Jim Camden

Dale Foreman is eager to cut the state budget as governor. Photo by The Spokesman-Review

The Spokane City Council might push for two of the changes in the proposed strong mayor initiative if that plan fails at the ballot box, Councilwoman Roberta Greene said Tuesday. Some council members could be elected by district and be removed from the council if absent for four consecutive meetings, Greene said during a forum at City Hall.

Democrats hoping to knock off U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt clashed Tuesday in Spokane over the right way to fund that challenge, but agreed they'd spend what they could to win. Judy Olson of Garfield and Sue Kaun of Spokane disagreed over the best way to limit campaign gifts.

1. Sue Kaun 2. Judy Olson 3. George Nethercutt 4. Susan Kaun, far left, greets women arriving for a political discussion held in a private home. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 5. Judy Olson talks with union members building the Valley Mall. Standing with her is Tommy Flynn of the Carpenters Union. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Political consultant Ed Rollins.

Armey

Gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee took his attack on his Democratic rivals and public funding for football to the airwaves Monday. A statewide television blitz, the first of the campaign, highlights an issue Inslee has been pressing for months in forums and debates.

1. Jane Schelly still hopes to see her husband again. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review 2. Kashmiri rebels released this photo of four hostages in August 1995. They are from left: Keith Mangan of Britain, Donald Hutchings of the United States, Dirk Hasert of Germany and Paul Wells of Britain. File/The Spokesman-Review

Professional sports stadiums get a better deal than public schools when supporters need money from taxpayers, gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee said Sunday. "It's wrong that you can't build a high school with 59 percent of the voters' approval, but you can build a stadium with 50 percent approval," Inslee said during a forum sponsored by the Washington Vocational Association.

As Bob Dole prepares to take the Republican nomination, a new nationwide survey shows he has a tough fight to defeat President Clinton in the place where the race will be decided, the Electoral College. Individual surveys of the 50 states and the District of Columbia show Clinton with more than enough electoral votes to win re-election at this point in the campaign.

U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt is being sued for legal malpractice and conflict of interest in a case involving his former law partnership and a group of people he's never met. Three Western Washington residents say Nethercutt's Seattle partner, Thomas Hayward - and the firm the two lawyers once shared - mishandled legal documents for property left to them in a will. Because the documents were not properly filed by Hayward, the King County Superior Court lawsuit contends, the three siblings lost their share of their late mother's Seattle home.

Christian Coalition chapters in Washington and Idaho distributed thousands of candidate "scorecards" in 1994, and spokesmen for both groups say they plan to continue. "One of the main things we do is educate voters," said Bob Hoover of the coalition's Ada County chapter in Boise. "These are non-partisan, issues-oriented guides," said Dave Welch, executive director of the coalition's Washington chapter.

Dale Foreman holds a news conference Monday outside the Public Safety Building. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Congress needs to do a thorough review of the many agencies that gather intelligence and monitor and fight terrorists - and may need to consolidate them, the House Republicans' chief budget writer said Sunday. "I suspect we're going to find there's too many of them," Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, said at a press conference at Spokane Airways. "The military has never been enamored with counterterrorism responsibilities."

King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng thinks 17-year-olds who commit crime should be tried as adults. Tacoma attorney Jim Waldo thinks the state should change the 6 percent limit on annual property tax increases. Seattle Mayor Norm Rice thinks the heads of state agencies should hit the road once a month.

It may come as a shock to most voters that the election season does not officially start until tomorrow. After all, labor unions and business groups already have spent thousands of dollars flooding the airwaves in an ad war over U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt. Eleven candidates with at least an arguable chance of being elected governor have announced campaigns - and one even has dropped out.

Two Spokane television stations pulled a commercial this week that Rep. George Nethercutt contends is deceptive. A third station refused, saying it doesn't want to censor political debate. The ad, sponsored by the AFL-CIO, ties the Spokane Republican to House Speaker Newt Gingrich and uses the unions' biggest club so far this campaign season: Medicare. "It's all geared to destroy my candidacy and hold me up to ridicule and criticism," Nethercutt said.

Republican Cathy McMorris wants two more years in the state House of Representatives to push for a new prison for juvenile criminals and tax relief for property owners. In announcing her expected campaign for re-election, the 27-year-old Colville resident also said she had "unfinished business," such as fewer and simpler state regulations. "People tell me they don't know what regulations they're supposed to be following (for their business)," McMorris said. "And even when they call (a state agency) and ask, they don't get a clear answer."

Alcoholics and drug addicts who receive Social Security benefits because they can't work will be cut off, cold turkey. A little-known section of a federal law taking effect Jan. 1 says they won't be considered disabled if only their alcoholism or drug addiction keeps them from working.

With the swish of the Spokane River and the hum of a diesel generator in the background, two environmental groups unveiled the latest ad campaign Tuesday against Republican George Nethercutt. The League of Conservation Voters and Washington Citizen Action are buying ads on Spokane television and radio stations urging people to call Nethercutt and tell him to "protect America's environment." At a press conference along the Spokane River in Peaceful Valley, Mark Solomon of the Inland Empire Public Lands Council criticized Nethercutt's votes to revise the 1972 Clean Water Act and reduce spending on the Environmental Protection Agency.

Washington voters could put limits on their members of Congress and on bear hunters this year. They also could take a chance on opening Indian reservations to casino gambling. Supporters of initiatives on term limits, bear-baiting and Indian gambling turned in petitions with far more signatures than needed to qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot, the Washington secretary of state's office said Monday.

An Itron electronics technician will run for the state Legislature this year, promising to talk to a wide range of people and "meet everybody in the middle." Asa Jay Laughton, 32, said Friday he will run as a Republican for the 3rd District state House of Representatives seat being vacated by Democrat Lisa Brown. Laughton, a graduate of Medical Lake High School and Spokane Community College, said he favors tax reductions and less government spending, but is not yet ready to suggest ways to accomplish them.

1. Keith Mangan, Donald Hutchings, Dirk Hasert and Paul Wells appear in August 1995 photo released by their Kashmiri captors. They have been held for one year today. File/Associated Press 2. A Tuesday vigil in Spokane keeps hope alive for Donald Hutchings. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review 3. Donald Hutchings and his wife Jane Schelly.

Jane Schelly, wife of Hutchings