On Tuesday, December 14, the state supreme court unanimously rejected a lawsuit filed by the state Dems that called for previously rejected ballots to be reexamined by county canvassing boards as part of the hand gubernatorial recount. Dems had hoped to gain votes in King County through the lawsuit,

but they could still get extra votes anyway: On Monday, after King County Council Member Larry Phillips realized his ballot had not been counted, King County announced that 561 ballots had wrongly been rejected. Republican Party Chair Chris Vance praised the court decision but fumed that King County Elections had been talking about further changing counting procedures to include even more ballots. "If they do that, we will go ballistic," he said, while not ruling out legal action over the county's decision to count the 561 additional votes. "Republicans hate lawyers until they need them to fix elections," Phillips countered. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

Carr Rocks Out

The Showbox reserved a prime table for City Attorney Tom Carr on Saturday, December 11, so he could see how the club keeps underage patrons away from alcohol during all-ages shows. (Saturday's sold-out lineup: Smoosh, Visqueen, and the Presidents of the United States of America.) Carr is in the process of penning a letter for the city commenting on a proposed liquor board rule that--if enacted--would kill all-ages shows at venues with a bar ["Show Stopper," Amy Jenniges, Dec 9].

Carr seemed to approve of the Showbox's operations. "That guy's checking every ID," he noted about the bouncer guarding the bar entrance. He liked the walls and buffer zone between the all-ages pit and the bar.

Carr's letter will join two other missives that recently landed in the WSLB's in-box. And hopefully, after Carr's trip to the Showbox, his letter will sound similar notes. Pro-music scene City Council member Richard Conlin and pro-music scene King County Council member Dow Constantine, who oppose the scene-killing rule changes, fired off their letters in late November and early December respectively. AMY JENNIGES

Not Convinced

The city council may have soundly rejected the People's Waterfront Coalition's no-rebuild viaduct alternative, which would tear down the Alaskan Way Viaduct and replace it with fixes to surface streets downtown, but at least one big institutional player--the Sierra Club--favors keeping the no-rebuild option in play. "In general I think the feeling is we tend to agree with the People's Waterfront Coalition," says Mike O'Brien, who sits on the executive committee of the Sierra Club's local chapter. "We have not been convinced by the city that the no-rebuild option is not a viable option." O'Brien says the Sierra Club will take an official position on the viaduct in the next few months. ERICA C. BARNETT

Ballard Dems Battle

In what some are spinning as a microcosm of the national tug of war between liberals and centrists in the Democratic Party, a showdown is brewing in the Dems' 36th legislative district (Ballard, Magnolia) for Thursday, December 16, when they pick a new chair. It's "activist" Peter House vs. "centrist" Harlan Boyd, according to House's supporters. Outgoing chair Judith Hine--who's backing Boyd--disagrees, saying Boyd isn't a centrist, he just thinks the chair needs to focus on process, not policy. JOSH FEIT

Money, It's a Gas

The music industry, which rallied this year around John Kerry's presidential campaign, hasn't demobilized: they've localized. Two weeks ago, band promoter and Mirabeau Room owner Dave Meinert threw a fundraiser for King County Council Member Dow Constantine, who's up for reelection next November. The crowd, an unlikely combination of suit-clad pols like Constantine and Richard Conlin and industry veterans like Scott Giompino and Mark Arm, put some $4,000 toward Constantine's reelection bid. Meinert says the Constantine confab was just the first in what could become a series of fundraisers for local political players. Next on his agenda: music advocates Nick Licata and Conlin, who've both opposed laws restricting all-ages shows. ERICA C. BARNETT

Sore Losers

Two weeks ago, "Monorail Recall" campaign leaders sent an e-mail to supporters that veered from anger to outright paranoia. "What a disgrace to our city that a few have brainwashed so many," says the e-mail, which reads a little like Richard Nixon ranting about his enemies. "That the voters did not understand our campaign at this point in time may not be the of the story... We fervently hope, along with you, that the monorail crashes and burns before construction can begin!" NANCY DREW