Washington's state legislature is back in session. By late spring, it will consider hundreds of bills that would affect your life. But you'd never know it from the news. Whether it's Olympia's isolation (the ratio of Oly's population to that of Wash. state is the smallest of any state capitol city in the U.S.) or the part-time, every-other-year nature of the legislature, few media outlets have permanent, well-staffed bureaus to report on what this state's lawmakers are up to. What we get are the spectacular stories and the done deals. This is particularly dangerous because our legislature harbors one of the biggest percentages of crackpot bigots in the country. People that make Ellen Craswell and Jack Metcalf seem mainstream now enjoy control of both state houses. And Gary Locke's record entering office is far more conservative than that of his predecessor. Locke has an unusual amount of freedom for a new governor to mold (or veto) legislation. He promised very little to anybody as a candidate, running (and winning) on a general election platform of not being Ellen Craswell. It's likely he'll be asked to sign a number of bills rangfrom bad to horrific. Without much public awareness of and opposition to them, Locke is not a reliable last line of defense. Here are just a few of the issues to call, write, fax, e-mail and annoy your elected state reps about: