Pee to Play

The Seattle-based American Civil Liberties Union of Washington is launching the first court battle in the state's history over high-school drug testing. The ACLU is challenging the southwest Washington Wahkiakum School District, one of the handful of districts that -- unlike Seattle -- drug tests its student athletes. Wahkiakum policy dictates that jocks pee in a cup if they want to play. ALEXANDRA HOLLY-GOTTLIEB

I, Clone

E-commerce companies may have finally figured out a way to make money: by suing other E-commerce companies. SHOPNOW.COM, a Seattle-based Internet business, is suing ISHOPNOW.COM, an identical online merchandise outfit from Houston. The complaint against ISHOPNOW, filed in the U.S. District Court late last month, charges "Cyberpiracy," trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, and unfair business practices.

SHOPNOW, a trademarked name, alleges that the "I" in ISHOPNOW is likely to confuse online shoppers who apparently are unable to read and/or get off their asses and go to Fred Meyer. SHOPNOW is hoping to win compensation for all profits and advantages gained from the lucrative "I." No one's saying, however, just what those profits amount to. INGRID POLSTON

Phone Home

Angry members of the Seattle Community Council Federation (SCCF) would like to suggest a New Year's resolution to the Seattle City Council: Stop running afoul of the city charter! A recent letter sent from SCCF co-presidents Rick Barrett and Stephen Lundgren to the nine city council members and members-elect grouses, "We are surprised to learn of plans to hold the January 27-28 retreat some 60 miles away from Seattle at the La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib Restaurant. Please locate the retreat in the City Council chambers... and ensure that it receives TVSea coverage...." (TVSea, which airs all city council meetings on cable, is bailing on the La Conner meeting because they don't have the resources to broadcast it.)

The party poopers at SCCF have a legitimate point about the inaccessible La Conner meeting. According to the state's Open Records Act, any time five or more city council members meet, it is considered a public meeting -- which means the public is allowed to hear what's being said. More importantly, Seattle's charter requires that the council "not adjourn to any other place than its regular place of meeting."

The city's legal department, brought to you by Mark Sidran, says the council's road trip doesn't violate the charter, because

However, SCCF member Chris Leman says Sidran's "sneaky legal subterfuge" violates the intent of the city charter. JOSH FEIT

Saved from the Shredder?

In a move that would potentially violate the Seattle Police Department's labor contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild, the SPD says it's considering forgoing the annual shredding of internal affairs documents. (Every year the department shreds documents that are three years old.)

The department admits that it's "technically" violating its guild contract by delaying the documents' destruction, but they have good reason to hesitate: Schell's citizen review panel weighed in on the issue last summer. The panel recommended a revamping of the department's Internal Investigations Section (IIS), which reviews citizen complaints of police misconduct. The panel's recommendations threw into question numerous departmental policies, including the destruction of IIS records every three years.

The documents in question cover all internal affair records of 1996, including the investigative files on Earl "Sonny" Davis, an officer whose alleged theft of $10,000 from a dead man raised larger questions of problems in the entire department.

Once these documents are destroyed, there is no way to get information on unfounded complaints against individual police officers.

The department has declined to say if, or when, the 1996 documents will be destroyed. An SPD spokesperson says a decision will be made after the department "runs through the proper channels."

The guild could not be reached for comment, so it's not clear how peeved guild officers are about the policy waffling. If they are mad, they'll surely make an issue of it during current contract negotiations. So far, shredding has not come up, according to Fred Treadwell, an attorney negotiating with the guild for the city. PHIL CAMPBELL