About $100 million worth of the pontoon work for the 520 bridge replacement project will be done in Tacoma, but the bulk of it will be done down south in Grays Harbor County.

WSDOT picks the Aberdeen Log Yard as its preferred site for SR 520 pontoon construction

ABERDEEN – The Washington State Department of Transportation announced today that the Aberdeen Log Yard is the preferred location for a new construction facility to build SR 520 bridge pontoons.

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On one side are the berm proponents, those who think it will be just fine to have the Sounder train climb from Freighthouse Square to a bridge over Pacific Avenue via an earthen berm.

On the other side are those who prefer a post-and-beam structure – essentially a viduct – to do the same work.

Tacoma cartoonist R.R. Anderson weighs in with his perspective.

The latest C-3 report from Protect Marriage Washington must have assumed that the group would prevail in its request that it not be required to disclose names of donors.

The report, filed August 10, which shows donors to the campaign for the previous week listed only initials of those who gave money. That's not what state law requires and the Public Disclosure Commission staff has contacted the committee.

"We've asked them to report the actual names," said PDC spokeswoman Lori Anderson.

Last week an attorney representing supporters of R-71, which seeks to repeal enhancements of gay partnership laws passed this year, asked the PDC to exempt disclosure of donors. He asserted there have been threats of violence and harassment against donors (R-71 has already succeeded in sealing the names of those who signed petitions).

The PDC, however, rejected a request for an emergency meeting and scheduled the matter for its regular August 27 meeting. In the meantime, current law prevails which requires the disclosure of donors names and towns.

Signatures on the referendum are still being verified by the secretary of state.

This is all moving kind of fast. U.S. Rep. Brian Baird has just posted an announcement on his web site that he will now set up five town hall meetings in his district to discuss health care reform.

"Frankly, I have had concerns about how we can have constructive dialogue and, unfortunately, in response to some of the things we've been seeing across the nation I have said some things myself that I regret," Baird said.

"I want to express that regret directly and announce that we will be holding a series of five town halls so people can express their opinions and ask questions. My hope and trust is that we can have the kinds of informative exchanges that I have valued for so long and that reveal the very best of public discourse."

The first is set for Vancouver's Skyview High School at 7 p.m. next Tuesday.

Baird, D-Vancouver, has a longer statement on the issue here.

This is a second roundtrip train between Portland, Ore. through Tacoma and Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. site of the 2010 winter in February.

Service will begin Aug. 19 (next Wednesday) when a northbound train pulls into Vancouver at 10:45 p.m. The next morning, the train will leave Vancouver at 6:40 a.m. and will arrive in Portland at 2:45 p.m.

Here is the news release from Amtrak Cascades.

The Amtrak folks managed to bury a huge bit of news at the very bottom of this news release, too. Apparently, all of the Talgo trains, which have been off line for more than a year, undergoing repairs, will be back in service.

Nothing official has come from U.S. Rep. Brian Baird's office but several Democratic organizations are recruiting people to show up to the Cowlitz Event Expo in Longview tomorrow at 2 p.m. for a meeting with U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

Organizing for America, the successor to Barack Obama's on-line campaign, includes an invite on its website, even including a means for RSVPing for the event.

"Our representatives are under attack by Washington insiders, insurance companies, and well-financed special interests who don't go a day without spreading lies and stirring up fear," is the message on the website. "We need to show that we're sick and tired of it, and that we're ready for real change, this year.

"Please come to the event, and make sure that the most powerful voices in this debate are those calling for real reform.

"Please try to arrive by noon; space is available on a first-come, first-served basis."

Another e-mail was sent to members of the public employees union, AFSCME.

The irony is that supporters of health care reform have accused opponents of manufacturing "grassroots" opposition – dubbed Astroturf. But this event seems intent on urging organized groups to come and and give grassroots support for reform.

Baird has said that he won't schedule town halls during this August congressional recess because other such meetings have been met with rowdy and sometimes hostile crowds opposed to the health care bills.

Now it gets even more curious: Eli Zupnick, one of Murray's spokesmen, says the event has been scheduled for some time to hear the recommendations of the Mount St. Helens Commission. While it is open to the public, the purpose is to listens to members of the commission which was charged with making recommendations about national monument status for the volcano.

