Seattle Weekly reporter Aimee Curl had drinks with Richard McIver shortly before the city councilman was arrested on a domestic violence charge.

He spoke glowingly of his wife of 33 years, Marlaina Kiner-McIver, a graduate of Howard University Law School who moved them to the nation's capitol so she could take a post with the Carter administration as a lawyer for the Housing and Urban Development Department.

McIver offered to drive me home and seemed in good spirits when he dropped me off on Capitol Hill around 7:45 p.m.

Curl also has two interesting city council stories this week. She talked to Venus Velazquez and Bruce Harrell about racial politics and what Velazquez meant when she told a minority forum that people should vote for people who look like them.

And then there's this strange bit about Harrell and the child he doesn't acknowledge in his campaign.

Harrell also has a fourth child who doesn't appear in the campaign photos and isn't mentioned in his literature. Evan Harrell, 15, was born before Bruce and Joanne were married. He lives in Tacoma with his mom, Deborah Johnson, who says the campaign season has been tough on her. That's why a friend of hers ultimately contacted the Velazquez camp to call attention to the situation.

"It adds insult to injury for him to act like Evan doesn't exist," says Johnson, speaking by phone.