OLYMPIA – Foes of Tim Eyman’s latest $30 car-tab initiative want Thurston County Superior Court to throw out about 3,000 pages worth of voter signatures. That would kill Eyman’s chances of a public vote this fall.
Fifteen business, labor and environmental organizations announced the challenge on Tuesday, invoking a 2005 law that requires signature gatherers to personally sign a declaration that the information on the petition is correct.
Initiative 917 solicitors did not sign the statement on more than 3,000 of the 17,000 petitions, and those pages must be thrown out, the group said.
The new law requires that petitions include a declaration on every sheet.
The state elections division initially planned to reject all pages without the solicitor’s signature, but later deferred to an opinion by the attorney general’s office that the signature was not absolutely required.
Ephrata: Yakama tribe, PUD reach dam deal
The Yakama Nation and the public utility district that runs the Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams on the Columbia River have signed a deal aimed at protecting migrating salmon, steelhead and other species.
After nearly two decades of discussions, Yakama officials signed the agreement with the Grant County Public Utility District during a gathering at the utility district’s headquarters Monday.
The accord was part of the PUD’s relicensing agreement to operate the Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams. The PUD’s license to operate both dams expired in October 2005.
The new agreement calls for replacing turbines at both dams with ones that are more efficient and allow more fish to pass. Fish passages for fish migrating downstream will also be installed at both dams, and water flows will be adjusted to accommodate spawning.
Idaho: Lawyer opposes death penalty plan
Convicted sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan III should not face the death penalty at his triple murder trial, his lawyer argued in new court documents.
Kootenai County public defender John Adams filed a motion on Monday against the prosecution’s notice of intent to seek the death sentence.
Prosecutor Bill Douglas declined to immediately respond to the motion.
In August 2005, Duncan was charged with three counts each of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. Conviction on any of those counts carries a maximum sentence of death.
On Monday, Adams contended the charging documents lacked the specifics needed to file a capital penalty.
“In neither the complaint nor the information did the state allege any aggravating circumstances” as required by law, he wrote.
Associated Press
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
