Jim Camden

The Northwest's first cartographer used quill pens and parchment paper, but had much in common with mapmakers who use computers and satellite imagery some 200 years later, a historian said Wednesday. David Thompson, who mapped the western regions of what's now the United States and Canada, had to use a sextant to estimate locations while someone else paddled the canoe, naturalist and author Jack Nisbet said. Today's mapmakers get precise measurements through GIS – geographic information systems – aided by fast computers and sophisticated software.

The middle-aged man with a USMC Semper Fi ball cap and a "Freedom is not Free" T-shirt stretched over an ample stomach was arguing with candidate Hong Tran about the slogan on her campaign sign: Vote NO on war. Everyone volunteered, so no one in the military should be surprised at being in the war, he told Tran while lingering at her booth at Pig Out in the Park. She listened patiently and interjected thoughts about bringing troops home from Iraq and redirecting the money spent on war to other things.

A 1984 investigation into sexual abuse at a pair of Pend Oreille County boys' ranches has resurfaced in this summer's Spokane County sheriff's race, with one candidate's former boss contending he botched a key assignment some 22 years ago. Former Pend Oreille County Sheriff Tony Bamonte insists Cal Walker walked out on the investigation of the J-Bar-D and Reynolds Creek boys' ranches when he quit as a deputy for that county's law enforcement agency in September 1984.

A nine-member advisory committee to turn an abandoned military facility into "the gateway to Hillyard" will be set up by the city of Spokane with a strong membership from the northeast section of the city. The Spokane City Council approved Tuesday the basic structure of a Local Redevelopment Authority for the Joe E. Mann Reserve Center, rejecting a suggestion from Mayor Dennis Hession to change the membership of the nine-member board.

The ads: In the first half of a duel of 60-second radio commercials, Republican Senate candidate Mike McGavick criticizes Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell's vote against a bill that included a continuation for the state sales tax deduction from federal income taxes. He praises the deduction as a help for Washington families, and an announcer says "faced with this choice, Maria Cantwell voted with her party, against our deduction and against our families … Sen. Cantwell said she voted no because she disagreed with parts of the bill, yet when she was offered a compromise, she refused to even talk." McGavick then says his problem isn't really with Cantwell but "partisan nonsense" in Washington, D.C.On Thursday, Cantwell responded with a radio ad of her own, which begins and ends by quoting a Seattle Times editorial criticism of McGavick's ad, and notes she was instrumental in getting the deduction in 2004. It's the challenger, this ad says, who should stand up to Republican leaders "and tell them to stop playing games with the sales tax and the minimum wage."Cantwell campaign response : Chief strategist Michael Meehan says the McGavick ad is misleading because it suggests Cantwell opposes the sales tax deduction and should be removed from the air. Cantwell helped get the deduction passed in 2004, he said, and sponsored a permanent extension of it that passed the Senate earlier this year. McGavick campaign response: Spokesman Elliot Bundy says the ad doesn't question Cantwell's overall support for the sales tax deduction. "The ad is about this bill, where we feel she voted incorrectly," he said, and could be the last chance this year to extend something that helps many state residents. The ad won't be pulled, he said, but will be switched out as part of a regular rotation.Bottom line: The most questionable thing about the McGavick ad is that it leaves the listener with the impression that this was a bill mainly about the sales tax deduction. In fact, the bill was a combination of tax cuts, joined to a controversial increase in the federal minimum wage. It's a stretch to say she "refused to talk" because both sides acknowledge some negotiations took place over the bill, and there are conflicting versions of how they ended. It's also a stretch to suggest that the "partisan nonsense" was one-sided because both parties clearly did the calculations on how this would play with voters.The Cantwell ad benefits from allowing someone else – the Times – to level the harshest criticism and point out her history on the sales tax deduction, although it's essentially what her campaign has been saying for most of the month. This ad shares a flaw with the McGavick ad, the suggestion that only one side has been using this bill for partisan advantage.

The Bush administration is writing a "blank check" for military expenditures in Iraq and Afghanistan while it cuts back on services for Americans, congressional candidate Peter Goldmark said Tuesday evening at a forum in West Spokane. "We have to address the problems in our own country," he said.

Washington's primary election is scheduled for Sept. 19, but in reality it begins this week as voters around the state receive their ballots in the mail. With 34 of the state's 39 counties – including all Eastern Washington counties – converted to all-mail balloting, the concept of an election "day" might be a thing of the past. Some voters will be marking their ballots as soon as they arrive, others will wait a few days or a week to consider a particular race, and others will procrastinate until the last minute.

