1. Last Friday Gov. Chris Gregoire told the Everett Herald she would sign the high-earners income tax initiative and that she "suspects" she'll eventually vote for it.

As the Seattle Times then pointed out, Gregoire has gone on record (including in a 2008 campaign ad) saying she does not support an income tax.

The GOP has caught Gregoire this apparent flip-flop before too.

To find out exactly where Gregoire stands, we called her office yesterday. They could not tell us Gregoire's position on a straight-up income tax. But they did say she supports putting I-1007—the high-earners income tax—on the ballot because "it's dramatically different than earlier income tax ideas" that she's opposed—like Ron Sims' graduated income tax idea in 2004 when he ran against Gregoire in the Democratic primary—"[because] the new Gates proposal reduces property taxes by 20 percent and reduces the B&O tax for small businesses, and it creates a stable fund for education."

Gregoire's office told us she was "intrigued" by the idea (particularly creating a stable fund for education) and wants it on the ballot because "it's worth having a vigorous public debate."

They say she's "being earnest" when she says she supports the debate and not necessarily the initiative by wanting it on the ballot.

Gregoire's political consultant Kelly Evans is also running the I-1077 campaign.

2. On his blog yesterday, City Council member Richard Conlin came out strong for bus rapid transit on 520, rather than the light rail Mayor Mike McGinn says he wants on the bridge. Although Conlin starts off conceding blandly that "at some point light rail might be a good addition to 520," he goes on to quickly smash the arguments for doing just that.

The 520 corridor between I-5 and I-405 has no dense urban communities to serve, and little prospect of creating any.  We’re not going to rezone Montlake for high rises. Running rail on freeways is generally a bad idea unless you have no other choice.  That’s why the region runs Airport Link through downtown and the Rainier Valley instead of along I-5–because it’s to connect Seattle residents to their homes and jobs, not just to get people to and from the airport.

The study done for Mayor McGinn ran a light rail line from Haller Lake to Sammamish.  There is no plan or engineering for that corridor.  There are difficult technical decisions about routes, tunnels, and crossing the Montlake cut, as well as a very large, uncertain, and unfunded cost.  And this route has not been studied sufficiently to know whether it serves enough riders to be justified and would be a priority in comparison to other regional needs. This route may also end up creating an incentive for sprawl and breaking the Growth Management Boundary by running a major transportation line to Sammamish.  And the possible options to connect to the UW Light Rail station or downtown may have additional impacts on our neighborhoods and the Arboretum.  Lines on paper may look appealing—until we fully understand the actual impacts.

3. Deep thought: Why should we build two light rail lines to Bellevue when most of Seattle doesn't even have one?

4. The Fizz has been accused of starting rumors before, so this morning we'll do our best to diffuse one that we were hearing last night. The rumor: State Rep. Deb Eddy (D-48, Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Medina) isn't going to run for reelection in 2010. Eddy didn't get back to us, but her highly-acclaimed consultant Christian Sinderman did. He told us: "Deb will run again [in 2010 for her House seat]."

5. Contrary to Erica's initial characterization of fare evasion on Link light rail as "rampant," Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray said that the agency's fare checkers have found that fewer than 3 percent (2.85 percent, to be precise) of riders failed to pay their fare. Gray conceded that it's "possible" that fewer people pay late at night or in the very early morning because of the perception that no one is checking fares at those times—"Of course you want the most fare checking at the times when you have the most riders"—but added, "I know I’ve been checked at every hour of the day and night."

6. The Seattle-Tacoma International Taxi Association (STITA) is testifying before the King County  Court of appeals today regarding a suit they filed, lost, and are now appealing against the Port of Seattle. STITA lost the Sea-Tac contract earlier this year when the Port awarded the contract  to Yellow Cab.

STITA is blocking the deal claiming that because the port knew Chris Van Dyk, a local consultant, was representing both Yellow Cab and a consortium of three other cab agencies, STITA not included, the bidding process was flawed and therefore invalid.

Van Dyk is also being sued by Farwest Taxi (one of the companies in the consortium who also lost to Yellow Cab) for a breach of contract because of the double representation.

Van Dyk told PubliCola there was no wrongdoing and the proposal he wrote for the consortium and Yellow Cab were precisely the same, only Yellow Cab offered more monetary return to the port and was therefore chosen.

7. Gov. Chris Gregoire and TransAlta announced yesterday that they're resuming talks to phaes out the company's coal-powered steam plant in Centralia by 2025. (The plant is controversial because its a major greenhouse gas polluter and it receives a $4 million tax exemption from the state—which the legislature tried to kill this year , but couldn't because Gregoire didn't want to sour negotiations.

The Sierra Club, outraged by the tax break, countered with an announcement of its own yesterday, putting the pressure on Gregoire:

"We want to ensure that a range of alternatives are put on the table for the public to evaluate, including a 2015 transition date...We cannot hold our breath while this plant pollutes for another 15 years."