Voting Begins

WAITSBURG - Final vot­ing day for the 2013 General Election is November 5, but mail-in ballots are on their way to voters in Walla Walla and Columbia Counties.

This year's election fea­tures two state-wide ini­tiatives - one designed to change the initiative process itself, and the other to add new labeling requirements to genetically modified foods.

Also on the ballot is one judicial race - for completion of an unexpired term for the Washington State Court of Appeals. Judge George Fear­ing was appointed in May to fill the six-year term of Den­nis Sweeney, who retired after three years. Fearing, a Kenne­wick attorney, is being chal­lenged by John Gary Metro, an attorney who practices in Kennewick and Walla Walla.

This year's ballot includes a large number of non-parti­san local positions, including the Dayton City Council, the Dayton, Waitsburg and Starbuck school boards, the Prescott Parks and Recreation Board and one commissioner position each for three lo­cal fire districts, the Port of Columbia and the Columbia County Hospital District. None of these positions have more than one candidate filed.

Also up this year is a one- year bond levy for the Prescott Parks and Recreation District.

A complete list of can­didates and initiatives is on Page 12.