I saw the article in the Nov. 3 issue of the P-I and could hardly believe my eyes. Documents generated by the independent panel investigating the Seattle Police Department's Internal Investigation Section had fallen into the hands of the SPD, and two files were missing. Understand, when the panel was formed in April, it promised complete confidentiality to anyone who testified. Yet here was an admission that all of that information--including specific complaints against police officers and the IIS--was now locked in the safe of SPD Internal Investigations Captain Nick Metz. The FBI was called in to investigate how this could have happened. Here's what they discovered:

First, the head of the independent panel, attorney Mike McKay, fucked up by surrendering all of the documents to the mayor's office under a request for public disclosure. He and the other panel members were too lazy to black out the names of witnesses and police officers from the documents, or to request funds and staff from the mayor's office to do this job. Nobody on the panel said: "Hey, wait a minute, we made a promise to these people to keep their names a secret." Next, the mayor's assistant Walter Hubbard screwed up by asking two Seattle police officers to look at the files and decide who should black out the names. This is a mistake that borders on idiocy, and reveals the city's bias towards protecting the SPD. Panel members were so disturbed by this development that they asked to get the files back from the mayor's office. But on Sept. 29, panel members then turned the files over to an unnamed assistant city attorney and told him to keep them in the city attorney's office. A week later, that same attorney turned the files over to the Seattle Police Dept. and told the Internal Investigations Section to black out the names. It's worth noting that IIS employees asked the mayor's office TWICE to take the files off their hands.

Finally, when two files were reported missing, Mayor Schell called the FBI (as if they would be of any help). After conducting a two-week investigation, the FBI concluded that the assistant city attorney made a mistake, but no criminal charges could be filed, because sending the documents to the SPD was not illegal. The FBI's report states: "Because of the difficulty in establishing the exact contents of the box at any given time, it is our opinion that further investigation into this matter is not warranted." Huh? Just tell that to the folks whose names and "confidential" testimony have been turned over to the SPD.--Maria Tomchick

The local daily press has been trying as hard as it can within its own pro-business bias to report on the upcoming WTO protests. Yet, in each article the writers (and probably their editors) can't refrain from reminding us that the economies of Seattle and Washington state are "heavily dependent on trade." What they don't tell us is this: Boeing's airplane sales make up the lion's share of those trade numbers--and those Boeing numbers represent sales of planes whose parts are manufactured all over the U.S. and the world. Which means, of course, that most folks who don't work at Boeing probably don't have a damn thing to do with the export economy...unless you're a software developer at Microsoft, a dock worker, or you grow apples in Wenatchee. Ray Waldman, the executive director of the WTO host committee, keeps running around telling everybody "We are the most trade-dependent state and now we are the most trade-dependent metropolitan region" in the U.S. Bullshit. According to the Commerce Department's own figures, exports from the U.S. have actually decreased in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, and this state's traditional exports--lumber and agricultural products--are on the decline. Even forest industry spokesmen will tell you that we're now a net importer of lumber and wood products--to the detriment of forests elsewhere in the world.--M.T.

Maria has all but announced that she'll be running against Deborah Senn for the Democratic nod to face Slade Gorton in next year's Senate race. No, not THAT Maria--it's Maria Cantwell, one-term Congresswoman and Internet millionaire. Cynical insiders say that Dem bigwigs want Cantwell to face Gorton not only because they dislike Senn (altho Senn is popular statewide and Cantwell is a virtual unknown), but because she'll spend her own money-- relieving the party of an obligation to pour money down the futile rathole of trying to beat Slade. They can save it for more important things, like trying to elect Al Gore. (Gag.) The Democrats are so disorganized that the only way the evil Gorton won't get another term is a heart attack. He's a lock. And why not? Democrats like Gary Locke and Patty Murray have spent the last half- decade pimping for corporations, and every voter in the state knows that Slade's better at it. Speaking of Murray, word is she'll be lukewarm in her support for any candidate facing Gorton, too, not helping with fundraising networks and the like. Why? A second Democratic senator, especially another woman, would endanger her chances of reelection in 2004. Murray would rather have Gorton in office, embarrassing her at every opportunity, so she can continue to feebly feed at the public trough. That's how pure idiots get seniority in Congress.--Geov Parrish .