Crosscut most recent
Posted Wed, Jul 1, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
The battle for candidate endorsements reveals some ideological divides between local environmentalists, developers, and independent thinkers who wonder if all urban growth is good.
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10 COMMENTS
Posted Fri, Jun 26, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Jim McDermott's Congressional earmark for historic renovations is hardly an outrage compared with the way taxpayers are asked to help the rich everyday. Particularly in the Northwest, we take federal largesse for granted.
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7 COMMENTS
Posted Wed, Jun 24, 4 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Maritime advocates are looking to have Congress declare most of Washington's coastline, including Puget Sound, a National Heritage Area. It could be a boon for tourism, preservation, and the marine industry itself.
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4 COMMENTS
Posted Mon, Jun 22, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Is the civic grass greener on the other side of the border? Two urban experts each make the case for the others' home town.
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19 COMMENTS
Posted Thu, Jun 18, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Architect Wendell Lovett designed a nuclear reactor building and the home of a space-junketing billionaire, but it's his little San Juans retreat that says the most about him.
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2 COMMENTS
Posted Tue, Jun 16, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
The list grows longer once the public weighs in on local taboos.
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10 COMMENTS
Posted Mon, Jun 15, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
PETA objects to the Pike Place fish tossers, but they'd do better if they focused on a real menace: fish sticks.
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7 COMMENTS
Posted Thu, Jun 11, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Seattle doesn’t like to say No. (Look how many times we tried to say Yes to the monorail.) But that doesn’t mean we’re a city without no-nos.
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54 COMMENTS
Posted Tue, Jun 9, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Why I'm not converting to digital TV. So long, Jean Enersen!
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18 COMMENTS
Posted Fri, Jun 5, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Puget Sound boosters are proposing to launch an annual Global Health Celebration in 2012 to re-brand Seattle for the new century.
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4 COMMENTS
Posted Wed, Jun 3, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
A Puget Sound beachcomber and U.W. oceanographer has expanded our understanding of the oceans by studying driftwood and rubber duckies. Here's an unbeatable "beach read" for the summer.
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Posted Mon, Jun 1, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
The state wants to put suicide barriers on Seattle's landmark Aurora Bridge, but some preservationists object.
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29 COMMENTS
Posted Wed, May 27, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Urban density, a Seattle and Portland mantra, is supposed to constrain sprawl, but a new analysis suggests that vital, dense cities produce bigger suburbs too.
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22 COMMENTS
Posted Sun, May 24, 10:58 a.m.
By Knute Berger
We are losing our historic brain cells, one bungalow at a time. Much of what needs to be preserved isn't architecturally special by itself, but it has earned a right to stay with us, and the civic cost of wrecking and replacing is often too high.
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13 COMMENTS
Posted Wed, May 20, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Washington State will officially consider altering the map by naming the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest the Salish Sea.
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2 COMMENTS
Posted Mon, May 18, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
Mining towns like Metaline Falls are struggling as auto sales slump, but across the border in British Columbia there is evidence that other places have found a future with another valuable resource.
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3 COMMENTS
Posted Tue, May 12, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
High-speed rail between Seattle and Vancouver could be a catalyst for regional development, and identity.
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18 COMMENTS
Posted Fri, May 8, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
If Rick Steves were a drunk, this might be the book he'd write. Seattle's grittiest bars and taverns are the subject of a new guide to local dives, shadowy repositories of the real, slurring-its-words Seattle.
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4 COMMENTS
Posted Wed, May 6, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
For many, Watergate is just a word, but it's relevant now as we consider what to do with Americans who tortured. Let's hope they don't get off as lightly as Wall Street's CEOs.
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24 COMMENTS
Posted Mon, May 4, 6 a.m.
By Knute Berger
County Executive candidate Ross Hunter could bring some of the smart, combative, impatient style that was cultivated in Bill Gates' corporate culture.
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4 COMMENTS
Knute "Skip" Berger is Mossback. In addition to writing and blogging for Crosscut, he is editor-at-large of
Seattle magazine, political columnist for
Washington Law & Politics, and a regular guest of
Weekday with Steve Scher on NPR affiliate
KUOW-FM (94.9). A Seattle native, Berger has long been a writer and editor for local magazines and newspapers. Most recently, he was editor-in-chief of Village Voice Media's
Seattle Weekly from 2002 to 2006, where he wrote the award-winning
Mossback column. Berger has also worked for the Hope Heart Institute, Washington State Centennial Commission, and served as a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster reserve corps. He lives in Seattle.
Duwumps
An early name for Seattle was Duwumps, which reminds us of a time before civic pretension, "world-class" ambitions, and over-priced coffee. In that spirit, this news is collected as an antidote to Seattle hype. If you see stories that aid the cause of Lesser Seattle — or more positively, Greater Duwumps — send them to Mossback.
Blog posts
Posted Thu, Jul 2, 9:06 p.m.
by
Knute Berger
Environmentalists push again to protect the elusive Northwest critter, assuming it still exists.
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Posted Thu, Jun 25, 6 a.m.
by
Knute Berger
Rediscovering the joys of the local (and endangered) video store, and reminders of Mariners seasons past.
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Posted Tue, Jun 30, 6 a.m.
by
Knute Berger
More thoughts from the Seattle and Vancouver urban debaters on what makes their cities livable, or not.
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Posted Tue, Jun 23, 8:57 a.m.
by
Knute Berger
And what it tells us about local design problems
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Posted Thu, Jun 18, 6 a.m.
by
Knute Berger
Just what is Seattle's favorite, indigenous hot dog of choice?
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Posted Mon, Jun 15, 4 p.m.
by
Knute Berger
Seattle scores high on another list of top places to visit.
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Posted Sat, Jun 13, 9:47 a.m.
by
Knute Berger
As promised, my TV has gone blank. Well, almost.
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Posted Mon, Jun 15, 6:31 a.m.
by
Knute Berger
Central District landmark that hosted Billie Holiday, Jimi Hendrix, and Martin Luther King will find new life as an updated performance hall.
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Posted Sun, Jun 7, 8:03 p.m.
by
Knute Berger
It's one thing to doubt the existence of God, but this?
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Posted Fri, Jun 5, 5:13 p.m.
by
Knute Berger
Despite objections, Seattle landmarks board approves new fences for historic span.
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