Jim Camden

Spokane County sheriff's deputies have twice confronted people videotaping public meetings in the last month, prompting a local video producer to contend county officials are trying to discourage his involvement in the government process. At a public meeting last month on the proposed widening of Bigelow Gulch Road, county employees incorrectly used a state law to argue that their comments on the project could not be recorded. An armed deputy ordered video photographer Don Hamilton, a resident of the area and opponent of the widening, to stop recording their conversations. The deputy later changed his mind after a private attorney said he was misquoting the law.

Republican Cathy McMorris wants another two years in Congress to work on lower spending, less regulation, simpler taxes and a stronger economy. McMorris, the freshman representing Eastern Washington's 5th District, kicked off her campaign by invoking the optimism of Ronald Reagan and wondering why some Americans seemed to be questioning their "national purpose."

Tedd Nealey, a Palouse farmer and substitute high school teacher, said he will run this fall for an open seat in the state House of Representatives in southeast Washington's 9th District. Nealey, 59, said Wednesday he views the open seat created by the announced retirement of Rep. Don Cox as an opportunity to offer voters his experience in agriculture and education for a district that relies on both. The 9th District covers much of the Palouse and is the only legislative district that is the home to two state colleges, Washington State and Eastern Washington universities.

Spokane County candidates, and the donors they hit up, may have seen their last $1,000-per-plate campaign meal. A new state law will soon limit the amount of money that candidates for Spokane County executive offices and judges can raise from individuals, unions, businesses or political parties that want to show their support.

The crowd was small but the discussion wide-ranging Tuesday night as Republicans gathered for their precinct caucuses at North Pines Middle School. From taxes to energy to the war in Iraq, they debated their views, all with a theme perhaps best summed up by caucus attendee Jim Dods, a teacher at Valley Christian School.

Spokane County government needs to be more open to the public, say two Democrats who want to replace three-term Commissioner Phil Harris. Community activist Bonnie Mager said county commissioners need more televised night meetings as part of a push to increase civic involvement. Some may call it radical to give neighborhoods more control over development, she said, but to her it's just common sense.

Roald Halvorson remembers his first political caucus in 1932, as a college freshman supporting Franklin Roosevelt. Now there was a caucus – a passionate crowd, a campaign with big issues – he recalled Saturday as his Spokane County Democratic precinct caucus wrapped up in the Sacajawea Middle School cafeteria.

Voters who think their local political caucuses, like the presidential election, are two years away should think again – about the caucuses, not the race for the White House. Idaho Democrats, and Washington Democrats and Republicans all have these meetings for the politically active and the politically curious in the next 10 days, each on a different day, with slightly different rules.

Three-term Spokane County Commissioner Phil Harris jump-started his re-election campaign last month with more than $41,000 in campaign contributions, much of it coming from people or businesses that ask the county for changes in zoning or property use. Harris collected the bulk of his money to date at a campaign breakfast in January where many of the $1,000 tickets were purchased by people in the building and land development industries. The Board of County Commissioners rules on appeals of zoning changes from the Planning Commission.

A newspaper investigation into misuse of office by Mayor Jim West has lessons for public officials and for journalists, a panel of experts told a packed auditorium at Whitworth College on Wednesday night. For public officials, the main lesson may be that they shouldn't expect a private life.

President Bush wants some of the money that federal dams in the Northwest get for surplus electricity to be used to pay off the dams' long-term debt, much the way a family might pay down its mortgage when it gets extra cash. It's a "sound business practice," according to the 2007 budget proposal Bush sent to Congress Monday. No, it's a bad idea that amounts to a raid on the Bonneville Power Administration, said Northwest members of Congress. It might reduce BPA debt payments in the future, but it could raise electric rates to customers of public utilities by 10 percent right now.

Partisans on both sides of the debate wasted no time in cheering or bemoaning Samuel Alito's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. Among the more curious comments was newly named state Republican Chairwoman Diane Tebelius' criticism of the state's two Democratic senators. Shame on them, said Tebelius, for voting against "one of the most qualified nominees in 70 years."

Waiting for a few minutes in front of the television cameras after the president's speech Tuesday night, Republican Larry Craig of Idaho and Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington exchanged a quick "high five." President Bush had mentioned an initiative the two senators have been pushing through Congress – making ethanol from wood chips.

Former insurance executive Mike McGavick said consumers need more choices in medical insurance to help rein in the rising cost of health care. The federal government's latest attempt to give seniors more choices, with hundreds of drug plans for people on Medicare, is well-intentioned but clumsy, the U.S. Senate candidate said.

Democrats and Republicans could be waging a high-stakes battle for the state Senate seat in Spokane's 6th District. Auto dealer and former Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce Chairman Chris Marr officially entered the Senate race Wednesday as a Democrat, vowing to "take on the big money special interests" but holding a sizeable amount of campaign cash of his own.

Local activists who wanted to oust Mayor Jim West did not jump the gun when they gathered signatures last summer to put their recall proposal on the ballot, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In an unsigned opinion, the justices rejected the appeal of a lawsuit by former City Councilman Steve Eugster, who had claimed the signatures shouldn't have been collected before the high court published written opinions on West's unsuccessful challenge of the language in the petitions.

Spokane car dealer and business leader Chris Marr is planning a run for the state Senate against Republican Sen. Brad Benson. Marr, a Democrat, is selling his interest in Foothills Auto Group and has told friends and co-workers he expects to make a formal announcement in mid-Jan-uary.

Washington's two senators said they have no plans to return money from clients of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, while Idaho Sen. Larry Craig's staff is looking at campaign records before deciding what, if anything, to do with several contributions. Abramoff, a powerful Washington, D.C., lobbyist who pleaded guilty on Tuesday and Wednesday to corruption charges, did not contribute directly to Craig or Democratic Sens. Patty Murray or Maria Cantwell, campaign records show.