Random shootings, political fundraising, mandatory sick leave and possible parking infraction rate hikes. But hey, at least the weather's ben nice. Welcome to your Monday Seattle. more ›

That should push Gregoire's numbers up even more, as King County is Gregoire country, and while about 370,000 votes have been counted, King County elections estimates they have 380,000 more to go. If that's correct, then about 67 percent of the county's registered voters turned out in the 2008 election. Which is okay. But not great, King County. Not superlative. Here's the statewide voter turnout. Little Columbia County, down in the southeast corner of Washington state, looks to be the GOTV leader so far. more ›

The Seattle Times Blethens have endorsed Dino Rossi (R) for Washington State Governor, saying "he can best be trusted to erase the state's huge projected deficit without raising taxes." The Seattle P-I endorses Christine Gregoire (D), pointing out, "Especially for uncertain times, she's a much more proven leader than her Republican rival, former state Sen. Dino Rossi." The Seattle Times, under Blethen leadership, has laid off about 20 percent of its staff this year, so we're a little dubious about their powers of prognostication when it comes to dealing with huge projected deficits. more ›

We just ran across the Seattle Times comparison of Gregoire's and Rossi's positions on the environment, largely cribbed from our exhaustive Seattlest coverage of the same topic. Republican Dino Rossi says maybe human activity is to blame for climate change, so operating on the theory than an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, "He...wants to spend $15 billion to expand highways and reduce traffic congestion, which he argues would reduce emissions." Seriously. He also thinks you should fix your leaky water hose by buying a much larger one and leaving it running all the time. more ›

• West Seattle Blog has what could at least be construed as good news for your wallet--the cost of gas is down $1 from its peak prices this summer.
• You've savored her crepes at local farmer's markets, and now you can support Anita and her delicious crepes at her brand-new Ballard restaurant.
• The Big Blog wonders why the Seattle P-I's website is blocked in Thailand.

Though we know you're just finishing up reading the transcripts from yesterday's Reichert vs. Burner debate, it's already time for another Washington State debate. Tonight, Governor Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi will meet in Spokane for the fourth debate in the hotly contested gubernatorial race. It's the second to last meeting for the candidates before the general election on November 4th. The final debate will be held between Gregoire and Rossi next Wednesday in Seattle. With the way things are going, maybe this go-around can be won by a margin of at least 200 votes. more ›

Governor Christine Gregoire has admitted Washington is facing a budget deficit for 2009-11 (currently the state has a surplus), after third-party "GOP" candidate (He's what now? A Republican?) Dino Rossi staked out the issue. Now that she's announced cutbacks and a raid on the state's rainy day fund to cut the projected $3.2 billion deficit by half, Rossi can't find anything good to say about that, either. It is thrilling to hear a Republican deride reckless deficit spending; Ronald Reagan was all for it. But besides his time machine which transports tomorrow's deficits to today, Rossi seems to have a magic calculator, too--his 8-lane 520 bridge practically pays for itself. more ›

• The always helpful Central District News offers Crave, who recently lost their Capitol Hill lease, some available locations in the CD. We second the idea, Crave in the neighborhood sounds great to this CD resident.
• Did you find a My Buddy Doll drunk in Belltown? Because someone lost one drunk in Belltown and have taken to Craigslist and Belltowner to find the doll.
• Sure they are gas guzzlers, but we're a total sucker for a gorgeous old car. West Seattle Blog has photos galore from this weekend's Junction car show.

Ali versus Frasier, Coke vs. Pepsi, Good vs. Evil, Gregoire vs. Rossi: the opposing sides in the great battles of our time. The latter, Gregoire vs. Rossi, is all geared up for an ugly rematch set to unfold this November. The candidates have announced that a duel err, debate will be taking place on October 1st in Yakima. The sure to be scintilatting, or at least mud-slinging, discussion will be shown statewide on PBS stations. more ›