Smart bombs: Big box rebellion

So, you’re idling in a South Hill parking lot on a Saturday afternoon just waiting … and waiting … and waiting to turn left onto Regal Street. Then a horrible thought enters your head as you hunt for that traffic opening: What if the city allowed big box stores along that narrow strip of road?

At first you think, “Ha! Tens of thousands more cars along this skinny street? Who could be that stupid?”

Then you remember the bitter feelings when Costco and Home Depot deposited their stores just outside city limits along Sprague Avenue. All those sales tax dollars flowing to another governmental body.

The city never forgets a thing like that.

Suddenly, you break into a cold sweat and vow to attend the Oct. 23 hearing examiner’s meeting at City Hall. Yes, you think the time of the meeting – 1:30 p.m. – stinks, but it only reinforces your determination to be there as environmental impacts are considered for a proposed development along Regal.

You also vow to keep a close eye on a proposed planning amendment that could pave the way for a Home Depot or Target or Wal-Mart or – gasp! – all three along Regal.

Then, after pondering all that, you finally give up on turning left and hang a right instead – and wonder whether you’re driving into the future.

Money for nothing. I’m certainly no legal scholar, so it isn’t my place to determine whether the Washington state Supreme Court made a defensible decision in upholding the death sentence for serial killer Robert Lee Yates Jr. But as a matter of public policy, I think Pierce County prosecutors are doing taxpayers a mighty disservice in attempting to kill him (in a decade or so) before he dies of natural causes in a hellish prison.

Studies show that death-penalty convictions and their automatic appeals cost much more than a life sentence with no possibility for parole. In fact, several rural counties will never seek capital punishment charges for the sole reason that they lack the capital. It’s not difficult to think of more life-affirming ways to spend that extra cash.

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker deserves credit for making the right decision, even if it was unpopular at the time.

Trick or treat. It’s not too early to be thinking about Halloween costumes. Here’s three off the top of my head:

“Weapon of mass destruction. Then again, nobody could see you.

“Dress up as toast, with a “John McCain” name tag.

“U.S. Sen. Larry Craig. Blue suit, white shirt, red tie. Oh, and at every house ask to use the bathroom.