Posted Tue, Feb 14, 3:58 p.m.

The short response to this article is: who cares? If an wealthy business man decides that he/she wants to have the privilege of owning a professional sports team they will do so and find a way to get it done without taxpayer dollars. Sports team owners don't buy teams because ...

Posted Thu, Nov 10, 11:58 a.m.

Not being a legal expert it would be nice if a few things were clarified in this piece. The author states: “Any government act limiting speech in that forum must be viewpoint-neutral and reasonable under the circumstances.” The first question is what does “viewpoint-neutral” mean? Does this simply mean that ...

Posted Mon, Oct 24, 9:44 p.m.

@ Lincoln The problem is I-90 was specifically designed to eventual convert the center lanes to transit only. (http://www.leg.wa.gov/JTC/Meetings/Documents/I90_Bridge_Greco.pdf). Considering that this agreement was made with the assumption that (realistically) only the Seattle area would benefit from conversion of the lanes to transit, it is unfair to leave the decision ...

Posted Tue, Oct 18, 3:19 p.m.

BlueLight states: "By doing so, we send the message that we are unwilling to critically asses government programs." While this is fine and dandy, the problem is that many, BlueLight in particular, fail to make "critical" assessments. One or two line quips, such as BlueLight's first two comments are the ...

Posted Thu, Oct 13, 10:22 p.m.

Fastryder states: "If Republicans and reactionaries get a hold of the federal government, what has been started will only be continued on a greater effect." Really? The implication here is that mainstream democrats, like Obama, are actually significantly less tied into corporate interests, oil interests, big bank interests, insurance interests ...

Posted Wed, Aug 24, 11:08 a.m.

"But instead, we've been driven into faith-based corrals, hoping magic will save our jobs, reduce our taxes, bring us enlightened leadership and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — all without having to be fully engaged." It is not too much of a surprise that this occurs when the ...

Posted Wed, Aug 17, 2:21 p.m.

@Bluelight: Precisely my point. @jmrolls (and others): Although the process that lead to the today's election results may not have been entirely fair, a majority in favor of one option in a straight up or down vote is the best solution that could foreseeably be reached. Because a three (or ...

Posted Wed, Aug 17, 9:18 a.m.

As a ST5 supporter I was dissappointed by the yes vote but now conceed that barring some physical impediment (i.e. boring machine failure etc.) the tunnel debate is over and its time to move foward on making it a more viable solution than it is now. Beyond ensuring that waterfront ...

Posted Mon, Aug 8, 2:16 p.m.

The biggest fallacy of Mr. Gering's arguement is that because both SR 99 and I-5 connect the "boeing triangle," it means that both are necessary to preserve frieght mobility between these localities. Of course any thinking person would quickly realize that SR99 would never be the preffered freight route between ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 10:04 a.m.

I also second all of the fact checking on costs, transit investments, and surface traffic among other things. However, I'd like to elaborate on how anti-urban the tunnel is and how flawed the statement "[Surface/I-5]is not good urban planning, and it’s not good for the environment." In short having the ...

Posted Wed, Jun 1, 1:55 p.m.

I firmly disagree with you Kieth. Even if the politicians have the "data" on the "rapair" that you indicate, this data can be interpreted in hundreds of different ways. For example, the data that suggests "short life expectancy" can be interpreted as kicking the can down the road and therefore ...

Posted Sat, May 7, 1:11 p.m.

Wow my comment was so long that it got cut off. This is the rest of it. I apologize for the mouth full, but I feel that a coherent and complete explanation of the reasons and logic behind support for the surface street option is needed. I hope you take ...

Posted Sat, May 7, 1:02 p.m.

I can relate to your sentiment Douglas. On Saturday (May 7), I ran into your article promoting the tunnel by Douglas Almquist. Mr. Almquist's arguments are so pedestrian I was left chuckling. Please don't mind my terrible grammar. Seriously though, your assessment of Mr. Valdez's argument, the tunnel and Crosscut's ...

Posted Fri, May 6, 4:34 p.m.

Good piece and good debate (if a bit one sided). Fran, I read your "Coalition for a Sustainable Development." Your web site states: "we believe that the best solution is to use available funds now to fix safety problems on the existing 4-lane 520. We are in favor of tolls ...

Posted Tue, Feb 22, 8:15 p.m.

Dbreneman said, "Road building, however, is a core function of government, and has been so since before the Roman Empire." On its facade this statement is true, but it would be far more accurate to say that "building transportation infrastructure has always been a core function of government." This statement ...

Posted Tue, Feb 22, 9:30 a.m.

