Comcast's high-definition baseball asterisk

Those Comcast high-def customers who flipped to Mojo (Channel 664) Monday night, May 12, after Kenji Johjima smacked a game-tying, three-run homer in the 12th instead saw George C. Scott starring in The Exorcist III.

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The city's own series of tubes

Would municipal broadband service for all residents be better and cheaper than what the free market is providing now? Seattle City Hall wants to find out.

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Overwhelmingly, Washington voters would prefer a primary election to caucuses

A majority of registered voters across party lines would prefer that Washington become a primary-only state, according to a new Washington Poll. The finding, based on a Feb. 7-18 survey of 300 randomly selected registered voters statewide, comes in the wake of last week's largely anticlimactic presidential primary election, held 10 days after the state's party caucuses.

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Washington poll: McCain edges Clinton, loses to Obama; Gregoire widens her lead

A new Washington Poll shows that if the presidential election were held today, Arizona Sen. John McCain would barely edge New York Sen. Hillary Clinton but lose badly to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in Washington state.

The survey of 300 registered state voters, conducted Feb. 7-18, shows McCain over Clinton 48.6 percent to 45.1 percent — which is within the poll's 5.6 percent margin of error — but Obama handily beating McCain, 54.9 percent to 40.3 percent.

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Taking the long view, the Muni League investigates the Port of Seattle

After the devastating state auditor's report [PDF], an ongoing Justice Department investigation, and the Port of Seattle's internal review of its own operations, the Municipal League's announcement that it, too, will study port governance may seem like overkill. But appearances can be deceiving, said Bruce Carter, a Seattle Municipal Court judge pro tem who will lead the league's works.

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The Border Patrol swoops in on a domestic ferry run

Last week, cars and passengers disembarking the San Juan Islands route at Anacortes were met by feds who inquired about everyone's citizenship. Normally, no big deal. But this checkpoint was for a boat that had not been to Canada. The government isn't saying much about it, but islanders are buzzing.

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Managing that lump-sum property-tax payment

Government doesn't make it easy to pay the twice-a-year bill if you have paid off your mortgage or opt out of packing your taxes into the monthly mortgage payment. While lawmakers and tax officials work to make the system friendlier to multiple small payments, here are some options.

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A 'flood' at Safeco Field

A recent e-mail we intercepted from a stadium-loathing group that calls itself Taxpayers on Strike (TOS) asserted there's an untold story about another victim of the storm that swamped the state two weeks ago — Safeco Field. TOS's Vincent Koskela contended "the recent rain storm caused severe flooding at 'Safeco Field.' The lower bowl, Clubhouse and Dugout flooded. Four feet of water shot up in the Clubhouse. Conduits carrying TV Cables were full of water," Koskela wrote. Wrong on all counts, counters M's spokeswoman Rebecca Hale, who also saw the e-mail. Koskela claimed his info came from disclosures made at a Public Facilities District maintenance and operations committee meeting on Dec. 10.

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Shouldn't variable ticket-pricing work both ways?

Now that the Mariners have introduced premium prices for in-demand games like Opening Day, the Yankees, and Bosox, we were wondering if the club gave much thought to offering cheaper seats for the likes of perennial losers like Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Baltimore. Say, like charging 1999 prices?

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The insurance commissioner will make his case

Quick update about something we're keeping an eye on. Using the state’s premier trauma center as his stage, Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler on Wednesday, Dec. 12, will unveil a new report detailing costs taxpayers absorb to care for the uninsured and underinsured. With officials from Harborview Medical Center by his side, the commish will lay out a county-by-county breakdown showing a growing economic burden. The new report will add momentum, he hopes, to a universal health-care proposal Kreidler is drafting for the upcoming legislative session. Earlier this fall, Crosscut outlined the framework his plan to take care of more than 600,000 people who are without health insurance.

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Quake question for you: Extra home insurance, or not?

Let's ask the people who know how bad it can be: geologists. They say they prefer to put that money into home modifications that can lessen damage if the foundation starts moving.

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Rematch update: Gov. Chris Gregoire (46.8%) and Dino Rossi (42.4%)

A year before the Washington gubernatorial rematch, Gov. Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi are again running neck and neck, according to poll released today. The recent telephone survey of 601 randomly selected registered voters asked who they would vote for if the election were held today. The results: Democrat Gregoire 46.8 percent, Republican Rossi 42.4 percent, and Libertarian Ruth Bennett 2.2 percent. The remainder were divided between "someone else" at 1.2 percent and "don't know/undecided" at 7.3 percent.

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Washington's insurance commissioner will push for universal health coverage

Mike Kreidler, an elected Democrat, doesn't expect a proposal to pass right away, but he's begun crunching numbers and making speeches, and he thinks it's time for the state to take care of more than 600,000 people who are without health insurance.

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Why can't this environmentally aware city e-mail me my bill?

You can pay your Seattle utlitity bill online, but you can't opt out of snail-mailed notices, and they won't alert you by e-mail when it's time to pay. Meanwhile, the private sector is well along the path to paperless transactions.

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