Jim Camden

Candidates often have rules for debates that govern how long they talk at the beginning and the end, and how long the answer and rebuttal to questions can be. Maybe it's time to start thinking of rules for debate audiences. Here's a real simple one: Show a little class, and if you can't, show some respect.

Democratic congressional candidate Peter Goldmark picked a pro-business crowd Friday morning to challenge incumbent Cathy McMorris' ads that claim he supports tax increases and that she supports veterans. Appearing in a debate in front of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, Goldmark cut short his answer on a question about tax policy to turn to McMorris and demand she answer for a current television commercial that calls him "the tax man."

This year's first debate in the 5th Congressional District was a civil affair Thursday, with incumbent and challenger being generally respectful and polite. That had some Democrats, who apparently were hoping for red meat, a little underwhelmed. Longtime environmental activist Julian Powers was heard to grouse on the way out of the Spokane Club that challenger Peter Goldmark missed an opportunity to go after freshman Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris.

Ed Tsutakawa, a tireless advocate of international understanding who built a cultural bridge between the city he loved in Eastern Washington and the city he loved in Japan, died Friday evening at 85. The seeds Tsutakawa planted in 1961 with the Sister City relationship of Spokane and Nishinomiya have come full bloom, from the authentic Japanese garden that borders a South Hill neighborhood to the local outpost for a Japanese women's college built on the grounds of an old U.S. Army post.

OKANOGAN, Wash. – Federal forest practices contributed to the state's biggest wildfire in more than a century, and rules for cutting burned trees could lead to much of that timber going to waste, a congressional panel was told Wednesday. A steady stream of speakers told the House Forest and Forest Health Subcommittee that the federal government is hamstrung by bureaucracy and doesn't do enough to manage its timberlands before the fires start.

The fate of Fairchild Air Force Base – which was spared from closure last year but named as a likely target for some job cuts last month – is becoming a flashpoint in Eastern Washington's congressional race. If incumbent freshman Rep. Cathy McMorris "saved" Fairchild from closure, as a current commercial claims, why is the base losing jobs, her Democratic opponent Peter Goldmark asks in a commercial of his own.

The Democratic candidate for Spokane County sheriff was sued by his ex-wife for not paying child support in the 1980s, was under a temporary court order in 1993 for allegedly harassing a former girlfriend and pursued by a collection agency for not making payments on a computer. James Flavel, who is running a low-key campaign against Republican incumbent Ozzie Knezovich, said his failure to pay child support was a result of cash flow problems, and the anti-harassment order stemmed from a date in which he and the woman "didn't see eye-to-eye."

After more than a week of negotiations and a claim by challenger Mike McGavick that incumbent Maria Cantwell was "short-changing" Eastern Washington on debates, the major party candidates for the U.S. Senate apparently have nailed down two debates and another joint appearance in the coming weeks. An hour-long debate in Seattle and a half-hour debate in Spokane will be taped for later broadcast, and an hour-long joint interview of the two candidates by The Spokesman-Review editorial board will be Webcast live and available for viewing through the election.

Leaders of a dozen Western tribes tried to get a jump on a new crop of potential congressmen Friday, meeting with candidates from Washington, Idaho and Montana about their concerns on everything from the federal bureaucracy to the economy. There's no guarantee that the candidates – all of them Democrats – who spent the day in Spokane discussing those issues will be able to help them next year. They've still got to win in November.

Fairchild Air Force Base will lose about 260 jobs as the Pentagon accelerates plans to trim 40,000 full-time Air Force positions by 2009. The job losses will come from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing, which has more than 3,000 personnel at the West Plains base, said Capt. Jason McCree, a base public affairs officer.

Incumbents and challengers coasted through the congressional races in Tuesday's primary, prompting the campaigns to look for positive ways to view the results while they concentrated on a more important number. There are 47 days until the general election.

Despite record spending by critics and a barrage of stinging campaign ads, the state's longest-serving Supreme Court chief justice was holding a narrow lead Tuesday night over challenger John Groen, a Bellevue property-rights attorney. Justice Gerry Alexander was leading 53 percent to Groen's 47 percent late Tuesday. In the race for a second high court seat, Justice Tom Chambers easily defeated former lawmaker and judge Jeanette Burrage. Chambers had 58 percent to Burrage's 42 percent with about half the precincts counted.

Ozzie Knezovich went from "Ozzie who?" to Spokane County's likely choice for a full-term sheriff Tuesday, swamping Spokane Valley Police Chief Cal Walker in the Republican primary. In ballots counted Tuesday night, Knezovich held an 8,000-vote lead over Walker, a gap so big it's mathematically unlikely to change. He becomes the overwhelming favorite against relative unknown James Flavel – the lone Democrat and a former Idaho State policeman who has thus far campaigned little – for the Nov. 7 general election.

Washington state's Tuesday primary is causing so much confusion that election officials last week held press conferences and issued statements asking voters to be careful about how they mark their ballots. They don't care whom voters select. They just want to make sure that small mistakes in the unfamiliar partisan primary process don't invalidate any more ballots.

Spokane County United Way President Victor Forni is taking early retirement, the campaign's board chairman said Friday. Forni officially had been "on leave" as recently as Friday morning, but Chairman John Tombari said later in the day the staff was being told Forni was retiring and a formal announcement had been scheduled for next week.