Zupnick said he was unaware of the web posting by Organizing for America.

During the discussion of the request by proponents of Referendum 71 to keep secret the names of donors to the campaign, I brought up the last time a similar request was made.

That was in 1994, also surrounding a ballot proposition dealing with gay rights. That year, two initiatives that sought to ban passage of laws giving civil rights protections to gays and lesbians were on the ballot. Opponents, calling themselves Hands Off Washington, asked the PDC for an exemption from disclosure rules.

Opponents were willing to disclose the names and amounts given by donors. But they opposed a recent PDC rule requiring that the occupations and employers of donors also be listed. In January, the PDC passed a temporary exemption – timed to give the Legislature time to address the issue.

The exemption was repealed six weeks later when the Legislature failed to act. Opponents of those initiatives claimed the extra information could lead to harassment and discrimination against donors.

In 1995, the Legislature passed a law eliminating the requirement that donors' occupations and employers be listed. That section, however, was vetoed by then-Gov. Mike Lowry.

Now it is the other side of the issue seeking exemptions from disclosure. Backers of R-71, which would repeal recently passed gay partnership laws, have already succeeded in getting the names of those who signed the referendum sealed. They now seek to have all information about campaign donors sealed as well.

The PDC will meet August 27 to discuss the request.

Pearse Edwards, communications and external relations director for Gov. Chris Gregoire, is trading in Gregoire for North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue.

Edwards just dropped by the office in person to say he's leaving in early September. If he didn't set the record for tenure as a governor's spokesperson, he came close. His tenure was 19 months.

"It's an an opportunity to go home and be close to family," Edwards said. "And to give back to the state that gave me so much when I was growing up."

(Polished professionals learn to talk that way.)

Gregoire's office combined the two jobs of communications director and external relations, so not only was Edwards the main spokesperson for the governor he also oversaw her constituent relations staff.

The Guv has liaison folks in Vancouver, Pierce County Eastern Washington and King County-and-north.

Edwards said The Guv's office will be advertising for a replacement for him "soon."

(No. I won't be applying for the job. Nor will I be going after the chief of staff job that is opening up with the departure of Cindy Zehnder.)

Would he close Chambers Bay?

Here's a link to the New York Times article about Chavez loyalists calling for the closure of golf courses in Venezuela. It started after Chavez attacked golf as bourgeois.

Perhaps he would have some affection for the Scottish Links course because he had special contempt for golfers who use carts. Carts are not available for most golfers at Chambers Bay.

If you’re driving in unincorporated Pierce County today, you might see something you haven’t seen in a while: county road crews removing illegal signs.

The county’s public works department is launching a new crackdown on signs illegally posted in public rights of way. It’s the result of a deal over sign code enforcement struck last month between the County Council and County Executive Pat McCarthy.

As I reported in May, the county’s enforcement efforts lagged for months even though the council set aside money for the popular enforcement program. The council followed up in June by modifying the county budget to require public works to spend at least $50,000 to enforce the sign code this year.

Under the agreement between the executive and council, the public works department will revive its enforcement effort.

It won’t be full time, as in the past. But today the department launches a countywide crackdown on illegal signs in public rights of way. It’s expected to last about three weeks.

Thereafter, crews will revisit the worst intersections monthly and will sweep the busiest arterial roads each quarter. The new enforcement effort is expected to cost about $95,000 a year.

Here’s the press release announcing today’s crackdown:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 10, 2009

County road crews are set to begin removing illegally-placed signs in the right of way following the recent agreement involving Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, the County Council, and Public Works and Utilities.

Illegal sign removal will begin county-wide on Wednesday, Aug. 12. The initial roundup is expected to take up to three weeks to complete.

After that, the worst intersections will be revisited monthly, and high volume arterial roads will be swept quarterly. As illegal sign volumes drop at any given location, the next worst spots will be targeted.

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Son–of–Everett Pete Jackson has identified the secret for projecting winners in both the Seattle mayor election and the King County executive election: Everett roots.

Find his piece here.