Reporter Melissa Santos writes:

Rep. Dave Reichert’s re-election campaign is up in arms today about Democratic opponent Darcy Burner’s claims she earned a degree in economics.

Burner’s Harvard degree is actually in computer science with a special field in economics -- something I noted in my article on the race last weekend.

Reichert’s campaign spokeswoman, Amanda Halligan, today accused Burner of lying to voters about the issue. Burner is challenging Reichert a second time for the chance to represent Washington's Eighth Congressional District, which includes Seattle's Eastside suburbs and East Pierce County.

“She’s played the voters for fools,” Halligan said. “She’s lied on her resume.”

It’s true that Burner has played up having a degree in economics in two
campaign debates this month. Burner’s speech was the same on both Oct. 8 and
October 10: “I loved economics so much that I got a degree in it,” she said.

Burner campaign spokesman Sandeep Kaushik told me shortly afterward that Burner's degree is indeed a computer science degree, but said the “special field” in economics is like a minor.

“It’s a specialization – it’s more than just taking a few classes,” Kaushik said at the time.

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At the City Council meeting last night, Mayor Bill Baarsma interrupted Planning Commissioner David Boe to ask: What's the smell.

For a minute or so, a strong, chemical smell had begun to permeate council chambers. As citizens and city council members sniffed, a security guard reported: It smelled stronger in the chambers than anywhere else.

Baarsma adjourned the meeting swiftly.

I called city spokesman Rob McNair-Huff today to find out what was going on. Turns out, an air intake grate on the roof had either blown off or not been attached properly amid the construction. The smell was roofing sealant.

"They fixed it ... there's work going on on the roof above the third floor to fix that roof, and that's been ongoing for a while. I don't know what caused the cover to get blown off of that intake vent, but that's what caused it."

At least there was no foul play.

I couldn't praise Rep. Pat Lantz when she first announced her retirement from the Legislature this spring -- at least, not until I was sure she really was going to retire and wasn't going to run for re-election.

But now that she's really walking off into the sunset, I'm glad it's with a book in hand, figuratively speaking.

Lantz, who lives on Raft Island, is a rare legislator. I've been covering the Legislature since 1990, and she tops my list of what citizens really want and need in a representative. Smart. Selfless. Almost no ego. I think others had to tell her that she should try to take credit for her work because it probably never occurred to her.

You would not have guessed that she is a lawyer.

All she ever wanted to do, it seemed to me, was apply her substantial intellect to a problem in the hope of solving it. And she approached it all with a kind of girlish exuberance. I can't find a better way to describe her genuine glee over encountering or learning something new.

Many Tacoma Narrows Bridge commuters will complain about the tolls and how much it costs them to drive across the bridge. But few of them realize that Lantz inherited that issue and still managed to save those bridge commuters at least $400 million in tolls. (That's not my figure. That's what state Treasurer Mike Murphy told me a few months ago.)

Lantz, with no small measure of help from House Speaker Frank Chopp, forced their colleagues in the House and Senate through sheer stubbornness to have the state borrow money to pay for the bridge, instead of letting Bechtel and Co. borrow the money at a much higher rate.

Here's the annoucement of Lantz's appointment to the Heritage Center. With apologies to Brian Zylstra, he buried the lead.

McGregor elected chair of Heritage Center Trust’s Board of Trustees

OLYMPIA – Alex McGregor, President and CEO of the McGregor Company in Colfax, has been elected as chair of the Board of Trustees for the Washington State Heritage Center Trust.

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A guy named Steve Marquis (steve.marquis@comcast.net)
has challenged whether Obama should even be on Washington's ballot. He's suggesting that maybe Obama was not "native born." So, he's trying to get Obama disqualified.

The guy's actually going to get a hearing in King County Superior Court, although it's doubtful anything will come from it. It's at 10 a.m. Monday before Judge Erlick, Room W 1060, in the King County Courthouse.

If you want to read a report debunking the notion that Obama shouldn't be on the ballot, check out this entry on Snopes.com.

Steve Excell, the No. 2 guy in Sam Reed's office, sent an e-mail to someone who inquired about the challenge and I'm posting it here to give folks an idea of what's going on -- at least, from the Secretary of State's Office perspective.

Between August 25-28, 2008, The Democratic National Central Committee held their annual convention in Denver and nominated Barack Obama for President.

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1, says: No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

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I know that Pierce County has become pivotal in the rematch between Gov. Chris Gregoire and GOP challenger Dino Rossi, but this is getting ridiculous.

The guv was in the Proctor District on Saturday, at Cheney Stadium on Sunday...and she's coming up Thursday for something with some locals to shred some documents (to protect against identity theft.)

I sent Aaron Toso, her campaign press secretary, an e-mail, saying if she plans any more trips to Tacoma, I'll have to make up the bed in the spare room..

UPDATE: This just in from Gregoire 2008:

If you include this week and next, we’ll be in Eatonville, Lakewood, Fife and Gig Harbor, as well. We love all of Pierce County.
Aaron Toso
Press Secretary
Gregoire 2008 Campaign

I guess I'd better make up the spare beds for the whole entourage.

