The Seattle Times is recommending voters reject Initiative 985, the Tim Eyman-sponsored measure that would create a statewide "traffic congestion relief" fund, eliminate localized revenues for devices such as red-light cameras, and open HOV lanes during non-peak hours. The paper's editorial board writes, "I-985 is a poorly-packaged jumble of different agendas that will – please, listen carefully – wor-sen traffic in certain areas. It makes no sense to design a functioning, complicated traffic system by initiative." ...

As if that wasn't scathing enough, Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly says the initiative is a "Christmas stocking stuffed with coals," adding that "Eyman is a skilled salesman, but he isn't a traffic engineer." Connelly drove across the SR520 bridge six times to see if Eyman's plan to open the HOV lanes after 6 p.m. would result in decreased traffic congestion. His verdict isn't pretty:

Instead of congestion relief, as you approach the Evergreen Point Bridge, I-985 would likely transform two lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic into three lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Instead of sailing by in the car pool lane, the Sound Transit express bus from Redmond to Seattle would be mired in traffic ... along with van pools, other buses and the soon-to-be-expanded Microsoft Connector."

Meanwhile, supporters of the "death with dignity" measure, Initiative 1000, ought to be ecstatic over receiving a big endorsement Sunday from The Times. Money quote:

Make no mistake: This is assisted suicide. It is a grim decision, and many may think it a wrong one, but we believe it should be the right of the terminally ill to decide for themselves.

If the decision needs to be wrapped in more precautions, the Legislature can add them.

But for the voters to reject I-1000 is to deny the patient the right to make the decision at all. On the grounds of compassion for the suffering, and recognition of the individual as a moral agent, death with dignity is a right that should be allowed.

Though newspaper endorsements don't tend to have any real effect on voters' opinions, the Times' recommendation, along with supporters' considerable financial advantage, points to the increasing likelihood of I-1000's approval on Nov. 4.

That's the ticket: The editorial board at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer endorsed Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire on Sunday, saying she's "a much more proven leader than her Republican rival, former state Sen. Dino Rossi." ...

That's truthiness: Associated Press reporter Curt Woodward outlines the truths, half-truths, and outright lies coming from Gregoire and Rossi about the state's budget troubles. ...

That's convenient: Still star-struck from An Inconvenient Truth? Well, Nobel Prize-winner and former Vice President Al Gore will be in Seattle on Oct. 24 to headline a fundraiser for the re-election campaign of Gov. Chris Gregoire. ...

That's a doggone shame: Three members of the King County Council recommended yesterday that the county stop its animal shelter service, saying its staffing, oversight and accountability problems were too entrenched to fix. While county executive Ron Sims was disappointed by the councilmembers' proposal, some animal rights activists, surprisingly, were supportive. ...

Another day, another lawsuit: Two former state Supreme Court justices are filing a lawsuit in King County accusing Rossi of coordinating illegally with the Building Industry Association of Washington to "raise funds for independent expenditures that now are helping Rossi." ...

Another day, alone: Adam Wilson at The Olympian reports there are now only 10 reporters in the Capitol Press Corps covering the Legislature in Olympia, a 29 percent drop in six months. ...