Doug Floyd

For years, Orville Barnes has been a thoughtful and involved player in Spokane civic affairs. As a Spokane and state school board member, as president of the Spokane Taxpayers Association and, for four years, Spokane city councilman, Barnes has taken a reasoned approach to public-policy questions. This fall Spokane voters will decide whether to give him another term on the council. We think they should.

Unless you're a cave-dweller, you know Spokane faces tremendous pressures as a result of growth. Issues such as crime, jobs, transportation, sewer and water systems seriously test the city's preparedness to convert growth into prosperity rather than paralysis.

A nation of laws either holds its law-enforcement agencies by a sturdy leash or it forfeits its legitimacy. That is why the 1992 standoff at Ruby Ridge, where three people, including Randy Weaver's wife and son, were shot to death, is under scrutiny now. It is not clear, however, that members of the Senate subcommittee appreciate the difference between holding agencies accountable for indefensible excesses and canonizing a self-made victim like Weaver who is unworthy of the honor.

He received not one vote, but Paul Bastine has been elected a Superior Court judge for Spokane County. He may well hold elective office for years and never face the voters. That's the way it typically goes with Superior Court judges: a vacancy on the bench, an appointment by the governor, maybe an opponent in the first election and maybe not, but usually free rides thereafter. State law spares them even the formality of appearing unchallenged on the ballot.

Now there have been two Waco standoffs. One between federal agents and Branch Davidians in the spring of 1993.

Not enough seating. Not enough trust. Not enough to do. That, bus riders told "Bagpipes," is why they cluster on the sidewalks rather than wait for buses inside Spokane Transit Authority's spacious but under-used new Plaza. "They only have 12 seats in the entire building," said Susan Scott of Cheney. "Three benches of four each and that's it."

In what there was of the 1994 season, Chicago White Sox pitcher Jack McDowell, once superb, was mediocre. And even though he sold his talents to the New York Yankees for $5.4 million, he's mediocre again this year. Last Tuesday, mediocre would have looked good. McDowell was miserable, and the fans booed.

Nothing in the council's new approach will prevent its meetings from being spirited. Heaven forbid. If you believe Spokane City Council meetings have become to municipal politics what mosh pits are to rock music, take heart. Relief may be in sight. Tonight's council meeting will be the first under an improved set of rules and procedures.

A Seattle doctor's claim that a Washington State trooper bullied him sounds far-fetched. But that's no justification for a libel verdict that warns all citizens to bite their tongue rather than criticize police. Woodrow Thompson, an anesthesiologist, wrote to Gov. Mike Lowry following the 1993 incident to complain that he had been pushed and threatened at gunpoint by trooper Davis Richmond. An internal investigation by the Patrol exonerated Richmond. At no time did he face disciplinary action or lose pay over Thompson's allegations.

Congress is right to seek and destroy overreaching government programs. But the Senate needs to work on target selection. On Tuesday senators voted to end federal authority over speed limits on interstate highways.

Risking public scorn is one of the burdens an editorialist volunteers for. So, here goes: Formal prayer has no place in a public high school's commencement program. None. Not if Billy Graham leads it, not if the captain of the rally squad leads it.

It's a dirty job, as they say, but (altogether now) somebody has to do it. Not a menial job. A tough job that requires sacrifice and risk but for which scornful second-guessing often is the reward - law enforcement. Last week, three Spokane police officers had a tough job to do. It involved a violent and possibly suicidal man whose mother had called police because she feared he might hurt her or kill himself. Blaine Dalrymple was smashing glass in a bathroom. Neither words nor pepper spray drew him out, so police kicked in the door.

The $7,000 Spokane taxpayers spent to find out their City Council is dysfunctional is gone; the dysfunction remains. But, honestly, is that so bad? Do we want civility at the cost of keeping serious policy disagreements quiet? Is loud, angry and even rude discourse necessary in the democratic process? Or is it just a showboating technique that polarizes and paralyzes government? Let's hear from "Bagpipes" readers. How much candor do you want from elected leaders?

Several readers objected on Thursday to a photo of two boys playing with toy rifles in their West Central neighborhood. "Thirty years ago, a picture like that would have been considered cute," said Marie Marsden. "There's so much violence now, that picture has no place."

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.