On January 14, the statewide gay rights group Equal Rights Washington (ERW) made a big announcement. "[ERW] has hired two very well qualified lobbyists," co-chair George Cheung told the crowd at an ERW cocktail hour. Lobbyists Kim Hoff and Vicki Austin will head to Olympia to help pass an anti-discrimination civil rights bill, first introduced 28 years ago.

ERW's good news couldn't have come at a better time: Last week, there was grumbling in gay rights circles that a right-wing religious group had already secured two lobbyists to fight against gay rights, and two ERW board members had resigned--at least one, it was speculated, out of frustration with ERW's political strategy: Activists feared the group was going to lay low in 2005 to avoid provoking an anti-gay backlash. Cheung's news quelled those rumors. AMY JENNIGES

The Fox and the Shark

Conservative Sound Politics blogger Stefan Sharkansky, who has worked relentlessly to undercut the legitimacy of Christine Gregoire's narrow gubernatorial victory, is rapidly emerging as a darling of the conservative media. On January 17, he made his first national appearance on--you guessed it--Fox News. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

Sell of the Ball

While most people at Gov. Gregoire's January 12 Inaugural Ball were busy quaffing free champagne and lounging drunkenly in senate and house offices, King County Democratic Chair Greg Rodriguez was working. Rodriguez, who's challenging state Dem Party Chair Paul Berendt for the party's top spot, saw the building full of happy Democrats as a perfect campaign opportunity. "Got to go," Rodriguez said shamelessly after a quick chat and handshake, "Tonight's all about getting out the vote." Rodriguez, whose pitch that night was that "we shouldn't be in this situation" (a reference to the Ds' poor gubernatorial campaign and too narrow victory), disappeared into the crowd to find the lucky party members who get to vote in the January 29 election. JOSH FEIT

Bidder Battle

Team Monorail, the Bombardier-led consortium that was one of two contenders to design and build the 14-mile Seattle monorail, sent a letter last week to the Seattle Monorail Project's board and its executive director, Joel Horn, expressing an interest in getting back into the running. Team Monorail pulled out of the bidding process last August, two days before the deadline to submit a bid, because it was unable to meet the agency's financial requirements and deadline.

Contract negotiations between the SMP and Cascadia Monorail Company, the sole remaining bidder, have dragged on months past the original expected end date, sparking speculation that the discussions are going poorly. In the letter, Bombardier VP Denis Bouvette said that the company has "noted with keen interest that SMP still has not awarded the contract to our competitor," adding that Team Monorail is "suggesting that SMP revisit the current procurement, reissue or modify the RFP, and invite Cascadia and Team Monorail to submit proposals."

But Horn said the agency has "no current plans to reopen the procurement process." However, Horn added, if SMP and Cascadia fail to come up with a proposal, "SMP remains open to proceeding with other options," including reopening the bidding process. ERICA C. BARNETT