Jim Camden

President Bush's last State of the Union address was seen as a bold plan for his final year in office by some Northwest members of Congress and a sign that he's out of touch with a national mood for change by others. But members of both parties could find something they liked and something they didn't in the 53-minute speech.

Washington residents who aren't registered to vote but are hoping to cast a ballot in the state's Feb. 19 presidential primary have until Saturday to sign up one of three easy ways. •Pick up a registration form at most government offices, fill it out and mail it in. It has to be postmarked by Saturday to get you on the rolls for standard voting procedures, which in most Eastern Washington counties means a ballot will be mailed to your home.

One of the last claims the city of Spokane had in the long legal battle over the River Park Square garage fiasco appears to be dead. A federal appeals court has ruled that the city cannot try to wring money out of the Seattle firm that served as underwriter for about $31.5 million in bonds that were supposed to be – but ultimately couldn't be – paid off with garage revenues.

As the national presidential circus shifts this week from the snow-covered plains of Iowa to the snow-covered townships of New Hampshire, voters in the Inland Northwest might be asking "What about us? When will they care about us?" The short answer is they won't really care about us until February – if then.

Democrat Maria Cantwell endorsed Senate colleague Hillary Clinton for president Monday, citing Clinton's experience on energy and environmental issues. Cantwell, Washington's junior senator, said she believes Clinton has the experience to reduce dependence on foreign oil and move the country toward renewable energy.

The city of Spokane will try to set up its own Municipal Court Department by next summer, Mayor Mary Verner said Friday. Judges will be appointed at first by city officials, then elected by city voters in 2010, in an attempt to address a recent court ruling that voided a conviction in a city misdemeanor case because the judge was elected by voters throughout the county, not just those in the city.

Santa might still be trying to decide whether the Inland Northwest has been naughty or nice this year, but Congress has weighed in. Appropriations bills that passed the House and Senate this week have federal presents for roads and bridges, community centers and water projects, colleges and cops.

The city of Spokane is headed back to court in its ongoing battle with a chain of sex shops it has been fighting for years. The City Council approved the move Monday night after its special counsel, Milt Rowland, said a settlement in the city's 2005 lawsuit with World Wide Video has proven unenforceable. The council gave Rowland the green light to return to U.S. District Court to ask for the settlement to be thrown out and move toward a trial.

The IRS and a law firm for two Northwest attorneys involved in the River Park Square garage bonds have settled an investigation into the sale of bonds which were at the center of a federal securities fraud suit. The settlement closes the investigation into allegations that the two attorneys, Mike Ormsby of Spokane and David Thompson of Seattle, did not perform "due diligence" on all aspects of the mall project before the foundation they represented sold $31 million in bonds to investors as tax-exempt.

Michael Allen, a top administrator at Eastern Washington University, was named Monday night to an empty seat on the Spokane City Council. Allen, who serves as director of corporate and foundation relations and was previously the EWU associate athletic director, was selected in a 4-2 vote to fill the opening created by Mary Verner's election as mayor.

A winning vote in the Spokane mayor's race cost $4.24, while a losing vote cost $10.75. Winners also spent less than losers in two of the city's council races, the most recent campaign spending reports from the 2007 election show. Mayor Mary Verner and Councilman-elect Richard Rush proved that a candidate doesn't always have to raise and spend more than an opponent to win. Verner spent less than half what incumbent Dennis Hession spent in winning the city's top elective position, while Rush spent about a third less than incumbent Brad Stark in winning a council seat in south Spokane's District 2.

In giving its final approval Friday to a massive defense bill, Congress made it difficult for the Pentagon to move rescue helicopters out of Fairchild Air Force Base next year. Tucked into the Defense Authorization Conference Report – a bill designed to find common ground between the Senate and House of Representatives – is a special section on the helicopters of the base's 36th Rescue Flight. It requires the Air Force secretary to study "search and rescue capabilities of the Air Force in the northwestern United States" and explain how it would replace those services if the rescue squadron is moved from Fairchild.

Spokane City Council members tried to make sure Friday that anyone who wants to join them on the job realizes the hours are long and the pay is low. That theme came up repeatedly as council members interviewed eight applicants to fill an opening created by former Councilwoman Mary Verner's election as mayor last month.

After the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, Americans had a rallying cry: "Remember Pearl Harbor." For a generation, even those who weren't at the battle would hear that phrase and remember where they were when they heard the news of the event that catapulted the country into a worldwide war.

Joseph Duncan's decision to plead guilty to capital crimes without an agreement to avoid a death sentence is unusual but not unprecedented, said attorneys familiar with death penalty cases. "It is more common for people to plead guilty after death is taken off the table," said Jacqueline McMurtrie, a professor at the University of Washington Law School.

Two candidates who won elections last month are not eligible to take office next month because they don't meet residency requirements in state law. In one case, James Bedard, who ran unopposed and won a seat on the Millwood Town Council, does not live in Millwood, even though he's registered to vote there. The registration is at a business he owns on North Argonne Road.

All Spokane County ballots have been counted, but some will have to be counted again because a pair of races are so close. Vicki Krogseth Sellers has a lead of two votes over Bill Adams in the race for a seat on the Freeman School board. Krogseth Sellers finished with a total of 742 votes to Adams' 740. That's close enough for a mandatory hand recount under state law.

Inland Northwest development interests spent heavily, but not always effectively, on candidates this year. Construction companies, land developers and Realtors groups wrote checks from their associations, their corporate accounts and their own pocketbooks, contributing more than $100,000 to candidates in Spokane and Spokane Valley.

Cities, counties and other government entities that rely on property taxes could raise their levies by 6 percent in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling striking down a voter imposed lid of 1 percent. But that doesn't mean they will, government officials throughout Eastern Washington said. Spokane Chief Operating Officer Gavin Cooley said the city's proposed 2008 budget will maintain a 1 percent increase. But administrators plan to ask the City Council to pass an ordinance that would reserve the right to take the full increase in the future, he said.