Public Periscope

Mixed signals

State officials seem to be a bit unsure about some aspects of welfare reform. Welfare recipient Suzanne Coyne was told by a state social worker last month that state policy requires her to take the first job offered, a business in her home doesn’t meet the work requirement … But Gov. Gary Locke, who came up with the Work First program, didn’t seem to know that was the rule. Coyne called Locke during his TV call-in show last week, got through and described her situation. Go for it, the guv told the Spokane single mom. Self-employment for welfare recipients is a good path to self-sufficiency, he said.

The conflicting advice didn’t confuse Coyne: “It’s TV. They’re going to tell you what you want to hear.”

In case you’re wondering

The John Birch Society put up those “Impeach Clinton” billboards on Division and Sprague as part of a national petition drive to spur the House of Representatives to action … The die-hard anti-communists aren’t seeking impeachment on anything related to Monica Lewinsky, said Cliff Wasem of Clarkston, who is leading the Eastern Washington effort. They think the prez should be thrown out for bribery from allegations surrounding illegal contributions to the 1996 campaign … The petition drive also does double duty, offering signers the chance to become dues-paying members of a society affiliate. Wasem said he can’t estimate how many petitions they’ve collected in Eastern Washington, but when the national office gets enough petitions, it will drop them by Rep. George Nethercutt’s office. The Spokane Republican has not taken a stand yet on the one impeachment resolution introduced in the House.

He takes requests

Spokane Mayor John Talbott was talking on the telephone one day last week when he suddenly burst into song … Seems disc jockey Krystal Carlisle from KDRK’s “Cat Country” FM 94 was celebrating her 27th birthday and her colleagues wanted Talbott to serenade her with the birthday song. The mayor was quick to comply … If you’re wondering, he actually can carry a tune.

He’s baaack

Spokane attorney Steve Eugster says he has hopes of turning his occasionally published newsletter, The Spokane Observer, into a monthly affair. The opinion sheet has come out sporadically since 1991 and built its circulation to about 450, he said … Eugster, no fan of City Hall, devotes much of his latest issue to calling for the firing of City Manager Bill Pupo. But he tackles a few other local issues like sidewalk parking, university turf wars, Palouse erosion and drug decriminalization … OK, that last one isn’t local. He explains his call to legalize drugs as a longtime pet project.

Because you asked

An alert reader wanted to know the origin of the phrase “blue laws,” used in last week’s item about changes in county ordinances governing what can’t be sold on Sundays. Someone suggested it made people blue when they couldn’t buy beer after midnight Saturday … Not quite. The Oxford Companion to Law says it comes from a 1781 report that the Sabbath regulations for New Haven, Conn., were printed on blue paper.

, DataTimes MEMO: Public Periscope is published weekly and is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. You can contact us by mail c/o The Spokesman-Review, Box 2160, Spokane, Wash., 99210; by fax at (509) 459-5482; or by e-mail at jimc@spokesman.com.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT TOPICS Tuesday: The county Public Works Department will explain its $3.7 million plan to widen 57th Avenue this spring and summer. 4:30 p.m., Moran Prairie Grange, 6006 S. Palouse Highway.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports