Jim Camden

A week after graduating from Rogers High School, Andrew Berg was on his way to being a Navy sailor. He'd turned 18 in February 1944, and with the draft there was no question he'd be called up, only a decision on what service he'd pick. "I was always sort of interested in the Navy and world travel." At the time, there were posters urging young men to "Join the Navy and see the world."

An election reform group intent on cleaning up the voter rolls is offering to file challenges against people who don't live where they are registered to vote. On Tuesday the Evergreen Freedom Foundation was able to claim a victory when a federal appeals court judge and her husband changed their Seattle voter registration to avoid a formal hearing over the group's challenge.

A federal plan to cut the amount of money doctors receive next year for Medicare patients takes the health system for seniors, and the doctors who treat them, in the wrong direction, Sen. Maria Cantwell said Friday. "We can't afford to have these cuts put into place," Cantwell said during a meeting with local doctors, business representatives and seniors in Spokane. "Our seniors are already having difficulty finding a physician that accepts Medicare."

A recall effort targeting Mayor Jim West does not rely on unsubstantiated news accounts or ambiguous comments by the mayor to a potential intern, the recall sponsor argued Friday in papers filed with the state Supreme Court. Nor is it about West's sexual orientation, Shannon Sullivan and her attorney Jerry Davis wrote in a legal brief that replies to arguments the mayor's attorneys filed last week.

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire defended the state's new gas tax Thursday as the way to shore up unsafe roads and bridges, and a small amount compared to the profits oil companies are making from rising fuel prices. Speaking to the state's AFL-CIO Convention in Spokane, Gregoire praised the Legislature for having the political courage to increase the gas tax, which went up 3 cents on July 1 and will rise a total of 9.5 cents by 2008.

In the Vel-View Water District, no one runs against an incumbent commission candidate. In fact, commission members hardly ever run. When a seat on the three-member board comes up for election on regular intervals, neither the incumbent nor challengers file for the seat, says the district's general manager Dennis Overbay, who is also a board member.

The seat left open by Spokane Valley Councilman Mike Flanigan drew six candidates before campaign filing in Spokane County ended Friday, but only two incumbents in other Valley seats will face challengers this November. Bill Gothmann, John Kallas, Ron Lippincott, Ed Mertens, Charles Parker and Dale Strom will vie for the open Position 6 seat in the primary.

Personal relationships among citizens of different countries are a key to peace and must be preserved despite the need for protection against terrorism, former House Speaker Tom Foley told delegates to an international conference in Spokane. "We have a challenge today because security issues … have created serious problems for visitors," Foley told Friday's luncheon crowd for the 2005 Sister Cities International Convention.

Mayor Jim West's private life shouldn't be a cause for his ouster from public life, the mayor's attorneys argued in a brief filed Thursday with the state Supreme Court. A proposed recall petition is poorly written and badly documented, and a trial court judge overstepped his authority by giving the allegation of misusing the mayor's office a wholesale rewrite, contends the appeal that seeks to toss the recall effort.

All three Spokane City Council positions will be contested in the fall elections after three more candidates filed Wednesday for the city's legislative body. Two first-time candidates, Daniel Day and Jeffrey Bierman, and perennial office-seeker Barbara Lampert, added their names to the list of city residents who want to be on the council.

Supporters of the proposed recall of Spokane Mayor Jim West don't have enough time to get that issue on the Nov. 8 general election ballot, the county's chief election official said Wednesday. The amount of time needed to verify some 12,600 signatures, coupled with state laws for notification and scheduling an election, means the county Elections Office would have to get signed recall petitions no later than Aug. 19, County Auditor Vicky Dalton said.

A trio of first-time municipal candidates filed Tuesday for seats on the Spokane City Council. Two joined the expanding field for the Northwest District's open seat while the third will challenge a Northeast District incumbent. Valentina Howard, a former charter bus and school bus driver turned stay-at-home mom, will challenge Councilman Al French in the Northeast District.

Incumbents looking for another term wasted little time Monday filing for office in the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley, and had no announced opposition by day's end. But a few contested races were shaping up for open seats.

The Washington Supreme Court will listen to oral arguments on Aug. 24 about whether the proposed recall of Mayor Jim West should move forward. The state's highest court set that hearing Monday, finalizing the schedule for West's appeal of the petition that would allow recall proponents to gather signatures in their bid to let voters decide whether he should be ousted for improper use of his office. The court is hearing the arguments during its regular summer recess under an expedited process.

Monday is the beginning of candidate filing week, which for political junkies can offer as many exciting surprises as Christmas morning for a child. Or as many jokes as April 1 in junior high school. Spokane voters won't know until Friday afternoon, when filing closes, whether they will have one or the other. So far in the area's two largest cities, Spokane and Spokane Valley, competition in the municipal races is relatively sparse where incumbents are involved.

Spokane Public Schools officials say there's no way they can take Mayor Jim West up on his suggestion that they buy Joe Albi Stadium from the city. West had made the suggestion late last week after School Superintendent Brian Benzel sent him a letter suggesting the mayor was reneging on an agreement to let the schools use the northwest Spokane sports facility until 2013.

Spokane Mayor Jim West will resume chemotherapy this weekend after routine blood tests and a CAT scan showed he has lesions on his liver, which signal a return of his cancer. West sent a memo to city employees Wednesday evening, explaining that he will be out of the office every other Friday as part of the treatments. He will have chemotherapy at a facility in Spokane on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then skip a week, and return for treatment the following weekend.

Federal judges who are stung by the criticism of "judicial activism" in Congress need to realize several things, a panel from both sides of the debate said Tuesday. Congress is a more partisan place than it used to be. Interest groups have more power than ever before. And the very definition of activism has changed.

The Spokane City Council may have cast its last vote on the River Park Square controversy, approving Monday night some $25.2 million in bonds to pay for the settlement of a federal lawsuit over the mall's garage. "This is my final vote on River Park Square," City Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers said as she cast the lone vote against the bond package. "Nobody's going to be held accountable. The taxpayers are going to foot the bill."

An effort to recall Mayor Jim West isn't about his guilt or innocence, sponsors of a proposed petition to oust the mayor said Friday night. It's about whether city voters want him to continue leading the city. "I've never said he was guilty of anything," recall petition sponsor Shannon Sullivan told a group of about 50 gathered for a meeting in downtown Spokane. "His behavior was inappropriate as far as I'm concerned, and I don't think he should be representing our city."

The referendum drive to repeal Spokane's domestic partner benefits ordinance has failed. County elections officials say sponsors of the referendum petition fell 121 signatures short of the number needed to qualify for the ballot.