Lake Tapps’ “Party Cove” may need a new nickname after the Pierce County Council approved temporary rules designed to curb the rowdy behavior of some boaters there.

This afternoon the council unanimously approved rules prohibiting motorized vessels from anchoring, drifting or tying together in Fairweather Cove – also known as “Party Cove” – between Tacoma and Driftwood points. The move will essentially make the cove a “no parking” zone and will remain in effect until August 31, 2010.

The new rules were welcomed by Lake Tapps residents who told the council problems ranging from excessive noise to public urination and nudity are getting out of hand.

“If this kind of activity was going on in the street in front of your house, you wouldn’t tolerate it,” lake resident Len Zarelli told the council today.

But some boaters and lake residents said the county should target people violating existing laws against behavior like public urination. They say the new rules requiring boaters to keep moving will unnecessarily limit the activities of boaters on public waters.

“The lake is public property,” lake resident Dean Fuller told the council.

The new rules are the latest effort to address party problems at Lake Tapps.

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The creation of "green" jobs was all the rage over the past session.

There's a lot of flexibility in defining green. For instance, an electrician can be green, if he or she knows how to install solar panels.

There's much more detail on the issue at this link.

Here is a link to the Washington Policy Center posting.

Apparently, the K-9 units have been taught how to dial the cell phone number, then they follow the sound of the ringing and chew through the prison inmate's mattress until they find the phone. But the search dogs have to use Jitterbugs because their paws are too big to use the keypad on conventional cell phones.
(OK. Maybe not.)

MEDIA ADVISORY July 21, 2009

DOC to Host K-9 Demonstration for News Media to Show How Prisons Search for Contraband Cell Phones

OLYMPIA – Members of the news media are invited to a demonstration on July 30 at Monroe Correctional Complex to see how K-9 units have been trained to search for contraband cell phones in prisons.

The issue of contraband cell phones is in the news after Washington became one of more than two dozen states to petition the Federal Communications Commission to allow prisons to scramble cell-phone reception.

Inside an empty prison unit, two Department of Corrections K-9 officers will demonstrate how specially trained dogs search for cell phones. Officers and administrators will be available for interviews to explain why cell phones are dangerous to prison security and what the agency is doing to keep them out.

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Freshman state Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Friday Harbor, a former San Juan County commissioner, spent some time in the hospital.

Here's Sam Taylor's story in the Bellingham Herald.

Mark Lindquist

The Pierce County Democratic Party recently gave the County Council a list of three candidates it’s recommending to replace outgoing Prosecutor Gerald Horne, who is retiring at the end of August. But that doesn’t mean there’s real competition for the job. Deputy Prosecutor Mark Lindquist (right) appears to be a shoe-in.

State law and the county charter require the council to fill vacancies in partisan offices by choosing from among candidates submitted by the party of the person leaving the office. Horne is a Democrat, so the local party submitted three names in order of preference. All work in the prosecutor’s office:

• Lindquist, Horne’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor.

• Mary Robnett, supervisor of the special assault unit.

• Pat Hammond, supervisor of the misdemeanor domestic violence unit.

The council can select any of the candidates. But according to local Democratic Party Chairman Nathe Lawver, Robnett and Hammond – both Democratic Party precinct committee officers – support Lindquist for the job.

Asked if Robnett or Hammond would decline if the council offered them the job, Lawver said: “With Mark being the top pick, we hope that they stick with our recommendation. He will provide steady leadership to the offiice, and I think the council knows that. However, if another candidate is chosen, they do have the option to say no.”

The Republican-controlled council plans to interview the candidates before selecting a new prosecutor. But Councilman Dick Muri, R-Steilacoom, said Lindquist likely will get the appointment. Muri praised Lindquist, noting the prosecutor’s effort to address a backlog of cases in Superior Court.

Whoever the council appoints will be up for election in 2010.

Horne is stepping down after nine years as prosecutor.

Supporters of the "Everything but Marriage" act, which expanded the benefits of same-sex and other domestic partners, have mobilized as the campaign against the act closes in on a deadline for its referendum.

Referendum 71 supporters must turn in their signatures on Saturday. They have made an appointment with state election officials, but it's unknown whether they have the required 120,000 valid signatures.

Meanwhile, here's word from the group that would be campaigning to get voters to affirm what the Legislature and governor did during this past session.

(One of the seemingly quirky things about a referendum: You collect signatures to get it onto the ballot, then you want people to vote "No.")

People from All Walks of Life Stand Together to Protect Washington Families

Broad, statewide support to keep domestic partnership law from being repealed by Referendum 71

SEATTLE, Wash. – Washington Families Standing Together (WAFST) announced today that in just eight weeks, tens of thousands of individuals and more than 110 organizations have joined together to protect Washington families from the threat posed by the attempted repeal of the state’s domestic partnership law. Those opposed to domestic partnerships are trying to roll back the law by gathering signatures to put Referendum 71 on the November ballot. They have until July 25th to turn in the signatures. If Referendum 71 qualifies for the ballot, voters will have to vote to “approve” Referendum 71 in order to retain the law already passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.

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