diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index 65505967ee..c3f16d1621 100644
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -11256,3 +11256,9 @@ David  18 Nov 2007
             pm.inc
         languages/translations/
             en.po
+
+David  18 Nov 2007
+    - user web: init DB in banishment vote page
+
+    html/inc/
+        forum_banishment_vote.inc
diff --git a/html/inc/forum_banishment_vote.inc b/html/inc/forum_banishment_vote.inc
index 6427b73332..fe8ae6f293 100644
--- a/html/inc/forum_banishment_vote.inc
+++ b/html/inc/forum_banishment_vote.inc
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 <?php
 
+// TODO: convert to new DB interface
+// TODO: merge vote_yes() and vote_no()  (??????)
+
+db_init();
+
 function current_tally($voteid) {
     $query="select sum(yes) as ayes,count(id)-sum(yes) as nays from banishment_votes where voteid=".$voteid;
     $result = mysql_query($query);
@@ -15,6 +20,7 @@ function vote_is_in_progress($userid) {
     $result = mysql_query($query);
     if (!$result) {
         echo "Database error attempting to read banishment_vote table 1.<p>";
+        echo "query: $query";
         return -1;
     }
     $foobar = mysql_fetch_object($result);
diff --git a/html/inc/pm.inc b/html/inc/pm.inc
index 6e0db3436e..220cd70b4c 100644
--- a/html/inc/pm.inc
+++ b/html/inc/pm.inc
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ function pm_notification($user) {
     $output = "";
     $unread = BoincPrivateMessage::count("userid=$user->id AND opened=0");
     
-    $output .= "Private messages: <a href=\"pm.php?action=inbox\">".tra("Inbox")."</a> ($unread unread)\n";
+    $output .= "<a href=\"pm.php?action=inbox\">".tra("Inbox")."</a> ($unread ".tra("unread").")\n";
     $output .= "| <a href=\"pm.php?action=new\">".tra("Write")."</a>\n";
     return $output;
 }
diff --git a/html/languages/translations/en.po b/html/languages/translations/en.po
index 57abaf15bd..a0c692daf4 100644
--- a/html/languages/translations/en.po
+++ b/html/languages/translations/en.po
@@ -547,3 +547,5 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "Used in URLs"
 msgstr ""
 
+msgid "unread" 
+msgstr ""