Republican Senate candidate Mike McGavick listed a 1993 drunk driving arrest among "mistakes I deeply regret" in an Internet letter to supporters Thursday. In an unusual confession on his campaign Web site journal that starts "What's wrong with politics today?" McGavick said his arrest and being a "part-time dad" to his eldest son after the breakup of his first marriage are "two great failures" in his personal life.

Spokane County commissioners probably weren't thinking of it at the time, but they may have earned the undying gratitude of the community's sign-makers last year. When they filled a vacancy on the county's District Court, appointing longtime judge pro-tem Harvey Dunham to the opening created when Harold Clark moved up to Superior Court, the commissioners laid the groundwork for this September's contentious five-way primary.

Spokane city voters might be asked as early as next spring to approve a bond issue to buy the YMCA property in Riverfront Park. The Spokane Park Board this week told the City Council that it has arranged for some temporary financing for a down payment on that prime piece of property, to keep a high-rise condominium unit out. They would then ask voters to seal the deal or let it be sold.

The lists of candidates for U.S. Senate on the Sept. 19 primary ballots are long, but the outcomes are hardly in doubt. Incumbent Maria Cantwell faces four other Democrats – public service attorney Hong Tran, Ephrata physician and frequent candidate Mohammad Said, advocate of orbital space colonies and frequent candidate Mike Goodspaceguy Nelson and moving company owner and frequent candidate Mike The Mover.

The Spokane County sheriff's primary is unusual in many respects, and not just because it's a spirited campaign for a post where the election has often been a mere formality. The incumbent, Ozzie Knezovich, is campaigning on change and talking of restoring trust and integrity to the department. Shortly after taking office he fired a long-time detective – who was also a campaign donor – for exposing himself at a drive-through espresso stand.

Sen. Maria Cantwell cut cake for the 71st birthday of Social Security, and Republican challenger Mike McGavick brought in a key Senate leader to raise money and tour a medical clinic Monday as the two candidates vied for voter attention in Spokane. Much of the political jousting centered on a bill that hit a brick wall in the Senate before Congress went on vacation.

As time was running out to file for office in Washington late last month, several surprise candidates filled the empty spaces on the Spokane County ballot. The late entrants created primary competition for three-term incumbent County Commissioner Phil Harris and ensured that the winner of the high-profile GOP sheriff's race between Ozzie Knezovich and Cal Walker won't be assured final victory.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's announcement that she would oppose a combined minimum wage and estate tax bill sent ripples through Washington state's political pond Thursday, with Republicans denouncing her decision while labor and low-income advocates applauded it. Like her seatmate Patty Murray, Cantwell voted 'no' on HR 5970, which would have raised the federal minimum wage, remove almost all estate taxes and make other changes in the tax codes.

With 18 candidates spread unevenly among nine District Court positions this fall, Spokane County voters might need some help figuring out who is who, and who should get their vote. Candidates who appeared Tuesday at the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce's judicial forum had varying bits of advice on how to choose among the throng of candidates.

The way Washington state elections officials are checking new voter registrations is illegal, a federal judge said Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez issued a preliminary injunction against state and county elections officials, saying a new requirement that a prospective voter's driver's license or Social Security number must be matched before the registration is approved conflicts with federal law.

As the shock of Wednesday's state Supreme Court ruling against same-sex marriage wore off for both sides – a notch or two up from despair for those in favor, a notch or two down from elation for those opposed – a familiar theme emerged. The fight over allowing or preventing marriage for homosexual couples is not a sprint, both sides said last week. It's a marathon.

The U.S. Senate race is NOT just a contest between Democrat Maria Cantwell and Republican Mike McGavick. It will be after the Sept. 19 primary, unless one of them does something unfathomably stupid. But until then, the primaries can provide some diversions, particularly for Democrats, whose ballots will include Michael Goodspaceguy Nelson.

Names on Washington's primary ballots multiplied rapidly Friday as the deadline for candidates to file for office approached. In Spokane County, several races that looked like one party or the other would be without a candidate filled up, and in one case, created a contest in the primary.

Marge Ballack and Diane Lantz were ready Wednesday morning to get married. Again. That prospect meant they'd hardly slept Tuesday night and left them anxious Wednesday morning as they waited for a court to say whether or not they could.

For the 11th year in a row, retired nursing assistant Barbara Lampert is running for office. Lampert, 60, filed this week to run as a Democrat against state Rep. John Ahern, a three-term Republican incumbent in the House. It's the first elective position she tried to win, back in 1996, when the seat was held by Ahern's predecessor, Duane Sommers.