Linked to learning and behavioral disorders, reproductive maladies, impaired memory, and cancer, the man-made flame retardants known as PBDEs have been banned by the state Legislature, the first such effort in the nation.

The bill, one of four Priorities for a Healthy Washington, passed the state Senate on April 4, with a 41-8 vote. Unlike legislation in other states, which tackles penta and octa forms of PBDEs, the Evergreen State’s ban also covers the deca form of the chemical, produced in higher numbers than the two other forms. Short for polybrominated diphenyl ethers, PBDEs are found in a host of household goods, from upholstered furniture to mattresses, from laptops to televisions. By 2011, the use of all forms of PBDEs is to be effectively discontinued.

The bill is headed to Gov. Christine Gregoire, who, having already voiced support, is expected to sign it.

—Rosette Royale

Backing off the track

A NASCAR raceway in Kitsap County is out. The International Speedway Corp. backed off their lobbying efforts Monday, saying the legislature’s financing offer wasn’t adequate for their public-private racetrack idea for the Kitsap Peninsula.

The ISC says it’ll be back next year; so will their opponents. “We will continue to oppose a NASCAR track placement anywhere in Washington state,” says Citizens for Healthy Economic Choices in Kitsap chair Ray McGovern, “if such a facility requires substantial tax subsidy for its development.”

Fooled you

An Olympia tent city will move to the state capitol’s lawn. Wal-Mart is getting into the payday-loan business, offering an “everyday low” APR of 365 percent and a free smiley face sticker. Fighting hunger, Washington legislators are requiring corporate lobbyists to bring along a non-perishable food item each time they come calling at their offices.

These were among the April Fool’s Day “news” items in a legislative e-bulletin from the Statewide Poverty Action Network. The group sent out an explanation April 2 for those with a jaundiced sense of play; Poverty Action director Aiko Schaefer says it was a good way for staff and supporters to lighten up. “Sometimes you’ve got to laugh at what happens in Olympia,” she says.

Putting Olympia’s tent city on the capitol’s ample lawn, Schaefer notes, is one of those ostensibly absurd ideas that makes a kind of sense. The camp must move by the end of April, at which time the Legislature will have adjourned. “I think if the lawmakers hosted it during the legislative session,” she says, “I’d be more impressed.”

—Adam Hyla