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HOT (high occupancy toll) lanes have sometimes been dubbed “Lexus Lanes” because of the belief that only rich drivers would be able to afford them. Poor people would be stuck in traffic because they couldn't afford the tolls.

That's how the thinking goes in some quarters. So, Washington Department of Transportation actually tracked the make of vehicles that used the HOT lanes on Highway 167 for May, June and July. Engineer Patty Rubstello said it was pretty easy to do. When motorists got their transponders, the make and model of their car was put on file. So they just added up how many times the drivers of each kind of car paid a toll to use the HOT lanes.

The most common make was Ford (7,500), followed by Chevrolet (6,800), Toyota (2,500) and Honda (2,400).

Lexus finished way back in the pack, about No. 15 or so by my calculation. Of course, that tracking may have dispelled the literal notion that HOT lanes are 'Lexus Lanes," but that particular study doesn't tell you whether those Fords, Chevys and Toyotas were the $40,000 SUV's or your $400 "beater."

Here's the story I wrote for Thursday's paper:

Motorists driving on Highway 167 were willing to pay $1 to shave 10 minutes off their commute when traffic was most congested.
That’s what state Department of Transportation is reporting after the first five months of operation of the HOT (high occupancy toll) lanes between Auburn and Renton.
DOT engineers Craig Stone and Patty Rubstello gave an update to members of the Washington Transportation Commission on Tuesday. Highlights of their report:

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State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser is calling on Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy to apologize for what he calls a misuse of taxpayers money.

McCarthy wrote a signed note to voters on a survey that accompanies mail-in ballots sent last week. Critics say the note amounts to electioneering; state officials say there’s nothing wrong with it.

In a letter dated today, Esser gives McCarthy until 3 p.m. to make a public apology or “I will be forced to pursue further action.”

Here’s a copy of the letter. Stay tuned.

Update: At 6:06 p.m., we got the following update from Matthew Lundh, the state Republican Party's communications director:

At 3:28 p.m. this afternoon Trish Adams, Assistant to the Auditor, called me on behalf of Auditor McCarthy and informed me that they had just discovered the fax and e-mail I sent to Auditor McCarthy shortly before noon. Ms. Adams told me that Auditor McCarthy had been out of the office since 11 a.m., was not expected back for the rest of the day, and inquired if she could get an extension of my 3:00 p.m. deadline for a response. I said I would consider the request and get back to her. At 4:39 p.m. I left a voicemail for Ms. Adams, allowing Auditor McCarthy until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) to respond to my letter.

He then went on to note how "startled" he was that McCarthy would miss an afternoon at the office during such a "critical time" before the election.

Update2: On Thursday afternoon Esser sent a letter to County Council Chairman Terry Lee asking him to "take immediate measures to stop Auditor Pat McCarthy from further promoting her name and candidacy with tax dollars."

Yesterday I called Pat McCarthy’s fellow county executive candidates to get their comment on the auditor’s decision to include a signed note to voters in a survey that accompanied mail-in ballots. The responses – or lack of responses – were telling.

Shawn Bunney didn’t return my call. Instead, Bunney campaign spokeswoman Charla Neuman called and offered only this on McCarthy’s correspondence: “I think it’s up to the taxpayers to decide whether it’s a good use for their money.”

But Neuman told the Associated Press: “I don’t know any other candidate who gets to put self-promotional material in a ballot envelope.”

Though I asked the question several times in different ways, Calvin Goings declined to directly criticize McCarthy or to directly question the inclusion of the note with the ballot. The closest he got: “I think it’s very clear voters are hungry for a new direction, not the cronyism of old Pierce County politics.” As to whether the note was appropriate, Goings said: “I’ll let the voters and readers draw their own conclusions.”

However, Goings was more direct when speaking with an Associated Press reporter. “Goings said the mailing smacks of `old school cronyism’ and `people looking out for themselves, not the interests of Pierce County taxpayers,’” AP reported.

Mike Lonergan was the only candidate willing to directly take on McCarthy when he spoke with me. “I don’t know what the rules are, but I know what common sense and fair play are,” Lonergan said. “It doesn’t pass the test.”

Why the reluctance of some candidates to pan McCarthy to the hometown newspaper? Maybe it has something to do with the theory that negative campaigning can backfire in a race decided by ranked choice voting.

For the record, we ran the AP quotes in today’s story.

This from the Associated Press ...

Presidential candidate Ralph Nader says the Puget Sound region has spent too much money building sports stadiums while, he says, schools and hospitals are crumbling.

In a Tuesday night speech in Seattle he criticized the leverage that billionaires like Paul Allen have in local government. And as for the departed Sonics, Nader said “good riddance.”

The Seattle Times reports Nader called for prosecution of those on Wall Street responsible for the current financial crisis. He says the $700 billion bailout package rewards deceivers for looting and swindling.

In his fourth presidential campaign, Nader is on the ballot in 45 states including Washington.