As we reported on Friday (with the help of The Olympian's Brad Shannon), it's looking more and more likely that the Legislature will convene a special session next week to reinstate the property tax limit recently struck down by the Washington Supreme Court.

The AP's Rachel La Corte talked to House Speaker Frank Chopp about it today. From her report:

Before going into a meeting with Gov. Chris Gregoire, Chopp said he expected the governor to call a special session. In preparation, Chopp told The Associated Press he’s been polling majority House Democrats about keeping the property tax cap at 1 percent and “generally, people were supportive.”

“Our intent is to go in there and reinstate it,” he said. “I believe the voters knew what they were doing. The voters were clear about their decision. We should respect that.”

Gregoire has kept open the possibility of a special session to deal with the 1 percent property tax cap, which she supports. On Monday morning, Gregoire’s legislative director said no decision had been made about calling lawmakers into a special session.

And in case you missed it, Peter Callaghan's Sunday column explained what's going on.

Dino Rossi's campaign apologized today for a misleading fundraising report.

The campaign had implied that Rossi raised more than $570,000 in the nine days after kicking off his 2008 campaign for governor last month.

In reality, Rossi had been collecting campaign donations for nearly two weeks before he formally announced his second run against Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire. It's an impressive start, but not as impressive as the campaign was happy to let everyone believe.

The problems with Rossi’s Nov. 8 fundraising statement were first raised today by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Without specifically saying so, Rossi left the impression last week that he raised money more quickly following his announcement than he actually had.

The AP pursued that today.

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Earlier this month Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg leveled a series of charges against the County Council, saying certain members were playing politics with Prometa (read his full comments here).

Here’s a scorecard on the executive’s claims. His complaints about the council’s failure to give public notice about its decision to suspend Prometa funding are on target. But his most inflammatory accusation is demonstrably false.

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The courts have ruled that government cannot regulate the placement of campaign signs in public rights of way. That means the only restraint on the use of yard signs is the judgment of the candidates themselves.

But what if they show bad judgment and no restraint? What if they decide to put them up not months before the election but a full year? Then they start a competition among other candidates to do the same and test the patience of voters who aren't thrilled by what many call litter on a stick.

So what is Calvin Goings thinking when he puts signs up in the rights of way 11 1/2 months before the next election? I saw them on Schuster Parkway, Union Avenue and N. 21st Street under the power lines.

Do we really have to put up with year-round yard signs?

Before Goings' rivals for Pierce County Executive get an idea to match Goings sign-for-sign, Goings needs to show some restraint and show some respect for voters and neighbors and take down his signs until summer at least.