WILD SKY FOE PLANS A FLIGHT OVER AREA

Guess who's coming to Wild Sky?

It's Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., the man responsible for keeping the
dream of wilderness advocates cocooned in the U.S. House Resources Committee.

Thursday from a helicopter, Pombo will get his first-ever look of the
106,000-acre proposed Wild Sky Wilderness Area in eastern Snohomish County.

Next to him will be Wild Sky foes, apple grower Ed Hussman and Republican
County Councilman Jeff Sax. No pro-Wild Sky passengers aboard.

Afterward, Hussman and county Republicans are throwing a barbecue in Sultan
to toast Pombo's two-year stomping of Wild Sky legislation, even though an
identical bill passed the Senate and the president signaled a willingness
to sign it.

Pombo, a purist when it comes to the 1964 Wilderness Act, said it covers
only land "untrammeled by man." There are plenty of tire tracks and
footprints in Wild Sky.

Yet, wilderness backers cling to hope that the flyover means Pombo has not
closed the door.

Not likely, staff members say.

Doug Roulstone's campaign for Congress is under construction.

Tuesday, he hopes to strengthen its foundation when he lunches with U.S.
Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
at the Everett Events Center.

Roulstone is officially the unofficial 2006 Republican challenger to
incumbent Democrat Rep. Rick Larsen of Lake Stevens, who won re-election
last year with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Hastert's visit is an unusual early nod of support for a guy who has not
raised much money, less than $100,000, or been endorsed by the state
Republican Party, though that's expected.

"The campaign has now gotten into a new phase," Roulstone said a few days ago.

Jeff Bjornstad, spokesman for the vacationing Larsen, saw it differently.

"Mr. Roulstone is going to need some speaker steroids to pump up his
flailing campaign," Bjornstad said.

Paying for lunch requires a bit of fiscal muscle. It's $200 a plate, or
$500 to eat and get a picture with Hastert.

State Attorney General Rob McKenna is the state's new meth cowboy.

On national TV this week, he dueled with federal officials trying to cut
money that helps states target makers, sellers and users of methamphetamine.

On Thursday in Olympia, McKenna gathered a new posse, the "Alliance Against
Meth," to figure out what caliber of firepower is needed against the drug
in Washington.

He wants to eradicate labs, halt cross-border dealing, lengthen jail
sentences and increase anti-meth education.

Nabbing traffickers is a goal. Posse member state Sen. Jim Hargrove,
D-Hoquiam, noted the obvious difficulty: meth couriers don't drive cars
"with an 'M' on them."

McKenna may run out of legislative bullets but he isn't surrendering yet.
"You just keep working on it," he said.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield's column on politics runs every Sunday. He can be
heard at 7 a.m. Monday on the "Morning Show" on KSER (90.7 FM).