her Democratic rival, at least according to the polling, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington (New Mexico apparently favors its governor, Bill Richardson).

Clinton, in case you haven't heard of her, is a U.S. senator from New York.

We're working on a package for publication Sunday about Proposition 1, the regional roads and transit measure on the Nov. 6 ballot.

In a previous post, we gave three examples of how the tax increases would affect households of various income levels.

Below is more info that will be included in the Sunday package - a list showing the cumulative tax collections by Sound Transit and RTID if the measure passes. Note: It'll be a lot prettier on Sunday; a graphic artist is working it up as a chart. But here's a look at the raw data:

This chart shows total actual tax collections in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties through 2007, and projected tax collections if Proposition 1 passes. Projections take into account population growth and inflation for the region and stated policies for the two agencies that have put the joint measure onto the ballot.

Year Taxes raised Notes
1997 $159 million Sound Transit started collecting a 0.4 sales tax and a 0.3 motor vehicle excise tax and rental car tax after voters approved the first phase of light rail, regional bus and commuter train service.
1998 $227 million
1999 $242 million
2000 $271 million
2001 $268 million
2002 $265 million
2003 $270 million
2004 $286 million
2005 $308 million
2006 $332 million
2007 $340 million
2008 $705 million New Prop. 1 taxes take effect.
2009 $986 million
2010 $1.031 billion
2011 $1.079 billion
2012 $1.133 billion
2013 $1.193 billion
2014 $1.254 billion
2015 $1.320 billion
2016 $1.390 billion
2017 $1.461 billion
2018 $1.533 billion
2019 $1.607 billion
2020 $1.687 billion
2021 $1.775 billion
2022 $1.868 billion
2023 $1.965 billion
2024 $2.067 billion
2025 $2.174 billion
2026 $2.289 billion
2027 $2.409 billion Construction ends on Sound Transit and RTID projects

2028 $2.536 billion Sound Transit expects to lower MVET from 1.1 percent to 0.8 percent of vehicle value. It may also scale back some of its remaining taxes. The agency would need to collect at least $542 million in 2028 – and more thereafter – to operate and maintain its light-rail, commuter rail and regional bus services. That’s in addition to the estimated $226 million per year it expects to collect from passenger fares. It also would need money to pay off outstanding loans.

2029 $2.459 billion
2030 $2.590 billion
2031 $2.729 billion
2032 $2.877 billion
2033 $3.033 billion
2034 $3.198 billion
2035 $3.373 billion
2036 $3.555 billion
2037 $3.133 billion RTID expects to pay off all loans and stop collecting its 0.1 percent sales tax and 0.8 percent MVET.

2038 $2.739 billion Tax collections for this year and subsequent years are only for Sound Transit.

2039 $2.987 billion
2040 $3.144 billion

2057 No figures available. Sound Transit expects to pay off the last of the money it plans to borrow to build its transit system. Operating and maintenance costs would continue.

Sources: Sound Transit and the Regional Transportation Investment District for Pierce, King and Snohomish counties.

A reader called today to ask when the Pierce County voter guide will arrive in the mail.

Auditor Pat McCarthy says they're online now. And the print version is in the mail today, so most folks should receive them Friday.

The TNT guide is also online now. A 36-page version will be distributed with Sunday's newspaper.

A quick check of Tacoma City Council candidate Marilyn Strickland's campaign contributions reveals a $200 donation from one Bill S. Kim of Portland. Mr. Kim's employer? Clear Channel.

Clear Channel, you might recall, is suing the City of Tacoma over the city's billboard ordinance. More background here.

So is this contribution evidence of lobbying of a potential City Council member?

Apparently not. Kim, Strickland says, is her cousin. He works for a Portland radio station that's owned by Clear Channel.

It appears that Democratic King County Councilwoman was doing more than praying at Sam Reed's campaign re-election kick off. According to a release sent out by the campaign, Patterson talked up the Republican office holder during a breakfast in Belleuve this morning.

“When I was a State Senator, Sam worked very closely with me to pass critical campaign reform,” said King County Council Member Julia Patterson. “These reforms are now law in-part because of his good work.”

That's a little bit more than Patterson said she was going to do, according to State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz. When told that Patterson appeared to be endorsing Reed, Pelz called her up and was assured that she was simply there as part of a bipartisan prayer group and that she wasn't lending her name to the campaign.

Don Johnson, candidate for Position 3 on the Port of Tacoma Commission, will speak to the Gig Harbor Republican Club at noon Oct. 25 at Harbor Place at Cottesmore, 1016 29th St. NW, Gig Harbor. Lunch is optional and costs $12 per person.

To attend, RSVP to Stan Schneider at gigharborstan@comcast.net or call 253-884-6484.

Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed will kick off his re-election campaign Thursday with a breakfast event at the Bellevue Hilton at 7:30.

