It had all the hallmarks of a typical political Robocall.

The phone rings and instead of a live person it is the recorded voice of someone well known. They tell you about one of the candidates running and urge you to vote for them.

In this case it was former Seattle Mayor Charley Royer who endorsed candidate Jordan Royer, who happens to be his son.

The effectiveness of Robocalls has been debated and debated but they are cheap and if the potential voter isn't home and the answering machines picks up they just might think the famous person actually called (I've received many breathless calls in the days leading up to big elections from voters telling me they are so disappointed because they weren't home when Alan Alda or Barbara Bush and Colin Powell or Hillary Clinton called).

But such calls are never effective in circumstances like this: the call came to my brother Denny who lives in the North End of Tacoma, far from any precincts where Jordan Royer – candidate for Seattle City Council – will appear on the ballot.

Really, the 253 area code should have given it away.

At least it didn't cost Royer votes like the 2002 Norm Dicks Robocalls. Imagine picking up the phone and hearing the booming voice of the congressman urging you to give him your vote – at 6 in the morning! The vendor, apparently, didn't get the whole different time zones thing.

Which is the opposite of what Gov. Chris Gregoire has said.

Race to the Top is the special $5.3 billion pot of money set aside by the Obama Administration to encourage states to reform their education systems. Gregoire has said she doubts the state would be eligible because it hasn't met many of the criteria set up – making sure each classroom has a competent teacher, improving achievement in low-performing schools, having a good data collection system to measure results, offering charter schools.

Gregoire said perhaps the state would be ready for a second round of funding if the next session of the Legislature acts on some of these issues.

But a report by The League of Education Voters asserts that the state meet minimum eligibility and should apply for funds now.

"In the wake of the WASL and AYP results announced last week showing flat scores and little progress in closing the achievement gap, Washington State needs this funding more than ever to improve our schools and increase student achievement," LEV said in a statement. "And despite some rumors to the contrary, Washington does meet the minimum application eligibility requirements for the Race to the Top Fund. A bold application would make Washington a legitimate contender for this funding, which would give a much-needed boost to the state's education system."

"While almost every other state in the nation is discussing how to compete in the Race to the Top, Washington State seems to be engaged in a Race to the Sidelines," said Chris Korsmo, executive director of the league.

About 60 or so folks from MoveOn.org are out in front of The News Tribune building, showing their support for health care reform.

Here is the message they sent out earlier to rally the troops.

Join us at the office of the Tacoma News Tribune to deliver personal Letters to the Editor about the need for a REAL Public Health Insurance Option. Our representatives are currently home for their August break and it is vital we make som...(more)e publicity especially for Maria Cantwell. She is a major voice on the Senate Finance Committee. If you can, bring signs!

Over 50 people demonstrating in favor of the "Public Option" in the nation's health care debate stand behind David Winchester, Coordinator of MoveOn Tacoma Council, as he delivered letters in support of the issue at the front desk of The News Tribune, Monday. Peter Haley / The News Tribune

This is one of your larger cases, as the state Department of Revenue pointed out.

This guy allegedly kept almost all the sales tax he collected for five years on about $10 million worth of work.

Marysville Drywaller Charged with Tax Fraud

Everett, Wash., Aug. 17, 2009 — The owner of Marysville-based Master’s Touch Drywall was charged today with stealing nearly all the sales tax he collected on jobs between 2003 and 2008.

Mark D. Standley, 53, was charged in Snohomish County Superior Court with multiple felony counts of first-degree theft, and filing false tax returns.

Standley is accused of reporting less than one half of one percent of more than $10 million in gross revenue he generated on drywall jobs between 2003 and 2008, and remitting to the state less than $3,000 of the nearly $855,000 in sales tax he collected from customers on those projects.

=> Read more!

The county will be mothballing 39 parks but will continue to operate 140 parks, including the Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

The 39 mothballed parks will remain open for use but will not be maintained. In December crews will fence playground equipment, lock and secure restrooms, post signs and lock gates in the 39 parks in potential annexation areas of Burien, Kent, Renton, Kirkland, Issaquah, Seattle, Federal Way, Redmond and SeaTac.

Effort to bridge budget shortfall means King County no longer funding urban local parks

King County Executive Kurt Triplett today announced he will zero-out funding for parks from the General Fund in 2010 by mothballing 39 parks in urban unincorporated areas. The move will save $4.6 million and is one more way to cover a $56.4 million shortfall in projected tax revenues needed to maintain 2009 service levels.

All the parks proposed for mothballing are in potential annexation areas of cities and primarily used by local residents but maintained with countywide general fund tax dollars.

=> Read more!

I wrote a story over the weekend about the debut of this e-mail alert system. It will be a few more days before it's operational for Pierce County residents.

BY Joseph Turner
The News Tribune
A glitch has delayed Pierce County’s connection to a statewide datebase that sends e-mail alerts to people who want to be notified when a registered sex offender moves next door.
Dawn Larsen, director for projects for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, said data on an estimated 600 sex offenders in Pierce County was successfully uploaded over the weekend. However, there was a problem uploading up-to-date pictures of the offenders, she said.
That problem should be remedied in a few days, she said.
There are 2,555 sex offenders registered to live in Pierce County, but only about 600 of them are in the notification database – only those who are classified Level II and Level III offenders. Those are the two groups considered most likely to commit another sex crime.
When it is connected, Pierce will become the 36th of 39 Washington counties to be connnected to the statewide alert system. Citizens who sign up will be notified by e-mail when a sex offender moves to within one mile of whichever location citizens choose - their homes, their work place, their child’s day care center, or all of those.

If you want to be notified by e-mail when a sex offender moves into your neighborhood, go to http://www.icrimewatch.net/washington.php and click on “Register for Email Alerts.” The system should be up and running in Pierce County in a few more days.