Public Periscope
What’s in a name?
We just received a copy of the 1998 annual report from the Washington Public Power Supply System, and a note saying it will be our last. Not because the giant nuclear power and debt-generating entity is disappearing, but because it expects to be changing its name … The folks at WPPSS have been looking for a new moniker for years, ever since people marveled at the foresight of those utility visionaries who devised an acronym that would be pronounced “Whoops” for a system that slipped into the largest municipal bond default in American history.
The WPPSS folks aren’t saying if they have a new name yet, so we thought we’d suggest a few for those partially finished nuke dinosaurs in the desert at Hanford and outside soggy Satsop.
How ‘bout the Outside Oregon Power Supply System, which would be OOPS. Or Never Opt Out of Nuclear Options, NO-O-NO. Or Sometimes Our Resources Reach You, or SORRY.
But they’ll probably forego the acronym in favor of a word that doesn’t really mean anything. Note to WPPSS: Avista is already taken.
Repeat after us: Every vote counts
The count of stray ballots continues at the Spokane County elections office and the fate of the city’s proposition to change the initiative process remains very much in doubt. When the largest batch of absentee ballots were counted on Friday, Proposition 3 was failing by a mere 12 votes out of nearly 47,000 cast … There’s another 1,900 ballots that could be validated this week, so anything could happen. But here’s the real kicker: Prop 3 had more than 11,000 people who couldn’t decide how to vote, or just plain skipped this measure. No matter how this one turns out, they’re the ones who decided the measure, by not deciding.
A final election note
The elections are over, but here’s a bit of campaign news that’s too good to pass up. If you received a copy of the state Voters Pamphlet, you may have noticed the color artwork on the cover of Sacajawea and other members of the Lewis and Clark expedition … The pamphlet explains it shows the first time that non-Indians in the Northwest settled something by voting. But the artwork is notable for a couple other reasons: It’s the first color art on a voters pamphlet. And it was created by Spangle artist Nona Hengen.
Mirror, mirror
This is an unusual item for Periscope - nothing to do with government or politics - but it’s an interesting story we’d like to see resolved. Years ago, the Unitarian Church was given a large baroque mirror, which it hung in the Glover Mansion. The church is no longer in the mansion, but the mirror - some 12 feet high, with an ornate, gold-leafed and carved frame - remains … At one time, members of the church were told a twin of the mirror exists somewhere in Spokane and the owner might want to buy the church’s mirror, which is about 100 years old. The church wasn’t interested then, but it is now … Problem is, no one knows who that formerly interested party was, and if he or she is still interested now … Anyone who can shed light on this situation is asked to call Jean Larson at 448-2631. If it helps jog anyone’s memory, the mirror can still be seen in the Glover Mansion.