Reed, in office since 2001, will be supported by a group of Republican office holders and legends – expected at events such as this. Former governor and U.S. Sen. Dan Evans will be there. So will Attorney General Rob McKenna and King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert.

But the announcement sent out by the campaign included an unusual name – Democrat Julia Patterson, also of the King County Council. She is set to give the invocation.

Gary Smith, a spokesman for the campaign, said Reed is proud to have bipartisan support.

"It's not like it's unique to him to be collaborating with someone from the other party," Smith said. "They've collaborated on election and government issues for a long time." Patterson served on government operations committees in the state Legislature while Reed was Thurston County Auditor.

But Dwight Pelz, chairman of the State Democratic Party, said he spoke to Patterson Wednesday and she told him she is attending as part of a bipartisan prayer group. She will lead a prayer and then leave.

"She is not lending her name to the campaign," Pelz said.

Not that it will matter if Democrats do not find a candidate to challenge Reed. So far there are no prominent Democrats in the race. Nor are there challengers within the Republican Party, despite threats against Reed following the legal dispute over the last governors election.

"Most of that has died down," Smith said.

Looking to get loaded fast? Here’s a new drinking game: every time you hear that “cha-ching!” cash register sound in a NotoProp1.org ad, down a shot.

We count seven “cha-chings” in the latest ad alone, underscoring the group’s contention that the roads and transit measure costs too much and does too little. Among others, the ad quotes King County Executive Ron Sims and the Sierra Club denouncing the roads and transit measure. And it gets its title from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s description of Prop 1: “a stinky mess” (though the ad fails to mention the P-I actually endorsed Prop 1 in the editorial quoted).

You can hear the ad at the organization’s web site. Bottoms up.

Update:
Not to be outdone, Keep Washington Rolling today unveiled its latest commercials in support of Proposition 1. One ad targets Pierce County voters, quoting County Executive (and Sound Transit board chairman) John Ladenburg as saying, “We’re running out of time” to fix traffic congestion. View the ad here.

There's a lot of back-and-forth out there about how much Proposition 1 will cost the average taxpayer. Proponents have their numbers, and foes have their own (which are higher, of course).

So Joe Turner, our state government reporter, decided to do his own math. He constructed three examples using different household incomes, numbers of vehicles and vehicle values.

It'll be published in the print edition on Sunday as part of a front-page package on Proposition 1. But here's an advance look at the cost analysis.

Our assumptions:

Sound Transit has been collecting a 0.4 percent sales tax and a 0.3 percent motor vehicle excise tax for 11 years. Proposition 1 would continue those taxes at least through 2027, and most likely longer. Proposition 1 also would increase those taxes by adding a 0.6 percent sales tax and a 0.8 percent MVET. Those new taxes most likely would continue at least through 2037 and a portion of the new taxes would continue to be collected indefinitely. The combined taxes are a 1 percent sales tax and a 1.1 percent MVET.

Our examples, which were proofed by the state Department of Revenue, show how much you’re already paying in taxes, how much more you’ll pay if Proposition 1 passes and what the combined total will be.

EXAMPLE 1
Household income: $30,000
Number of vehicles: 1 (valued at $5,000)
What you pay to Sound Transit now: $69 a year
New taxes to Sound Transit and RTID: $121 a year
Total taxes: $190 a year

EXAMPLE 2
Household income: $60,000
Number of vehicles: 2 (valued at $15,000 and $5,000)
What you pay to Sound Transit now: $151 a year
New taxes to Sound Transit and RTID: $296 a year
Total taxes: $447 a year

EXAMPLE 3
Household income: $100,000
Number of vehicles: 3 (valued at $30,000, $15,000 and $5,000)
What you pay to Sound Transit now: $275 a year
New taxes to Sound Transit and RTID: $588 a year
Total taxes: $863 a year

SOURCES: Sales taxes are calculated based on the state Department of Revenue’s Washington State Tax Alternatives Model for 2005, which shows how much sales tax a household pays depending on its annual income. Motor vehicle excises taxes are calculated by multiplying the value of a vehicle by the percentage of the tax. For example, the total tax for a $10,000 vehicle would be 1.1 percent times $10,000, or $110.

If you believe the politicians, Calvin Goings at the moment is the only person running for Pierce County executive. And Goings, a Democrat and County Council member from Puyallup, is running hard.

His web site lists scores of endorsements, from U.S. Rep. Adam Smith and Lt. Gov. Brad Owen to a host of local elected officials and unions.

Goings announced his candidacy last December, nearly two years before the November 2008 election. He’s rolled out a series of policy proposals, including reorganizing the county planning, sewer and economic development departments and boosting the number of code enforcement officers.

Goings hopes to set the pace for what could be a busy field.

Fellow county councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, also is running, though he hasn’t made a formal announcement. Expect announcements soon from two other potential candidates: County Auditor Pat McCarthy and Tacoma City Councilman Mike Lonergan.

