Doug Floyd

Most of us are luckier than Deborah Rockstrom. Most of us are spared the stress, pain and torment that apparently led Rockstrom to actions most of us, lacking her experiences, would deem unthinkable.

If there's a middle ground in the squabble over charging non-city residents for using the city library fees, it's well concealed under a tangle of nettles. Bagpipes ventured into the thicket Tuesday, looking for creative ideas.

Two weeks ago, Deborah Robison picked her 15-year-old daughter up from a dental appointment, told her how much she loved her and drove her to Coeur d'Alene where she's now confined in an $800-a-day treatment program. Robison shared the story in response to a "Bagpipes" item on Tuesday about Washington state legislative proposals to restore parents' authority over runaway children.

"The aim ... of patriots was to set limits to the power which the ruler should be suffered to exercise over the community." - John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty" "Cut the budgets, end the mandates, terminate the programs, close the agencies and tell government to climb down off our backs - now."

Suddenly, Spokane County Commissioner Steve Hasson's transmutation from Democrat to Republican actually may matter. If the political dominoes fall in just the right (but unlikely) pattern, a current vacancy in Spokane County District Court could ignite a chain of events that eventually would involve Hasson moving to the Legislature.

It's illegal to sell sex, or to buy it. Prostitution laws ban intercourse in intercourse for vendor and vendee alike. But, as a casual stroll along East Sprague or West First will convince you (not that I recommend one), the practice survives - quite visibly. Among those who disapprove, this causes considerable frustration which often produces desperate reactions. Such as Sen. Jeanne Kohl's proposal to let police confiscate the vehicles of people caught picking up prostitutes.

As Republicans assume control of Washington state's law-making, expect them to infuse it with their philosophical fondness for the private sector. That doesn't mean privatization will come about overnight, though, as the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute can testify. When SIRTI tried to save a few tax dollars by contracting with a private firm for janitorial work, the state employees' union sued, and won.

Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Sweetser, a Democrat, launched his administration by firing two experienced deputies Tuesday. Not because they oppose the deputy prosecutors union which he supports. Not because they backed his opponent. It's because they're not "team members." County Coroner Dexter Amend, a Republican, didn't wait until taking office to hand out a pink slip. He stopped by last week to tell a 14-year assistant coroner that she was history.