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\"It was based on more homeowners and more registered voters, percentage wide,\" said chairwoman Sandi Belzer Brendale. \"We're going on X number of dollars so you want to make it as good as it can be. If we do get more money, we'll send out another set.\" \"We're hoping to do more, but at this point, that's what we've got going,\" [Craig Keller] said, adding that the group has paid to have its petitions inserted into Skagit Valley Herald and Yakima Valley Business Journal. \"We definitely do need more support if we're going to advance our outreach, whether it be newspapers or paid signature gathering.\" \"It's not a common occurrence but it's legal,\" he said. \"And you're distributing to people who are generally well-informed about these things and have an opinion. You're not just throwing it out there.\"

Organizers predict up to 20,000 people will pay the root tribute today during the fifth annual International Horseradish Festival, featuring a recipe contest, root tossing, and a raw horseradish-eating competition. \"You put them in your mouth and you don't get an immediate kick, but when you crush them with your teeth, they make your eyes pop out,\" said fourth-generation horseradish grower Craig Keller. \"They grow them other places, but ours are the whitest and hottest.\" Keller, 35, just finished planting a new horseradish crop. He will begin digging the roots in the fall, but already has contracted with a processor to buy them.

\"Our fuel costs at this point would have to be about $50,000 a month more than at this time last year,\" said Tom Lynch, general manager at Banko North Inc., a beer distributor in Scranton that has about 15 trucks and a dozen cars on the road on a typical business day. \"We're getting whacked.\" \"If you go back six months, our average fuel costs have gone up $20,000 a month across the country,\" said Brian McCarthy, owner of McCarthy Flowers, a 28-store chain in 10 states, with shops in Scranton, Dunmore and South Abington Twp. \"We've got about 100 flower trucks on the road on a continual basis.\" \"It would have been cheaper for us to plant a month ago,\" said Keith Eckel, a Schultzville farmer who grows corn on more than 1,200 acres in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties. \"We are going to hit this at what is the high (fuel price) for this entire year.\"

\"Our fuel costs at this point would have to be about $50,000 a month more than at this time last year,\" said Tom Lynch, general manager at Banko North Inc., a beer distributor in Scranton that has about 15 trucks and a dozen cars on the road on a typical business day. \"We're getting whacked.\" \"If you go back six months, our average fuel costs have gone up $20,000 a month across the country,\" said Brian McCarthy, owner of McCarthy Flowers, a 28-store chain in 10 states, with shops in Scranton, Dunmore and South Abington Township. \"We've got about 100 flower trucks on the road on a continual basis.\" \"It would have been cheaper for us to plant a month ago,\" said Keith Eckel, a Schultzville farmer who grows corn on more than 1,200 acres in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties. \"We are going to hit this at what is the high (fuel price) for this entire year.\"

\"We're definitely paying attention and we're hoping that voters will not only pay attention to what (candidates) are saying, but how they act,\" [Craig Keller] said. \"I personally still believe in it,\" he said. \"I'm just sorry we don't have enough support in it. People just don't want to step out and vote actually how they feel.\" \"I think it just fell short because a lot of people out there are uninformed,\" he said. \"After I explained it to them, then they sign. A lot of people are reluctant to sign something they don't understand.\"

\"I don't think so,\" he said of the signature-gathering effort, adding \"It's going to be really touch and go.\" \"It's hard to say,\" he said. \"I'm just going to see what the mailbox presents today and tomorrow.\" \"People are concerned about the issue,\" he said, \"they just don't know how to fight it.\"

Pima County resident Tracy Chamberlain, who owns 20 acres just west of the 1,035-acre Saguaro Ranch development, filed a lawsuit against Saguaro Ranch on June 3, claiming the developers are blocking access to a path she says is a public easement. While the path begins and ends in Pima County, much of it is within Marana town limits on land owned by Saguaro Ranch. Up to 180 homes are planned for Saguaro Ranch, and many of them would be built on lots that cost as much as $1.5 million. The part of the path that is within Saguaro Ranch was abandoned by Marana as a result of the Marana Town Council approving plat maps for the development in 2003 and 2005, [Craig Keller] said.

Roughly half of the estimated $150,000 signatures gathered for the 2007 version came from Eastern Washington. [Craig Keller] and others credited Grassroots of the Yakima Valley, a group that opposes illegal immigration, with gathering many of the local signatures. I-409 uses a different mechanism -- the initiative to the Legislature. Under that system, supporters must gather the same number of signatures by 10 days before lawmakers convene in January. The Legislature could then issue a counterproposal, which would be considered with voters along the proposed version. If the Legislature did not draft its own, voters would consider only the proposed version, Keller said.

Craig Keller said the proposal would have E-Verify adopted in the state as a way to end identify theft caused by illegal immigrants obtaining stolen Social Security numbers to enter the country for employment. E-Verify would allow employers to verify an employee's legal resident status by using Social Security information to confirm an individual's name with a number and visa, if appropriate. Tony Benegas of West Richland, who is state chairman of the Hispanic Republicans, said E-Verify isn't perfect. Councilman Bob Parks, who knows Keller, said he supports I-1056 and E-Verify, and Councilman Don Britain said the idea could be a valuable tool.

\"But we think if we can enact an ordinance, that will raise awareness of what we're trying to accomplish and provide some experience so people could point to Yakima and say, 'Yakima city has been doing this and here's how it worked.'\" \"To me, it's about respect for the law,\" [Craig Fisher] said, explaining his position. \"If we don't, we have anarchy.\" Former mayor Dave Edler said he'd be hardpressed to predict whether the council would support such an ordinance. He said he has no personal opinion on the subject but added: \"I think we've got more important things to do.\"