I'd agree with Roger on his assertion that new (or replacement) road construction should be cut because it is expensive and its the long term return on investment is questionable. Note that, unlike Valdez's claim that roads don't pay for themselves because (essentially) they're not tolled, roads can be beneficial, ...

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 7:20 p.m.

I think the point John is that many people TODAY, through the lens of 20/20 hindstight, view Reagan's presidency as a failure. I'm not in a great position to judge Reagan's foreign policy, his ability to inspire a nation, nor numerous other aspects of his presidency. However, I do know ...

Posted Thu, Feb 10, 5:26 p.m.

Great comment David! Incredibly informative. The one problem I have with it is that growth goals for Seattle are somewhat meaningless because they won't necessarily stop sprawl. Getting a potential suburbanite to live in the city is obviously a boon, but if sprawl isn't stopped, the environmental and land use ...

Posted Tue, Feb 8, 3:04 p.m.

Very informative article on the specific structural problems interfering with good or fair policing. For the most part I agree with Kent's solutions. However, I'd reiterate that public outcry against the police is not simply the result of the John Williams incident, but also the Shandy Cobain incident and the ...

Posted Fri, Feb 4, 3:28 p.m.

To me, there are really only two major problems with the SPD. One is that there is 0 accountability in the system and the other is that there is little institutional pretense for professional or fair behavior on the part of officers. To address the issue of accountability, Burgess' first ...

Posted Tue, Nov 16, 8:54 p.m.

I can give you three examples right now of government programs that could be cut without me complaining: 1. Don't build the mercer street project. It won't effect traffic flow and even if it will make it a nicer area it isn't worth $150million (at least not now). 2. Don't ...

Posted Thu, Nov 4, 3:39 p.m.

A few thoughts on the elections 1. I was shocked that I-1100 didn't (in all likelihood) pass. I thought surely the anti-government tide would annihilate the government alcohol business, but I was clearly wrong. It just goes to show how hypocritical folks can be about their political ideologies. 2. I ...

Posted Wed, Nov 3, 10:42 p.m.

David Sucher said, "One of the most tragic things about 'the Viaduct' situation as a whole is the lack of imagination to examine options." I couldn't agree more. The fact that the rebuild option has never been seriously considered is shocking. Fiscal extravagance is real problem that plagues many Seattle ...

Posted Tue, Nov 2, 6:03 p.m.

It is incredibly easy to see that McGinn is acting like bully here, but I would also contend that the council is not being the friendliest folks either. As far as I can tell, the council is not making any effort to work out the differences between their stance and ...

Posted Wed, Oct 20, 11:44 p.m.

The other day I read that, "60% of the (Washington) state budget is untouchable because it relates to salaries and benefits for public employees that are governed by union contracts."(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304410504575560301019870596.html?KEYWORDS=I+1098) It seems unfair to hold state or local politicians accountable for excess government spending when so much of it is ...

Posted Mon, Oct 18, 7:26 p.m.

Referring to my post, Sarah said, "For god's sake, if you want to influence people, don't use oatmealy phrases like "infrastructual choices" and "denser living spaces". Although I am not a democratic politician, your comment is right on the money. I should have said: we can't keep wasting our money ...

Posted Fri, Oct 8, 7:37 p.m.

Locke sense of humor aside, (I personally didn't find it funny [nor offensive] until I reread the title, then I got the humor) I think one of Locke's fundamental assertions is wrong. Locke states, "This assault on those of us who persist in the ecologically incorrect practice of driving cars ...

Posted Sat, Oct 2, 5:26 p.m.

I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of using waterfront land for a mix of private, private/public and public (both park space and building spaces like museums etc.) uses. It would be infinitely better to have a vibrant place where people interact, socialize, live, shop, and play (something like the area ...

Posted Tue, Sep 28, 5:59 p.m.

If $4.00/hr is one half of your hourly wage then it is probably also difficult to own and maintain a car that you will park in the parking spaces. With that being said I suspect that many people who drive and park in metered areas (and already pay high rates ...

Posted Tue, Sep 28, 5:04 p.m.

I appreciated the last paragraph of the piece as it is important that projects such as this are not overly expensive. However, I question how much the author actually cares about the cost of park projects when he says, "as good as the park is now, there is more to ...

Posted Mon, Aug 16, 4:20 p.m.

While your point, Brian, on ensuring that transit improvements are funded as a part of the tunnel plan is well appreciated, I still don't see why the bored tunnel solution is the only solution, and more importantly the best solution to the problem. This project is too big and too ...

Posted Mon, Jul 12, 1:07 p.m.

I have a difficult time believing that these politicians are as disinterested in the long term result of their political decisions as you make them seem to be Knute. Politics, for most, if not all, local politicians is about doing what they feel is best for the city because their ...