Posted Fri, Apr 20, 11:07 a.m.

Talisker, it may be true that not a single tree has to be cut down to make an e-book, but your reader is full of electronic components which have to be manufactured (and cannot be pulped), and server farms don't run on solar power.

Posted Fri, Apr 20, 10:27 a.m.

"Get over it" and "live with it" don't particularly advance the conversation, although I suppose ptb and theintegrator say that because they feel the same way about Haight's piece. It's true: the business model is failing, and things aren't going to go back the way they were 20 years ago*, ...

Posted Wed, Apr 18, 10:27 p.m.

It's about time!

Posted Tue, Apr 3, 10:18 p.m.

Hmm… that is not my understanding (the part about PNW English staying closest to proto-Germanic, that is), but I will admit that as interested as I am in the subject, my linguistics training was not in the historical side of the field. Paul Remley, are you reading this?

Posted Tue, Apr 3, 10:30 a.m.

That Belltown stream — too bad they didn't dig it, although I can see it having turned into an open-air sewer before too long (shades of the Fleet?). And, while I am thankful that they didn't site the fair in Issaquah, what a wonderful ride the Cougar Mountain monorail would ...

Posted Tue, Apr 3, 10:24 a.m.

I'd have to disagree with your English-teacher friend — there is no such thing as "pure" English. Nobody thinks their own speech is marked. Why would Seattle speech be "pure" as opposed to, say, that of Kent (England)?

Posted Thu, Feb 23, 9:04 a.m.

Nice—and this is just one Seattle intersection. So many stories could be told about so many of the others. We do have a history, folks.

Posted Wed, Feb 22, 4:22 p.m.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Station, "The original Union Pacific station at East Olympia was demolished in the late 1960s." According to this -- http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file;_id=7929 -- it looks like it was near 4th and Adams.

Posted Wed, Feb 22, 8:49 a.m.

Here's hoping they come up with a workable model. It would really be a shame if the conservatory were forced to close.

Posted Fri, Feb 10, 10:05 a.m.

animalal, marrying one's cousin is already prohibited. "Marriages in the following cases are prohibited:... When the ((husband and wife)) spouses are nearer of kin to each other than second cousins, whether of the whole or half blood computing by the rules of the civil law." This part of the law ...

Posted Sun, Feb 5, 10:17 p.m.

I would love to see the NHL come to Seattle. A Seattle team won the Stanley Cup in 1917 — how about a repeat in 2017?

Posted Tue, Jan 31, 11:45 a.m.

Olympia may need to eyeball a department-by-department matrix of lost faculty, axed classes, and vanishing current and future revenue. In a couple years it could be plasma-selling students and the UW hawking Denny Hall to Amazon. I'd like to see such a matrix myself. In a way, I'm glad to ...

Posted Fri, Jan 13, 2:17 p.m.

Some good news regarding the above: http://thesunbreak.com/2012/01/12/uw-special-collections-dont-panic-well-be-reproducing-digitally/ (http://s.coop/7uow for short)

Posted Thu, Jan 12, 5:03 p.m.

And now, this has happened: http://main2seattle.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/historic-photographs-are-not-just-for-viewing/ (http://s.coop/7ulv for short) "According to the UW Special Collections website, As of January 20, 2012, due to the closure of the Classroom Support Services Photography lab, we will temporarily be unable to provide photographic prints or digital scans. We are actively exploring alternative services. ...

Posted Tue, Jan 10, 10:56 a.m.

Is it really such a great idea to "'marketize' the university somewhat by introducing financial incentives and by better matching academic offerings to high-demand, job-rich fields like engineering"? Virginia Postrel recently wrote an article on this subject that is well worth reading. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-06/postrel-how-art-history-majors-power-the-u-s-.html (http://s.coop/7u78 for short) "Those who tout STEM ...

Posted Sun, Jan 8, 3:52 p.m.

Almost Live on its own Lame List (Or, What's Weak This Week)? Heaven forbid! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRz6IP9k400

Posted Thu, Dec 8, 9:37 a.m.

Smacgry, I don't doubt that e-books are the future, but I do think there's more of a place for p-books than you envision. Some say p-books : e-books :: vinyl : MP3s, but I see it this way: books have been with us for centuries. Recorded music has been with ...