The yes on EHJR 4204 campaign is touting endorsements from all seven living Washington governors. The measure would allow local school district levies to pass with a majority vote, rather than the 60 percent supermajority required by the state constitution.

Extra credit before you read on. Can you name the seven living governors of Washington in the order they served?

That would be:

Albert Rosellini, 1957 to 1965.

Dan Evans, 1965 to 1977.

John Spellman, 1981 to 1985.

Booth Gardner, 1985 to 1993.

Mike Lowry, 1993 to 1997.

Gary Locke, 1997 to 2005.

Chris Gregoire, 2005 to present.

The simple majority measure needs all the help it can get. Voters have upheld the supermajority requirement more than half a dozen times since 1932.

If you live in Fircrest - and we know a few of you who do - then you can find out more about City Council candidates at a forum this week.

The event will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Fircrest Recreation Center.

Want more information about Proposition 1, the roads and transit ballot measure? Clover Park Technical College will host a forum on the measure at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Proposition 1 asks voters in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties to raise sales and motor vehicle taxes to pay for a mix of road and transit improvements.

Jim Waldo, an attorney at Gordon-Thomas-Honeywell, will speak in favor of the transportation measure. Kemper Freeman, CEO of Kemper Development Co., will speak against it.

Registration begins at 6:30 p.m. The event will be held in the Sharon McGavick Conference Center at Clover Park Technical College, 4500 Steilacoom Blvd., Lakewood.

The event is sponsored by the 28th District Republican Club.

Months after the City Council heard from angry pet owners about potential changes to the city's animal control code, the topic is coming back for discussion at today's study session.

The most controversial element of the earlier proposal is gone: The latest draft no longer would require pet owners to spay or neuter their animals or buy a breeders license as an alternative, even if they don't plan to breed them.

Changes now up for discussion include a ban on roosters (hens are OK), new definitions for dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs, a prohibition on giving away or selling puppies and kittens born to unlicensed mothers, and a new section addressing "problem owners."

Also, the council will consider making it a violation to leave animal waste on private property, unless authorized.

And the city might replace its section on the poisoning of animals with the state law on the same subject. Both the city and state prohibit poisoning animals, but the city code, unlike the RCW, doesn't contain exceptions for rat poison or slug bait.

Assistant city attorney Jon Walker sent this memo to the mayor and council members summarizing the proposed changes.

The controversial Broadway/St. Helens Local Improvement District (LID) is among several items listed on the Tacoma City Council study session agenda tomorrow.

Council members are scheduled to talk about re-bidding the project, which supporters view as a tool to turn an already-buzzing neighborhood into a cohesive urban village.

Re-bidding was one of the options the city identified shortly after the council's surprise rejection of a construction contract put it on hold.

Condo developers Ken Abbott and Blaine Johnson submitted a detailed outline to the mayor and council members late last month, making a case for the LID.

"We feel that the Broadway LID is the best instrument to achieve the urban neighborhood the city has envisioned and consider the end result of the St. Helens LID to be a cornerstone and symbol of how a healthy and vibrant downtown core should be," they wrote.

Several months of intense work culminated this weekend as we produced the online and print versions of our Voter Guide.

In June, I sent questionnaires to more than 140 candidates in 62 contested races for city councils, school boards, park districts, the Port of Tacoma commission and King County prosecutor. I worked with various reporters and editors to tailor the questionnaires to each jurisdiction.

We asked about such issues as traffic in Orting; annexation in Bonney Lake; a Wal-Mart in Fircrest; potholes in Tacoma; development in Ruston; the use of eminent domain by the Port of Tacoma; the search for a schools superintendent in Tacoma; prosecuting gangs in King County; and improving math scores in the Orting, Clover Park and Bethel school districts.

I worked with Aaron Ritchey, one of our Web producers who repeatedly fixed the glitches in the database that's behind the online guide (my thanks again to all of the candidates for their patience). Photo editor Jeremy Harrison helped locate mug shots of each candidate.

We posted the online guide last night, with a link from our home page. The guide features candidates' answers to all of the questions (3-5 issue questions, depending on the race), plus a personal statement.

Then I repackaged the material and sent it to page designer Pat McCoid, who spent the past week assembling it into a 36-page print version. That goes to press today and will be inserted in the Oct. 21 edition of the paper. For space reasons, we only listed three issue questions per race, and we had to exclude the personal statement.

It's a ton of work (I've decided to blame the long hours on the guide for the flu bug I caught last week). But it's a labor of love. I hope voters find it useful between now and Nov. 6.

That same Strategic Vision poll asks Democratic and Republican voters which of the candidates for president would get their support.

Among self-identified Democrats, Hillary Clinton receives 48 percent of the support with Barack Obama well behind at 22 percent. The other candidates were much further behind with John Edwards at 10 percent, Bill Richardson at 5 percent, Joe Biden at 3 percent, Chris Dodd at 1 percent and Dennis Kucinich at 1 percent.

