1. Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel—the Ballard business that's attempting to hold up the completion of the "missing link" of the Burke-Gilman Trail by claiming the bike path needs more environmental review—just ran into some environmental trouble of its own. Yesterday, the state Department of Ecology fined the gravel company $12,000 for repeatedly spilling sand and gravel into the Lake Washington Ship Canal, among other violations.

MyBallard has the scoop .

2. Yesteday's news about R-71 making the ballot (the measure asks voters to decide the fate of state legislation that gives domestic partners the same rights and responsibilities as married couples) generated varied responses from this year's candidates.

Mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan and King County Council Member and County Exec candidate Dow Contstantine both issued formal statements saying they supported domestic partnership rights. (Mallahan beat everyone to the punch by nearly two hours.)

Former KIRO-TV anchor and County Executive candidate Susan Hutchison did not issue a statement, and she did not respond to a call from PubliCola.

Late in the afternoon, mayoral candidate Mike McGinn called to say he supported domestic partnership rights, and in the boldest statement of the day, told us he supported gay marriage.

3. Despite joking repeatedly that he wouldn't put any more of his own money into his campaign "if my wife has anything to say about it," mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan wrote himself another check this week—this one for $30,000. That brings the T-Mobile executive's underwriting of his own campaign to $230,100—well over half of his total contributions.

However, the rest of his money—$170,000 in contributions from individuals and businesses—is still nearly twice as much as his opponent Mike McGinn has raised overall. McGinn has raised about $95,000 in contributions.

4. What does Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis plan to do after Team Nickels leaves office? He doesn't have any plans yet. Ceis, who applied for the top job at the chamber of commerce earlier this year while Mayor Greg Nickels was still planning on a third term, says, "I haven't had time to think about it yet. I'm too busy doing what needs to get done here."

Next week, after he drops his daughter off at college in the midwest, Ceis says he plans to take a weeklong vacation road tripping along the lakes of Wisconsin where he'll "spend some time with myself to think about it."

This morning's Morning Fizz brought to you by Re-Elect Richard Conlin.