Republican Dino Rossi is running for governor as a friend of business. Maybe he's a tad too good a friend. On April 21, Rossi, as he accepted the endorsement of the Washington Restaurant Association, called for a repeal of the soda syrup tax. On April 15, the Coca-Cola Company had contributed $2,700 to his campaign. And on April 26, its PAC threw in $2,500 more. A coincidence, campaign spokesperson Mary Lane asserts: "[Rossi] doesn't take positions based on contributions." Rossi has been raking in the dough overall, raising nearly $750,000 between July 1 and August 17, Lane says. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

Rocket Science Matters

In its annual survey of U.S. congressional staffers, Washingtonian magazine has, for the fourth consecutive year, declared Patty Murray to be "no rocket scientist." In this year's ranking of senators, Murray tied for first with Pennsylvania's Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum. Ouch! Our other senator took first-place honors in a more flattering category: Maria Cantwell won the "looks good in a bathing suit" race, besting even pretty boy John Edwards (who finished fourth). On the House side, our own Jim McDermott finished just behind Nancy Pelosi in the "biggest Bush whacker" rankings. He wuz robbed, we think. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

Consistency Doesn't Matter

KIRO 7 News aired an interesting report on Friday, accusing the Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner of flip-flopping on a state income tax. Christine Gregoire had opposed an income tax but then told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial board, "I think we ought to have that discussion," KIRO reported (Gregoire also flatly opposed an income tax in conversations with The Stranger's editorial board). Then campaign manager Tim Zenk all but flip-flopped as he denied Gregoire had flip-flopped. "We do not support a state income tax at this point in time, ever," he told the station. Thanks for clearing that up, Tim. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

Corporate Parents Matter

As we've reported before, one of the Seattle Weekly's corporate parents, Fortune 500 securities firm Goldman Sachs, is also one of George W. Bush's top-10 all-time donors, contributing $348,875 in the 2004 election cycle alone.

It turns out, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Goldman Sachs is also this year's number one contributor to the Republican National Committee--donating $508,654 to the RNC machine. You can watch the RNC in action next week in New York as it shows off its chosen leader at the Republican National Convention. We hope the Weekly's owners enjoy the show. JOSH FEIT

Skateboarders Don't Matter

Despite the Puget Sound Skatepark Association's successful spring effort to keep the popular Ballard Bowl skate bowl as part of a new neighborhood park--they even earned the mayor's stamp of approval ["Big City Mayor," May 20]--the city's parks department, it seems, would rather demolish the existing, two-year-old concrete bowl and build a new one just 50 feet away. PSSA members aren't putting up with that plan, explains Matthew Lee Johnston, and they're keeping up the fight for the current bowl (on Saturday, August 21, skaters rallied to keep the bowl). "They don't really understand that this bowl is meaningful to us," he says. "It's got soul. It's not just a cement hole in the ground." And, he adds, the budget-crunched city should be building new skate parks, not tearing down and rebuilding perfectly good existing ones. AMY JENNIGES

Size Matters

When a fluke in local zoning led to a proposed six-floor, 65-foot condo development in Ballard, locals were less than thrilled, especially since the neighboring buildings in the area (65th St. NW and 24th Ave. NW) top out at 40 feet.

"It will be a perpetual sore thumb," says Christy Cook, a Ballard resident with new group Shrink the Condo. Her group's message--shrink the condo--graced T-shirts at a Monday, August 23, Design Review Board meeting. The group wants to hold development to four floors. Project developer Kauri Development says a reduction of even one floor will mean a loss of approximately $1 million, nearly its entire profit margin.

However, "size" isn't Shrink the Condo's only gripe. Kauri Development is slated to use vinyl exterior. Driscoll Architects, working with Kauri Development, defended the choice: "Vinyl is not as blasé as it used to be." SCOTT BENNETT