Ten percent of Democrats polled said they were undecided.

On the Republican side, 37 percent of those who said they were Republicans said they favored Rudy Giuliani with 20 percent favoring Fred Thompson, 11 percent naming Mitt Romney and 10 percent John McCain.

The rest of the field looked like this: Mike Huckabee, 4 percent; Ron Paul, 4 percent; Tom Tancredo, 2 percent, Sam Brownback, 1 percent and Duncan Hunter, 1 percent. Ten percent of those polled said they were undecided.

A poll conducted by Strategic Vision of 800 likely voters suggests that the race between Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and Republican challenger Dino Rossi is a statistical tie.

The poll asked between Oct. 5 and 7 which candidate would get their vote if the election were held today. Gregoire was chosen by 47 percent, Rossi by 45 percent and 8 percent said they were undecided.

With a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percent, that means there is no statistical difference between the two results.

The same poll gives Gregoire lukewarm job-approval ratings with 48 percent approving of her performance in office and 44 percent disapproving. And only 29 percent of those sampled think the state is heading in the right direction with 64 percent saying it is heading in the wrong direction.

What do voters think of some other officer holders? U.S. Patty Murray had 54 percent approval, 35 percent disapproval; U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, 50 percent approval to 36 percent disapproval and President George Bush, 20 percent approval to 69 percent disapproval.

The state Legislature? Forty-four percent approve of the job being done in Olympia and 49 percent disapprove.

Ronnie Allen Warren not only will remain on the Nov. 6 ballot for Tacoma City Council, but he also will be able to vote for himself if he wants.

The Pierce County Canvassing Board met yesterday to consider a challenge of Warren's voter registration.

The three-member board decided there wasn't enough evidence to conclude that Warren doesn't live at the South Ash Street address that he claims as his residence, said Pat McCarthy, the Pierce County Auditor and one of the Canvassing Board members.

"The canvassing board ruled, based on the testimony provided, to allow him to maintain his voter registration," McCarthy said.

The challenge, brought by Rachel Bennett, was separate from the legal challenge brought by former Tacoma City Council candidate Donald Powell.

The burden of proof was on Bennett, McCarthy said, and the standard was a "preponderance of evidence," she said.

The other members of the Canvassing Board were Ron Williams from the Pierce County Prosecutor's Office, and Pierce County Councilwoman Barbara Gelman.

UPDATE: From columnist Kathleen Merryman: Tacoma City Council candidate Ronnie Allen Warren showed up in the crowd of 700-plus at the Tacoma Dome Convention Center Wednesday.

It made some sense.

The event, Project Homeless Connect, invited Pierce County’s homeless folks to sort out their needs with service providers from barbers to dentists to mental health and housing pros. Nearly 400 needy people showed up to meet with about 350 providers and volunteers.

Warren bills himself as a street minister, outreach worker and occasional homeless guy.

Turns out, he wasn’t there to give or to receive.

Dressed in a spiffy suit, equipped with campaign lit and accompanied by a handler, he was the there to glad-hand the constituency.

Tacoma City Councilman Tom Stenger sounded a bit like Joe Pesci's character in "Goodfellas" at last night's council meeting.

Part way through his lengthy attack on Proposition 1, the regional roads and transit package on the November ballot, Stenger apparently spotted a woman in the audience who was laughing.

"Excuse me, ma'am, you think this is funny?" Stenger asked.

In the movie, Pesci presses Ray Liotta's character for precise details about his particular type of alleged funny. "I mean, funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh ... What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny."

Stenger has gotten into trouble before for his behavior. But his line of "funny" questioning didn't last nearly as long as the movie version.

Deputy Mayor Rick Talbert, who presided over the meeting, gently nudged him. "Tom," he said.

And Stenger resumed his attack Proposition 1.

The council ended up voting 6-1 to support the proposition. The full story is here.

The Tri-City Herald's Chris Mulick had fun yesterday with a report on state Sen. Derek Kilmer's upcoming fundraiser. Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat, is hosting a "pie-tacular" on Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 at The Inn at Gig Harbor.

If you represent a political action committee or business, you're asked to pay $700. But regular folk can get to know the senator and have some pie for less.

Read more about it in Chris' Olympia Dispatch.

Brad Shannon, a reporter with our sister paper The Olympian, reports on the dispute over a television ad promoting Referendum 67's consumer protections against unfair decisions by insurance companies.

The measure on the Nov. 6 ballot would let consumers sue insurers for up to three times their actual damages, plus legal costs, if insurers unreasonably deny claims.

Shannon reports:

The ad, which began running late last month, features the daughter of former Puyallup firefighter David Potter. He died in 2006 after insurance companies delayed coverage of a needed treatment for leukemia, the ad says.

