And another thing …

Decidedly undecided. What do Donald Duck, Ichiro Suzuki, Bill Gates Jr., Gary Locke, Phil Talmadge, Ron Sims and Christine Gregoire have in common? They all trail Dino Rossi in the vote count for governor. And if Gregoire could count those other votes as her own, she’d have a nice cushion.

Yes, hundreds of voters picked someone other than the three candidates on the ballot, and in doing so chose to make their vote not count. And about 70,000 voters chose to pass up the contest altogether.

That gnashing sound you hear is Washington state Democrats in search of a mere 43 votes to put Gregoire in the lead.

Slip slidin’ away. If the inch and a half of snow that dusted the Spokane area Tuesday had fallen in Seattle, the street and highway mayhem that ensued would be understandable. But winter driving is part of the four-seasons culture in the Inland Northwest.

Still, cars were piling into each other so often that, as Washington State Trooper Jim Hays put it, “We’re running from crash to crash.”

Lack of practice may have played a role. So may temperature conditions that kept a frozen glaze on packed snow. And, of course, procrastination by motorists who hadn’t mounted winter tires.

But all that could have been mitigated if Spokane city road crews had been out earlier in the snowfall, getting sand and de-icer on those critical hills where Tuesday’s traffic was bottle-necked and often battered.

In the midst of city budget discussions, premised on public safety and mobility as spending priorities, let’s hope that the reaction is swifter when a real snowfall arrives.

Buying time. Spokane County commissioners took a commendable step this week when they picked up funding for low-income elderly citizens who need treatment for mental illness.

In the past, state and federal budgets paid for the Medicaid program. Because the need was great, officials interpreted the rules loosely to extend coverage even to some people who weren’t technically qualified.

Eventually, administration of the program was tightened and numerous seniors were trimmed from the rolls, even though their need was real and their means scant. The county didn’t have to come to the rescue, but it did. As easily as it stepped in, it could step back out.

With the time that has been purchased, state and federal administrators need to clarify the criteria for this program — which invests in home care to avoid the higher costs of institutionalization — and administer it adequately and consistently.