It must have been the spirit of this week's Halloween celebrations, perhaps, which led P-I columnist Joel Connelly to pen a horrifying essay on what could happen if voters passed Initiative 985, the Tim Eyman-sponsored "traffic congestion relief" measure. Among other things, I-985 would deter cities from installing red light traffic cameras. According to Connelly, here's what would happen if voters approved the measure:
Vote in favor of the initiative and your kid may get smashed in the legs by fenders of a car running a red light, or your grandmother killed as she uses a crosswalk after getting off a bus.
Talk about a nightmare. Slight hyperbole aside, federal officials have another reason not to vote for I-985: The state would lose millions of dollars in federal funds. According to a letter from two federal transportation officials, I-985 could cut federal funding to the state and "stall highway projects, aggravate traffic congestion, increase air pollution, and force the closure of some freeway-access ramps."
Meanwhile, Eric Earling at Sound Politics makes an interesting argument against the initiative's plan to re-route city revenues for red light cameras into a state-run fund, saying "conservatives in particular should be troubled by the reliance on state government to tell local governments how to handle local issues (without any money to make that happen)." ...
A harrowing past:, Secretary of State Sam Reed penned an op-ed in The Seattle Times on Friday, explaining why voters should trust the state's elections system thanks to its dramatic overhaul during the past four years. Reed says the state has made "enormous strides to fix the flaws and to collectively create the trustworthy and transparent elections we all want and deserve." ...
An idea for Halloween: Everett Herald writer Eric Stevick reports several sleuths in Snohomish County have discovered Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's great-great-great grandmother is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery. ...
And finally, remember these guys? It appears they've moved on from promoting beer.