“It was curable. But the insurance company didn’t want to pay for the expensive treatment. They kept delaying until he died. That’s when they finally approved the treatment,” Tiffany Forslund says in the ad.

Other Approve 67 campaign documents say the city and insurers should have paid a $100,000 down payment on the procedures.

The allegations reflect claims the family has made in a lawsuit against Puyallup and insurers, but representatives of the city dispute the lawsuit and the ad.

“It’s absolutely not true,” lawyer Elizabeth McIntyre, who represents Puyallup in the Potter lawsuit, said this week.

=> Read more!

A trial is scheduled at 9 a.m. tomorrow in the challenge of Ronnie Allen Warren's candidacy. Former Tacoma City Council Donald Powell is questioning whether Warren actually lives within the boundaries of the Tacoma council district he seeks to represent. Previous coverage here.

But Powell isn't sure what will happen. The sheriff's department couldn't find Warren to serve him with papers. A deputy tried and failed to find him at the apartment on South 13th Street where Warren told The News Tribune he's lived for the last six months, according to the sheriff's return of service. The deputy didn't have time to look for Warren at the house on South Fawcett Avenue where Powell suspects Warren has been staying, the document states.

There was trouble with subpoenas for two other parties, too. A lawyer for the U.S. Postal Service told Powell he should have served a subpoena to the Station Master, not the Postmaster, to testify regarding the address Warren used to obtain his post office box. And the sheriff's department wouldn't serve papers to Qwest because their corporate registered agent is located in Thurston County. Powell wants phone company records showing a physical address associated with Warren's telephone number.

UPDATE: Warren will remain a candidate on the Nov. 6 ballot. Judge Lisa Worswick ruled this morning that Powell's challenge came too late. Check out the story here.

There are two events coming up for voters in the Federal Way and Puyallup areas. Here’s what you need to know:

FEDERAL WAY: A rally and candidate forum will be held Thursday.

The rally will be held to support the constitutional measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that would reduce the number of “yes” votes required to approve a school levy from 60 percent to a simple majority. The rally will begin at 6:15 p.m. and will be attended by local legislators, the head of the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce and the superintendent of Federal Way schools.

The rally will be followed at 6:45 p.m. by a forum for Federal Way school board candidates.

The events will be held in Decatur High School’s Performing Arts Center, 2800 SW 320th St.

The events are scheduled to end at 8:30 p.m. Both are sponsored by Citizens for Federal Way Schools, a group that campaigns for local levies and bonds. More information is available at www.yesforfwschools.org.

PUYALLUP: Candidates for the Puyallup City Council, Puyallup School District and the Port of Tacoma commission are scheduled to participate in a candidate forum on Oct. 15.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Puyallup Public Library.

The forum will be hosted by the 25th District Republican Club in lieu of its regular monthly meeting.

For more information, contact Bob Neilson at 253-845-0038 or rhneilson@earthlink.net.

They made the decision in March, well before he was arrested in a Minnesota airport men's room. But that doesn't mean there aren't some red faces now that U.S. Sen. Larry Craig has agreed to accept his induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame at a ceremony this Saturday.

Here is Spokesman-Review reporter Meghann M. Cuniff's article:

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig plans to attend an Oct. 13 ceremony in Boise at which he and 11 other Idaho residents will be inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame.

The nonprofit organization that maintains the hall of fame picked Craig in March, months before the Republican senator's well-publicized arrest and guilty plea to disorderly conduct, stemming from a sex-solicitation sting in an airport men's bathroom.

"Larry Craig has made a great contribution to Idaho over the period of 20-some years," said Harry Magnuson, a Wallace businessman and board director for the hall of fame. "At the time it was considered, this other matter had not come up."

But some local Republicans say the honor is inappropriate in light of Craig’s June 11 arrest by an undercover police officer in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

"They ought to change their minds, whoever they are," Duane Rasmussen, president of the North Idaho Pachyderm Club, said about the hall of fame induction. "Sen. Larry Craig is an embarrassment to all of Idaho, and he needs to resign from office."

About 100 people were inducted from 1995 to 2002, including Chief Joseph, Coeur d'Alene writer and historian Louise Shadduck, World War II fighter ace Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, and local hospitality magnates Duane Hagadone and Bob Templin.

Gov. Butch Otter, Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, Boise State University football coach Chris Petersen, and John Grossenbacher, director of the Idaho National Laboratory nuclear and energy research center, are among those to be inducted alongside Craig.

King County Executive Ron Sims made few friends in state and local government when he came out against Proposition 1, the combined transit and road funding package.

Sims, a longtime supporter of rail and transit, said the package doesn't do enough fast enough. And the expense is too much, given the benefits that will result. The reversal angered officials from Sound Transit head Joni Earl to Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg.

But an e-mail between two Sims staff members – staff chief Kurt Triplett and federal relations advisor Maura Brueger – shows they were worried that Sims damaged relations with federal office holders as well. (USDOT is the federal Department of Transportation).

