Efforts to build a large expansion of Seattle's Convention Center are picking up steam, just as the economy loses power. At the coming session of the Legislature, lawmakers will look for projects that have immediate economic benefits. Doubling the state's Convention and Trade Center, as reported here earlier, can provide immediate construction jobs and pretty assured (and unionized) hotel and restaurant business. Moreover, the money to fund an expansion would come from visitor taxes (mostly on hotel rooms) and so wouldn't feel like a hit to taxpayers. What's proposed is a stand-alone meeting palace, about the size of the current Convention Center — thus moving Seattle into the serious mid-sized league for this business. Ah, but where?
The governor's race is in the news today, with the Everett Herald noting how vague the two candidates are as to how they would deal with an expected $2.7 billion biennium deficit. It's downright paranormal: GOP challenger Dino Rossi seems to know what the Democratic governor would do, and Gov. Chris Gregoire seems to know what Rossi would do, but neither has much to say about their own plans! Maybe they should get together and work this out. Let's say Saturday, Sept. 20, 9 p.m., in Seattle — on KOMO-TV (4) hereabouts, KXLY-TV (4) in Spokane, and KATU-TV (2) in Portland.
OK, I admit it. When David Letterman said, "Sarah Palin is an avid hunter. A vice president who likes guns — what could go wrong there?" I laughed pretty hard. When my mother sent me videos about McCain, I watched them. I even cut Mike Smith's Las Vegas Sun cartoon out of the newspaper for my refrigerator, the one where a woman is saying, "If I can't have Hillary, then I'll just vote for McCain." Then she's saying, "If I can't have coffee, then I'll just drink this mud." Followed by, "If I can't have a mattress, then I'll just sleep on this bed of nails." And finally, "If I can't have toenail clippers, then I'll just use this chainsaw."
The stage show, bound for Broadway, freely re-imagines the movie and cuts through the treacle with zaniness and layered satire. The preview is a tight production, but there's a problem with the title character.
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