Hat's off to our clean air folks in Spokane County

According to Men's Health magazine the Spokane region's airshed is among the highest quality airsheds in the nation. In the "greenest drivers" section of the magazine's analysis, the Spokane airshed ranked eighth overall and fourth cleanest airshed in terms of ozone occurrences. Check out this map of statistics. We also waste the least amount of gas. Check out out the tabs on the map.

You can read how they analyzed the top 100 cities for clean automobiles in this article.

In the "towns that breathe easy" section of the magazine (an overall air quality assessment), Spokane ranked 39th in the nation with a grade of B-. You can read that story here.

So I wonder why Idaho is trying to set an expensive and archaic vehicle emissions testing program in Kootenai County?

Gas Tax Goes Up By 1.5 Cent

Get ready folks, the gas tax is going up again- starting tomorrow. On Tuesday, the tax jumps by a penny-and-a-half to 37.5 cents a gallon in Washington.

The hike is the last step of a 9.5 cent increase that's been phased in since 2005. It was approved by the Legislature to help fund nearly 300 projects over 16 years.

Of the $8.5 billion that various new transportation taxes will raise over 16 years, nearly $3.5 billion will be spent on major Seattle-area projects: a downtown elevated highway, a floating bridge, and work on I-405. Other projects include more bridge repairs, reducing congesting, making highway safety improvements, improving freight mobility and $152 million for the North Spokane Corridor.

With the way gas has been going up recently, officials says the tax increase is “not going to be real noticeable” because it’s a diminishing component of the overall price.

Reason # 998 to wear your bicycle helmet...

Be sure to read this story to the grizzly end. Be careful out there.

Construction Work To Knock Off Early Thursday

Good news for people trying to get in or out of town for the Fourth of July holiday. The WSDOT says most construction work will be suspended by noon on Thursday, July 3 in anticipation of the increased holiday traffic. Work will resume on Monday, July 7.

Hands-Free Law Starts Tomorrow

Get that hands-free device if you haven't already, the new cell phone lasw starts tomorrow. And find a detour if you use the Barker Road Bridge, it's closing for a while. Here's this week's roundup from the Spokesman-Review's 'Getting There' column.

Interested in Congressional efforts to ease the pain at the pump?

I did a little research into the story below about how oil speculation in the commodities market was hyper-inflating the price of oil. I came across this page of testimony and evidence that was given members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week. If you are a dull policy wonk like myself, you can watch the experts brief congress on the issue, or view their powerpoint presentations and view investigative findings. It's all there...and if your concerned about the cost of oil, it is very interesting.

Hoopfest Closures, Hoop Loop Bus Pass

Many downtown streets will be converted to basketball courts this weekend, beginning at 7 p.m. tonight, through 10 p.m. Sunday, for the Annual Hoopfest 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament.

North-south routes will be limited; though access will be maintained on Lincoln, Howard, Bernard, Monroe, and Division streets. The main grid downtown will be closed to traffic including: Sprague Ave. from Howard to Lincoln streets; Main Ave. from Lincoln to Browne streets; Riverside Ave. from Bernard to Monroe streets; Broadway Ave. east of Monroe, Mallon Ave. from Post St. to the west side of The Flour Mill; Washington St. northbound at Sprague Ave. and southbound at Northriver Dr.; Wall St. from Spokane Falls Blvd. to Second Ave.; Post St. from Main to Sprague avenues; Post St. between Mallon and Broadway avenues as well as the Post St. Bridge; and Spokane Falls Blvd. at its intersection with Bernard St.

You may want to avoid driving in the downtown area and take advantage of the special Spokane Transit Authority ‘Hoop Loop’ pass which is good on regular routes and shuttles that go back and forth from parking on the outskirts of downtown. Call 328-RIDE to get a pass.

Wall Street Project Complete

Wall St. from Francis to Wellesley avenues has reopened to traffic after being closed to rehabilitate Wall St. from 200 feet south of Wellesley Avenue to Francis. Crews also replaced an 18-inch water main and paved the intersection of Wall St. and Wellesley Ave. with concrete.

Drivers can expect obstructions for the next week while the final detail work is done.

The $1.67 million project was funded with money provided by the 10-Year Street Bond and Spokane Transit Authority.

Analysts say Congress can provide relief in gas prices

According to four energy security analysts who testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, gas prices are hyper-inflated purely by speculators on Wall Street and are not supported by market dynamics.

In fact, they say that crude oil prices should be somewhere around $60 a barrel -- not the $140 per barrel that it's current trading for on the futures markets.

One analyst said that it wouldn't even take 30 days to drive prices lower if Congress stepped in to regulate speculation because fund managers would quickly liquidate their positions in futures markets.

"Record oil prices are inflated by speculation and not justified by market fundamentals," according to Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co. "Based on supply and demand fundamentals, crude-oil prices should not be above $60 per barrel."

Read the rest of the story here.

