Megan Cooley

The Legislative 4th District has sent only Republicans to Olympia since 1994. But the Democratic challengers this year say the district isn't as conservative as some people think. They're estimating that 40 percent of voters are Republicans, 40 percent are Democrats and the rest are swing voters. A drive through Spokane Valley, the district's largest population center, might even give the impression that the Democrats have the edge. Their signs are staked in front of homes and businesses and are plastered on billboards.

Spokane Valley residents see the face of homelessness every day as they pass street corners where panhandlers beg. But Spokane Valley police Chief Cal Walker gets a closer look when he visits the growing number of campsites where many transients live. The areas are littered with human waste, food wrappers and empty alcohol bottles, he said.

A committee studying Spokane Valley's sign regulations recommended this week that the city loosen its restrictions on the size, height and appearance of signs businesses are allowed to put on their premises. The group wants the city to ease restrictions on the types of signs allowed on "aesthetic corridors," which are roads meant to be attractive boulevards. It would reduce the number of street miles dedicated to such corridors. And it would allow bigger signs on the walls of businesses and let businesses space signs on single properties closer together.

"Bullets," a 30-second TV ad by the Patty Murray campaign, attacks George Nethercutt's voting record on a range of issues and claims that Nethercutt is "too extreme for Washington." The ad says Nethercutt opposed banning "cop-killer" bullets, led an effort to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, voted against funding to reduce class size and sided with polluters to weaken water standards and increase arsenic levels in drinking water. Nethercutt's stance"She put out three negative ads in two days following the release of our latest Osama bin Laden ad," spokesman Alex Conant said, referring to a Nethercutt ad that gives the impression that Murray is sympathetic to the terrorist. "Clearly she's trying to get the focus off of her comments."Murray's stance"(Nethercutt's) votes, his record, don't match what he says," Murray spokeswoman Alex Glass said. "He's out of step with the people here in Washington state."Glass said the Murray camp created "Bullets" before the bin Laden piece was released Sept. 29, although it didn't air until Oct. 1.The bottom line The ad dedicates mere seconds to each of these issues.Cop-killer bullets: The ad states Nethercutt opposed a ban on "cop-killer bullets," which can pierce body armor, but that's misleading. House Bill 2703 was a broad anti-terrorism bill that Nethercutt voted against. The bill involved a study of cop-killer bullets, not a ban on them. Conant said the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives completed that study in 1997 and found that no new laws regarding cop-killing bullets were necessary. An independent verification of that study's findings couldn't be made Monday afternoon. Education: As the ad says, Nethercutt co-sponsored legislation to eliminate the Department of Education in the late 1990s. He wanted to "send a message that it wasn't serving the needs of our students," Conant said, and redirect department money to the states. Nethercutt no longer supports doing this because President Bush's No Child Left Behind is bringing about the accountability he was seeking, Conant said. Although Conant said Nethercutt has supported big increases in education spending, No Child Left Behind critics say the federal government isn't providing the money it takes to implement the act's changes.Water quality: The ad says Nethercutt voted to weaken water standards and increase the amount of arsenic allowed in drinking water. His camp says communities – especially rural ones – would have had to pay millions of dollars to comply with the water-quality standards put in by the Clinton administration during its final days. But editorials in The Seattle Times and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer scolded the House of Representatives and the Bush Administration for threatening the safety of drinking water through the two pieces of legislation Murray refers to in the ad.Ad watch is an analysis of campaign advertising that will run regularly during election season. Contact Megan Cooley at (509) 927-2165 or meganc@spokesman.comFor more information on the election, and to see selected campaign advertisements, visit the online election guide at: www.spokesmanreview.com/elections