From: Brueger, Maura
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 3:34 PM
To: Triplet, Kurt
Subject: RE: MURRAY ISSUE – FW: Opinion: – The roads-and-transit plan: so much cost to do so little – Seattle Times Newspaper

Still too soon to know how high a price he will pay for his honesty. Being right is not always enough!

I am pissed and disappointed (not at him personally, of course) because we have positioned him to do remarkable things over the next year or two. This has impacts potentially far beyond the RTID/ST vote.

Note, that USDOT noticed this and had concerns. Ron Sims without a supportive Senator Murray has only marginal value to them in the long-run.

Morning is over and now we move forward and work to marginalize the long-term impacts.

Amid all the excitement of yesterday's announcement from Gov. Gregoire about the Puget Sound Partnership locating its offices in Tacoma was one curiosity. The official press release put out by the governor's office referred to Tacoma as a satellite office.

OLYMPIA – Governor Chris Gregoire today announced that the Puget Sound Partnership will open an office in the City of Tacoma’s Urban Waters marine research center on Thea Foss Waterway. The satellite office will operate in close proximity to Tacoma’s environmental services division labs and UW-Tacoma research labs.

Satellite? Won't the Tacoma office include the agency's executive director, and some 30 people?

Yes and yes.

But it appears officials are tip-toeing around a provision of the state constitution that requires the headquarters of state agencies to locate in the capitol. That usually means Olympia, but Tumwater and Lacey qualify, too.

Thus, the "headquarters" of the Puget Sound Partnership will likely remain in Olympia. But only on paper. In this case, the satellite will be larger than the mother ship.

It was quite a show at City Hall this morning with dozens of dignitaries and even a few regular folk crowded into the ninth floor Visibility Center to hear an announcement that Tacoma would be the main office for the new Puget Sound Partnership.

It wasn't exactly news. First, the worst-kept secret in town had been talked about for weeks if not months. Tacoma had lobbied heavily for the agency charged with identifying and resolving water quality problems with the Sound. It is part of the proposed Urban Waters which will hold both a University of Washington Tacoma research center and the city's environmental labs.

Second, it is hard to get that many people to show up at mid-day event without word getting out.

And third, Gov. Chris Gregoire herself mentioned the idea as a strong possibility months ago.

Still, many were shocked that the story was in the morning's newspaper and had been posted on its web page the day before.

"If this is an announcement, what's on the front page this morning?" Gregoire tasked Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma.

We think she was joking. But higher ups in city hall aren't so sure and feared that the leak – actually cascade – of information might get them in dutch with the governor.

No word yet whether the mayor and City Manager Eric Anderson have appointed plumbers to sleuth out the leak.

It was toward the end of Thursday's annoucement that the state's new Puget Sound Partnership would be headquartered at Tacoma's Urban Waters facility on Foss Waterway. Gov. Chris Gregoire asked if there were any questions from the three or four newsies jammed in among the dozens of dignitaries and near-dignitaries.

There were none. Either Gregoire had done an excellent job explaining the decision to put the office in Tacoma or the reporters couldn't see her through the crowd in one of the city's smallest conference rooms.

Finally, perhaps to break the silence or perhaps because he's curious, state Rep. Dennis Flannigan asked: "Are you running?" It was a play on recent interchanges between the governor and reporters about her future campaign plans.

Nearly everyone laughed. Gregoire did not answer.

The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a state law that said candidates cannot tell blatant lies about their opponents because that law infringed on free speech, and therefore is unconstitutional.

But it was a close call. The ruling was 5-4.

The upshot is that candidates can still tell lies about their campaign opponents without fear of being punished by the state. And they’re still free to lie about themselves by inflating their resumes or exaggerating educational achievements, military service, medals or other ways they might want to deceive voters.

The Supreme Court case stemmed from the 2002 election between state Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, and Marilou Rickert, a Green Party candidate who was soundly beaten by Sheldon. Rickert was fined $1,000 by the state Public Disclosure Commission because a 1999 law said candidates could not circulate political advertising that contained a false statement of material fact about another candidate for public office.

Rickert had said Sheldon voted to close the Mission Creek youth camp, which at the time was a medium security prison for teenagers. Rickert had described it as a home for developmentally disabled people.

In fact, Sheldon had done the opposite. He voted against the budget bill that cut funding for Mission Creek. The lack of funding led to its closure.

Justice Jim Johnson, who wrote the majority opinion, said the court welcomed the opportunity to reaffirm its previous rulings that “state censorship is not allowed” and that free speech and robust debate cannot thrive if government steps in.

He was joined by justices Susan Owens, Charles Johnson, Gerry Alexander and Richard Sanders.

Preserving the integrity of the election process, as alleged by the PDC’s lawyers, was not a good enough reason for the state to referee speech in political campaigns, Jim Johnson said.

=> Read more!

