...to steal a line from The Seattle Times' David Postman.Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/etc.Be well.

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Here’s a somewhat longer look at a few of the Spokane-area specifics included in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s 2007-2009 budget proposal, released Tuesday morning:-Continue North Spokane Corridor construction from I-90 to U.S. 395 at Wandermere, including park-and-ride lots: $140 million toward the 10.5-mile, $3.3 billion project.-Build…

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Check our main website (www.spokesmanreview.com) at 9 a.m. for a first look at Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed 2007-2009 budget -- including millions of dollars for Spokane-area projects.

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This just in from state Rep.-elect Don Barlow, D-Spokane:"The 2007 Legislature will face serious challenges in any number of issue areas," Barlow is quoted as saying in his first official press release. "Many issues that will come before us will undergo a first round of…

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So begins a lengthy cover story on former Spokanite Laurie Dolan in the latest issue of Sitting Duck, a quirky, tabloid-format free newspaper in Olympia. The profile is the longest story in the newspaper. (The next-longest? A review of "Cannibal! The Musical.")Dolan, well-known in Spokane…

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Pledging to boost rural health care, Gov. Chris Gregoire today said she wants to expand Spokane-area training programs for first-year medical and dental students, as well as a nursing PhD program in Spokane.“This is a cost effective, common-sense way to address significant shortages of health…

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Thomas Shapley, Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial writer (and one of the few newspaper editorialists to make the rounds regularly in Olympia) is moving to a PR job at the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.“My job is to help tell the story of public education,…

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Two months ago, while chatting with a custodian on a Western State Hospital ward, nurse Dagmar Jackson was attacked by one of the psychiatric patients there."She went straight for my face," said Jackson, who stands 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 108 pounds.Jackson recalls…

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Several Spokane-area lawmakers are moving up in leadership slots:-In a rare jump-start, incoming Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane, will be one of two vice-chairmen on the state Transportation Committee. (Although this isn't Marr's first Olympia rodeo: he's the former chairman of the state Transportation Commission.)-Among Republican…

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Gov. Chris Gregoire and legislative leaders are proposing a six-month "rate holiday" in workers' compensation premiums for the second half of 2007, a move that would save companies and workers an estimated $315 million.(Note: Gregoire's announcement yesterday was actually a rehash of a very similar…

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From the Senate Democratic Caucus Committee website:Please join members of the House Democratic Caucus and Senate Democratic Caucus for a Winter Fundraising Reception featuring Rep. John Lovick's famous fried turkey feast. Suggested PAC contribution: $700. Suggested Individual Contribution: $100.

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No surprises in the House leadership lineup for 2007:-House Speaker Frank Chopp*, D-Seattle-Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam-Caucus Chairman Bill Grant, D-Walla Walla-Majority Whip Sharon Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle-and Speaker pro-tem John Lovick*, D-Mill Creek.Chopp has been speaker (or, during three bizarre years of a legislative tie…

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Weeks after Sen. Mark Doumit resigned to take a new job as executive director of the state Forest Protection Association, a former state representative has been named to the post.Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, was appointed Friday by commissioners for the four counties included in the 19th…

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Last night's Frontline documentary about Jim West's fall from power and The Spokesman-Review coverage that triggered it is prompting considerable criticism of the paper and the way it reported the story.Among viewers' reactions on the Frontline site:-that the scandal ensures that Spokane will remain "a…

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The state Senate Democratic caucus on Sunday re-elected Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, as Senate Majority Leader.Also re-elected: majority caucus chairwoman Harriet Spanel, D-Bellingham, and majority floor leader Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way.As for committee chairs, that's yet to be determined. Those plum assignments are set by the…

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Yeah, all eyes are on the mighty-close Virginia race for U.S. Senate at this point. But look at some of the numbers we're seeing for seats in Washington's statehouse:In the 39th legislative district (which includes parts of King-, Skagit-, Snohomish- and Whatcom counties, Democrat Scott…

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The Democrats couldn't oust conservative Democrat Tim Sheldon, who periodically infuriates his caucus by voting with Republicans on key issues. Sheldon beat a party-backed challenger in the primary, and won against a Republican tonight by a landslide.But Sheldon's swing-voter clout may have washed away in…

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Seattle's The Stranger newspaper obtained and posted to YouTube a video clip of state Sen. Brad Benson speaking to some group.In the short clip, Benson makes an astonishing claim: that condoms provided by Planned Parenthood have an 80 percent failure rate."You know which one worked…

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A new random-number telephone poll compiled by University of Washington researchers suggests that the state's voters will say:-yes to incumbents Sen. Maria Cantwell and Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens, although Owens' lead over challenger Stephen Johnson is fairly slim (7 percent), given the margin of…

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Sorry to be late posting this, but...State Senate candidate Chris Marr denies allegations that he and other managers at a local auto dealership ignored, for years, the sexual harassment of a saleswoman by male colleagues.In a lawsuit filed last year, former Spokane Lincoln-Mercury saleswoman Dawn…

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A new website, authored by someone hiding behind a domain registration company's privacy service, points to Rep. Geoff Simpson's family-oriented campaign, particularly a recent family-oriented mailing, then compares it to the contents of Simpson's legal separation file.In an e-mail to us, Simpson, D-Kent, called the…

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As the days count down to November's election, Washington's second-most-expensive state Senate race is turning more ferocious.Since Friday, Spokane residents have been opening their mailboxes to find large postcards that maintain that Sen. Brad Benson "voted to cover up sex crimes against our children."The mailer…

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If you watched last night's mostly-staid "debate" in the Senate race, you saw three candidates. But it turns out that a fourth was there, if only briefly.While Sen. Maria Cantwell, GOP challenger Mike McGavick and Libertarian Bruce Guthrie staked out their positions in the KING-5…

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In what even the state's top election official called a "stunning" statistic, 93 percent of Washingtonians who cast a ballot in last month's primary election voted by mail."Even in the counties maintaining polling locations, 82.8 percent of voters who participated in the primary cast their…

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Yesterday brought another deadline for filing data to the Public Disclosure Commission, Washington's campaign-finance agency.We haven't found any big revelations in our region's races yet, but have come across a number of interesting tidbits about who's donating to who.Here they are, race by race:District 6…

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