Gore Vs. Bush II

After Al Gore's hour-long keynote speech on opening night of last weekend's state Democratic convention in Tacoma, the Democratic troops at the Sheraton could be heard sighing in frustration: "Why isn't this guy our nominee?"

Vice President Gore (or President Gore if you count the votes) was relaxed, casual, funny, and then decidedly explosive in his first speech since his lovely harangue in New York City. To the delight of Washington's liberal rank and file, Gore called Bush a "moral coward" for kowtowing to rich contributors; said Bush's principal advisor on energy policy was disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay while, likewise, Bush's principal advisor on Iraq was Ahmed Chalabi; said Private Lyndie England didn't make the decision to undermine the Geneva Convention--"that came from the Bush White House"; said Bush "put George Orwell to shame in his use of the English language"; and finally, took man-of-the-year Richard Clarke's line, saying: "After we were bombed by Japan, FDR didn't invade Indonesia... [Do you] get my meaning?"

Judging from the applause, it was clear the crowd got Gore's meaning. Although, you have to wonder if any of the local D bigwigs on stage "got it" when Gore pointedly called for a round of applause for Rep. Jim McDermott. The leftist Seattle congressman's name had been notably absent from the night's earlier speeches honoring the Washington delegation. JOSH FEIT


Biotech Times

Last November, the Seattle Times Company announced that it wanted to sell five acres of land--eight properties--in South Lake Union. The move, a memo from the paper's publisher explained, was aimed to catch the eye of biotech developers who are turning the neighborhood into a life-sciences hotbed.

It appears the strategy may have worked: According to an employee who works in a nearby office, staff from Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. --the driving force behind the neighborhood's development--have been "coming in and out for weeks," inspecting the properties and doing soil tests. Vulcan has reportedly told neighborhood employees they have no immediate development plans for the properties, but the big sale "sounds like it's going to be official at the end of this month," one worker says. Reps for the Seattle Times Company and Vulcan did not return calls. AMY JENNIGES


Impound Update

Last week, the state supreme court declared unconstitutional a state law that allowed the Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) to suspend people's licenses for failing to pay their traffic tickets. The decision, which says the DOL violated the plaintiffs' constitutional right to due process because it didn't provide a hearing or an opportunity for appeal, could have major implications for the city. The decision eliminates the only remaining penalty for failing to pay traffic tickets. (Impoundment, the other alternative, was struck down in a 6-2 council vote last month.) "It makes my life simple," City Attorney Tom Carr says. "The question is, will people pay their tickets?"

Lisa Daugaard, an attorney with Seattle's Defender Association, says she doesn't have a problem with suspending someone's license because the person refuses to follow the law; the issue is, she says, "Are the penalties fair and do people have the opportunity to respond to them?" ERICA C. BARNETT