Randy Lewis, Tacoma's government relations officer, offered a preview Tuesday of what Tacoma will likely request next year of the state and federal governments.

Most of the discussion regarding Tacoma's federal legislative priorities focused on transportation and public safety. Tacoma wants:

• $2 million in federal transportation funds for a hoped-for $90 million, 3,000 vehicle parking garage near the Tacoma Dome that's could figure into a future streetcar system.

• $5 million in federal bridge replacement funds for work on the Murray Morgan Bridge.

• $5 million for track upgrades and signal improvements for the city's Mountain Division Rail Line.

• $2 million in Homeland Security funds to restore Fire Station 5 on Ruston Way.

Councilman Mike Lonergan questioned whether the city should ask for money for the Ruston Way fire station now that it's apparent it will cost $6 million to fix the building. Even if Tacoma got $2 million, it might not be prepared to follow through with a renovation, he said.

But Mayor Bill Baarsma, who envisions the building become a public safety center with police, fire and Coast Guard presence, said recent talks suggest there might be private sector sources willing to help with funding. Baarsma didn't disclose the names of potential sources, and not all of the council members seemed to know about the talks.

Problems along Ruston Way appear to be driving the interest. The private sector is interested in a police presence to stabilize the area, Baarsma said.

"I'm more optimistic than I've ever been," he said.

Lewis told council members not to expect too much from the state Legislature, noting that it's a short 60-day session and Gov. Gregoire is facing re-election along with all of the House and roughly half of the Senate.

Here are the draft state legislative priorities.

Tomorrow morning, State Auditor Brian Sonntag is releasing his agency’s audit of Sound Transit’s performance since it was created. Let’s call it “Sound Transit, the first 10 years.”

It is likely to detail how the three-county agency failed to deliver on what it promised voters back in 1996, when voters approved what was then a $4 billion project to build light rail from the University District south past Sea-Tac Airport and have that 21-mile portion finished by 2006.

(The first 16-mile segment won’t start operating until sometime in 2009.)

Bad timing if you’re in the camp that’s now asking voters to approve an $18 billion expansion of the light rail line, including streets, roads and highways. (We’ll call that “Sound Transit, the next 20 years and beyond.”)

Good timing if you’re Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman, an opponent of Proposition 1. Freeman has been beating Sound Transit over the head with the agency’s many failings at debates on its new combined ballot measure with the Regional Transportation Investment District in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties.

“Every single thing they’ve told us has turned out not to be true,” Freeman said at a recent debate before Seattle City Club.

If you want Sonntag’s audit to show up in your e-mail box tomorrow morning, go to www.sao.wa.gov and click on the Performance Audit button, and sign up on the ListServ.

Even worse for Sound Transit: The agency is required to hold a public hearing on the audit within 30 days of its release. That would be no later than Nov. 4, two days before the election on RTID-Sound Transit’s latest money request.

The Tacoma city clerk's office issued a notice this morning that Gov. Chris Gregoire will be giving an "update on local issues" Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at Tacoma City Hall.

Sources tell us the "update on local issues" will include an announcement that the recently formed Puget Sound Partnership intends to locate its offices at the Urban Waters facility planned for the Thea Foss Waterway.

Tacoma has been lobbying to land the agency, which would bring roughly 32 staff jobs to the east side of the Foss. It would also add some heft to a lab that boosters hope will become a world-class marine research facility. Gregoire hinted in April that Tacoma could become the agency's home.

In July, the University of Washington Tacoma announced the selection of the first Port of Tacoma Chair. The professor, Joel Baker, will serve as a science adviser to Urban Waters, officials said.

David Dicks, son of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, was appointed as the first executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership in August.

From Les Blumental in Washington, D.C.

Less than an hour after the President Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have expanded a government-run children’s health care program, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., was on the Senate floor challenging the president’s action.

“American families are being squeezed out of health insurance, and the president of the United States is turning a deaf ear to the crying health care needs of children in America,” Cantwell said. “The president should not be so heartless when it comes to the children of America.”

The bill would provide an additional $35 billion over five years for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Cantwell has said the additional federal funding coupled with new state initiatives could cut by more than half the number of children in Washington state who are currently uninsured. In addition, the measure would eliminate a provision in the existing law which has cost Washington state more than $200 million over the past 10 years because it has aggressively moved to insure children.

The veto is the fourth by Bush since he took office. The SCHIP bill passed with enough votes in the Senate to override a veto. But the House vote fell roughly 20 short of that needed to override.

Bush has said the expansion of SCHIP was the first step toward government-run health care and families would drop their private insurance in order to sign up for the government plan.
Cantwell countered that a family of four with an income of $41,000 would pay roughly a third of their income for health insurance.

Since 2001, health insurance premiums have risen 79 percent, while wages grew only 19 percent, the senator said.
Video of Cantwell’s floor speech can be found here.

