OLYMPIA — The honor of the Avis of Washington population goes once again to Spokane.

The state Office of Financial Management released its annual population estimates today, which show overall population is up slightly, pretty much all around the state.

Seattle, of course, is the largest city. Spokane is No. 2, with an estimated 210,000. Tacoma is third at 199,600. For more numbers, check out this story on the main webpage.

The race to place sometimes sets off a competition between some newspaper columnists in the two cities. Spin Control has not engaged in denigrating Tacoma in the past, and will refrain from doing so now. But we can't speak for some of our ink-stained brethren.

Before he became a honcho in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ron Sims was King County executive for three terms and was on the county council before that. So it's sometimes easy for folks to forget that he has Spokane roots.

Sims, however, does not. As the White House blog marks Black History Month with stories of African Americans “contributing to President Obama's goals for winning the future,” his is one of the biographies posted.

And it starts with Sims saying that all people are shaped by where they grew up and “I grew up in Spokane, Washington, which is in the eastern part of the state, and had the opportunity to attend what is now known as Central Washington University.  My parents were engaged in the community, and in the weight of things, I am James and Lydia Sims’ son through and through.”

Sen. Patty Murray and Republican challenger Dino Rossi have arrived for the first televised debate in Washington’s state Senate race.

That means the partisans who arrived to cheer one or jeer the other have dispersed, but not before a person taking issue with their demonstration was detained by police for brandishing a cleaver at the Murray demonstrators.

The man had driven past several times, flashing half of the old “Peace” sign and eventually waving a cleaver out his car window. From inside the studio, it’s not immediately clear if he was just detained, cited or taken to that buildilng behind the courthouse for a discussion about the right and wrong time to flash cutlery.

Say what you will, I’ll bet there won’t be any cleavers brandished at the debate in Seattle on Sunday.

Debate starts live at 7 p.m.

Our good friends at the political blog at The News Tribune in Tacoma appear to be challenging us to a friendly Swivel chart war.

Responding to our bar chart showing that Spokane is the second largest city in the state — with a 2,000-person lead over Tacoma — The News Tribune’s Political Buzz reminded us that Pierce County has a signficant lead over Spokane County and easily claims the highly coveted title of “Washington’s Second County.” We at Spin Control do not dispute this title, only its relevance.

 Early numbers aren’t looking good for Spokane and other local governments hoping to avoid more budget gloom.

Sales tax distributions for the first two months of 2010 were the lowest since 2005 for Spokane, Spokane County, Spokane Valley and the Spokane Transit Authority.

Because of the increased cost of doing business, largely from of salary increases and the spiking costs of health insurance, local governments usually need rising tax revenue to maintain services with the same number of employees.

Sales taxes are only one source of revenue, but they are a signficant one, especially for STA, which doesn’t have property or utility taxes.

When Census forms arrive in the mail this week, remember, pride may be at stake.

In the middle part of the last decade, fears rose that Spokane would lose its rank as Washington’s second largest city. But Spokane ended the Aughts (is that what we’re calling them?) about where it started — about 2,000 people ahead of Tacoma, at least according to state estimates

Census figures, however, are what counts most. The numbers for 2010 won’t be released until next year.

Yi Zhao, Washington’s chief demographer, said that because Spokane has about 8,000 more residential units than Tacoma, it appears unlikely that Tacoma will pass Spokane in the near future. But, she added: “You never know.”

Turnout in the city of Spokane for the Nov. 3 election averages just under 50 percent with just a few ballots yet to count.

But it varied significantly around the city, as is typical for most elections. This map divides the city’s precincts into four equal segments based on turnout and shows heavier turnout in the south and northwest, and light voting in the north central and northeast.

Spokane is smarter than Tacoma, Everett, Bellevue and Salem, but not smarter than Eugene or Seattle.

At least, that’s what the Natural Resources Defense Council says in its latest lists of “smarter cities,” which ranks small, medium and large cities on the environmental intelligence.

Spokane ranked sixth among medium cities, just below Eugene and above Huntsville, Ala. Tacoma may be closing in on Spokane in population, but it’s No. 54 on the NRDC. Boise? It’s No. 52.

Don’t get too big-headed, though. Seattle ranked No. 1 among the large cities.

Want to see the lists or read more about how the council came up with them? Click here.

For some, spring means it’s time to train for Bloomsday or get the Hoopfest team together. For others it’s time to lose a few pounds, tone up the abs or biceps and get ready for the lake.

But for anyone planning to run for office this year, spring is the time to get moving. The state moved the primary up to August a couple years back, and all the other deadlines moved up too. To have a campaign in full swing by June, you need to make up your mind pretty quickly.

Thus far, the campaigning has been light.. The City of Spokane has three council seats on the November ballot, and so far has three announced candidates. The City of Spokane Valley has four seats up, and three candidates.

Other surrounding towns and cities also have seats on the ballot, and city and county officials have various tax proposals they want to put on the ballot.

But before campaign season begins in earnest, Spin Control wants to offer its eight suggestions for candidates and campaigners:

More than $1.5 million in federal money is being offered to law enforcement agencies in Spokane and Kootenai counties for new equipment, training or personnel.

The money, part of the economic stimulus package, was added to an existing program known as the Edward Byrne Justice Assistant Grants, which is designed to get more police on the street, more training and equipment to agencies, and more help for crime victims, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said.

The White House is promising to review all requests and approve or reject them within two weeks, a Cantwell spokeswoman said.

The program divides the money between states and local governments. Under its formula, the City of Spokane will be available to request more than $824,000, Spokane Valley $207,600 and Spokane County almost $195,000.