Man, I hope they are right and Congress has the political will to act accordingly. We will continue to monitor this...stay tuned.

Interesting Idea From A Spokesman Reader

Spokesman-Review Letters to the editor
Make drunk drivers safe ones

Why not let the drunk driver, convicted, submit to mandatory free "drunk cab" service? A free ride in a drunk cab would mean a sober driver (they would have special cars with breathalyzers built into the ignition) could have the chance to repay society through a lifetime of service driving the drunk cab.

A drunk cab would mean a safe, sober ride home regardless of the hour and never a charge. Drunk-cab drivers would have a lifetime of jail time suspended, only once, to be out in the world free and full of life, preventing the reason they are there.

Over time the drunk cabs would outweigh the normal traffic. And the roads would be much safer if there was a win-win alternative.

Michael Galasyn
Spokane

Okay, this is extreme. But there are some communities who have gone to the extent of starting non-profit agencies staffed by volunteers to drive intoxicated people home. I have also heard of a company where the employees ride those mini-bikes that were popular a couple years ago to a bar when you call for a ride. Once there, they load you into the passenger seat of your own car, the mini-bike into the trunk, and drive you home. They ride the mini-bike home, or back to work, and you pass out, with your car safely in the garage. It's a win-win situation. So what's your idea to keep drunk drivers off the road?

Oldest Profession Feeling Strain Of High Gas Prices

Think you're feeling the pain of high gas prices? Try running a brothel in Nevada. Normally I wouldn't post a story about prostitution on this blog (especially if my boss were in town) but this story illustrates how every sector of the population is affected by the high gas prices and slow economy.

With fuel prices at an all-time high, employees at Nevada's 28 legal brothels say truckers who frequent the brothels no longer have extra money to spend. The brothels are now even offering incentives to keep their clients, including gas cards.

Read the story and tell us if gas prices are hurting your employer or changing the way you do business. But don't tell us if you work for a brothel. We don't want to know.

Interesting Sunday in Portland...

Check this story out. The city of Portland shutdown a 6-mile loop to automobiles on Sunday and it went over pretty well. Apparently they tied the bike and pedestrian holiday into a series of festive events along the auto-free loop. I've heard some talk of trying this on a couple of streets in Spokane. Some people have even mentioned trying to do it on the entire downtown network on a sunny Sunday afternoon to see how it goes over.

What do you think? Does Spokane have enough interest in bicycling to pull something like this off?

Joe Albi Traffic Meeting

A second meeting will be held this week to discuss how to handle an increased amount of traffic to the Joe Albi Sports Complex that will be caused by the construction of a new sports complex on the stadium site.

The meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, June 24 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the West Central Community Center, 1603 N. Belt Street. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
The complex will be payed for with funds from a $42.9 million bond issue recently approved by voters. Phase 1 of the project will include softball and soccer fields, a skateboard park, a BMX bike course, play equipment, trails and improved parking.

In addition to funding from the bond, improvements at the Joe Albi Stadium Complex will also be funded by $4 million from the sale of park property that was approved by City voters in 1999 and subsequently held in reserve.

Division Street Obstructions Tuesday

Southbound Division Street will be reduced to two lanes at the Spokane River Bridge tomorrow, Tuesday, June 24, from 9:00 a.m. until as late as 3:00 p.m. for repairs. Motorists should expect slow traffic, congestion, and possible delays.

New WSDOT Spinoff Blog

Many of you have used the Washington State Department of Transportation Blog in the past to get information on the state of our roads, funding, etc. Well, the WSDOT blog is expanding. The agency has just introduced a spin off blog devoted specifically to WSDOT projects. The first project is to be highlighted is the Guide Meridian widening, which doesn't directly impact us, but check back, I'm sure we'll be seeing some area projects profiled soon.

Aimless Wandering Or Epic Adventure?

Got a free day, a car, and no particular place to go? Maybe you should try a “right-left-straight adventure.”

Here's the 4-1-1 on the newest kind of roadtrip

Construction, Construction, & More Construction

Maple Street, Belt Street, Freya Street, and 24th Avenue. All areas to avoid because of construction projects. Here's this week's wrapup from the Spokesman-Review's 'Getting There' column.

No, We Don't Condone Violence In Response To Gas Prices

AT&T Using Law To Push Hands-Free Devices

This made me laugh when I found it in my email inbox this morning. AT&T is apparently using our new state law against driving and talking on anything other than a wireless device as a way to sell more of their products. You've got to hand it to them for playing on our fears though :)

Plainclothes Agent At Ferry Terminal Spying On Passengers?

The Border Patrol is being criticized once again for using a plainclothes agent to monitor activity at the Anacortes ferry terminal. A worker at the terminal said he was approached by the agent to "inform on citizens," in his words.

The worker says the agent is essentially spying on ferry passengers – and approaching state workers to do the same.

Read the story and give us your opinion on the situation.