Brad Chatfield, Pierce County Council spokesman, reports that the council voted 5-0 today to create a citizens salary commission. The panel will be in charge of setting salaries for council members.

The commission's decisions on council pay raises will take effect without council action. Council members won't receive a raise until after going through an election cycle.

The commission also will recommend raises for county executive, assessor-treasurer, auditor and sheriff. Those raises will require council approval.

Six of the 10 members of the commission will be chosen at random from among registered Pierce County voters. The remaining four will be appointed by the county executive and confirmed by a majority of the council.

"Anytime you can take politicians out of the process of setting their own salaries is a good thing," said Councilman Calvin Goings, the Puyallup Democrat who developed the measure after the council approved 21 percent pay raises last year.

Candidates for the University Place City Council are scheduled to debate Oct. 18 at Curtis High School.

Here's the lineup:

Position 2: Incumbent Debbie Klosowski versus challenger Carl Mollnow.

Position 6: Mayor Gerald Gehring versus challenger Rose Ehart.

Position 7: Incumbent Jean Brooks versus challenger Denise McCluskey.

The debate is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The school is located at 8425 40th Street W., University Place.

The News Tribune is hosting a public forum next week on Proposition 1, the measure that would increase sales and vehicle taxes to raise billions for highways, rail and bus systems, if approved by voters on Nov. 6.

This is your chance to ask questions of people representing organizations on both sides of the issue.

Here are the panelists:

--Shawn Bunney, Pierce County councilman and chairman of the Regional Transportation Investment District, which developed the roads portion of the plan

--Tim Gould, chairman of the regional Sierra Club’s transportation committee

--David Graybill, president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce

--Jim Horn, chairman of the Eastside Transportation Association Board

--John Ladenburg, Pierce County executive and chairman of Sound Transit, which developed the mass-transit portion of the plan

The public is welcome. The forum will be held Wednesday, Oct. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. in The News Tribune Baker Community Room, 1950 S. State St., Tacoma. (Doors open at 6:30; cookies and coffee will be provided.)

If you can’t make it, post a question on the “leave a comment” section on this blog item and we’ll add it to the list of things to talk about.

If approved, Pierce County projects in the roads and transit plan include: Rebuilding the I-5 interchange at the Tacoma Mall, starting construction of the cross-base highway, extending Highway 167 between Puyallup and the Port of Tacoma, improving Highway 162 and Highway 410, and extending light rail from Sea-Tac to Tacoma.

You can find the campaign supporting the measure (“Keep WA Rolling”) here. You can find the “No to Prop 1” campaign here.

Councilwoman Julie Anderson, a Sound Transit board member, asked for the resolution supporting Proposition 1, the big transportation package that's on the ballot in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties.

Councilman Tom Stenger asked for the resolution opposing Proposition 1.

It will be up to the nine-member council to decide Tuesday which one to approve. Or not.

It's an unusual scenario for the Tacoma City Council. Council members sometimes take positions on issues outside of their jurisdiction, but Randy Lewis, the city's government relations officer, can't recall a time when opposing resolutions have come before the council on the same agenda.

Debate over the proposition intensified last week when King County Executive Ron Sims -- and former Sound Transit chairman -- came out against it. Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, current Sound Transit chairman -- responded in Sunday's News Tribune.

Anderson's resolution will come up for a vote first because she got her request in first, Lewis said. Depending on the vote, Stenger's resolution could become moot.

UPDATE: There's a good chance that both resolutions will be postponed for at least one week, and possibly two.

Mayor Bill Baarsma said Monday that council members recently sought answers from Sound Transit on a variety of questions following a discussion of the planned Sounder crossing of Pacific Avenue. Council members were surprised and upset to learn that Sound Transit is looking into the possibility of an at-grade crossing at Pacific Avenue.

The answers are apparently coming soon, and council members want to wait to digest them before voting on the resolutions, Baarsma said.

Councilman Jake Fey confirmed that the resolutions on Proposition 1 probably won't be voted on Tuesday.

The Pacific Avenue crossing isn't part the roads and transit package. But some council members are linking the issues, in part because of their frustration with Sound Transit over the Pacific Avenue crossing.

The (Vancouver) Columbian reports that Rep. Brian Baird, who's taking a lot of heat for changing his position on the war, has signed onto a bipartisan compact intended to steer the U.S. House away from partisan infighting on the Iraq war.

Twenty-eight members of the House, 14 from each party, have signed the agreement. It commits them to eight principles, including no immediate cutoff of funding for U.S. troops engaged in combat and insistence on a "clearly defined and measurable mission" for continued U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

Baird says he harbors no illusion that Congress as a whole will be able to rise above partisan debate over how to deal with the war, especially in an election year.

"There's no likelihood that there will be bipartisan agreement on the big picture," the Vancouver Democrat said in an interview Thursday. "But we're trying to create some space around which bipartisanship could occur."

Read the full story here.