Posted Wed, Dec 7, 4:01 p.m.

Apparently it's 5% up to $5, and doesn't apply to books. It does apply to "qualifying products" in electronics, toys, sports, music, and DVD, however.

Posted Wed, Dec 7, 1 p.m.

According to a piece in the New York Times, people go into bookstores, hand-pick over a variety of books that look interesting, then copy that information onto a smartphone and buy the book from an online merchant. And now, Amazon will pay you $5 to do this. http://gawker.com/5865612/amazon-launches-christmas-attack-on-local-shops or http://s.coop/7pws ...

Posted Tue, Nov 22, 1:54 p.m.

And meanwhile, there are calls to add more districts and take more services (parks, libraries) out of cities' general budgets. Nothing has changed in 3 1/2 years. http://crosscut.com/2008/04/24/king-county/13493/Defragging-King-County/

Posted Tue, Nov 22, 11:28 a.m.

The Rainier Avenue streetcar made its last run at 1:45 a.m., January 1, 1937, according to HistoryLink.

Posted Mon, Nov 21, 9:43 a.m.

A new high-level bridge crossing the Ship Canal in the vicinity of the Fremont Bridge? Where's the right-of-way, unless it closely, and I mean very closely, parallels the Aurora Bridge?

Posted Sun, Nov 20, 3:32 p.m.

There's certainly more to public shoreline than swimming, as the entirety of our Puget Sound/Elliott Bay waterfront demonstrates. Personally, I don't think there needs to be a swimming beach there. But I would like to be able to get closer to the water. A deck, a pullout, a pier — ...

Posted Wed, Nov 16, 9:13 p.m.

Douglas: Are you speaking of Viretta Park? It's between 39th Avenue E. and Lake Washington Boulevard E., at the foot of E. John Street. It's directly south of Kurt Cobain's old house. As I recall, Howard Schultz, who lived on the 39th Avenue side of the park, had his driveway ...

Posted Tue, Nov 8, 4:38 p.m.

Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union would seem to be the obvious choice for the City of Seattle... http://www.smcu.com/home/about/about I wonder if they provide all the services a large city requires, though.

Posted Tue, Nov 8, 1:19 p.m.

And now they are Miller, essentially. Last I heard they were both brewed by SAB Miller in Irwindale, California.

Posted Thu, Nov 3, 4:32 p.m.

"Trupin and Nicholas said the proposal would not deduct new taxes from paychecks, not affect retirement savings and incomes, and not affect inherited investments." Not deducting taxes from paychecks makes sense, since that would be an income tax, and this is about capital gains. Not affecting retirement savings and incomes ...

Posted Wed, Nov 2, 11:46 a.m.

I'm also interested in this: We also have some mountains and underneath the mountains there’s a ring of fire so we’re exploring geothermal. Any details?

Posted Mon, Oct 31, 10:07 a.m.

Interesting. I've only ever been to the Grocery Outlet on Martin Luther King (formerly a Red Apple), and I've never tried to fill my cart, especially with anything perishable. I may have to take another look. One thing I do remember is that the personal-care items looked a little iffy ...

Posted Thu, Oct 27, 4:51 p.m.

Lovely piece. Kubota Gardens may very well be Seattle's most beautiful park. Hardly its least known, though, as all the weddings and professional photographers testify. I wonder what would take that title. I'd say it'd have to be of a certain size--something like Peace Park on the northern end of ...

Posted Thu, Oct 27, 4:48 p.m.

Long may your shop--and others like it--run.

Posted Fri, Oct 21, 4 p.m.

I don't get what's going on at Hertz. It seems pretty straightforward. If your prayer time takes significantly longer than the 10-minute break allotted to you by law, then clock out. What exactly is the problem here? Now, if there are other employees who are also taking longer breaks than ...

Posted Fri, Oct 21, 10:40 a.m.

@bkochis, agnostics aren't against religion. I wouldn't even say atheists are against religion. They simply don't have one of their own. Sure, some would prefer it if no one had a religion, just as many members of proselytizing religions would prefer it if everyone shared their beliefs. But not all ...

Posted Thu, Oct 20, 9:45 a.m.

One idea: We could elect lots more council members, say around 50, in very small districts. The council could be more like the school board, not a professional body, and all the members would be elected at once to serve for a five-year period. The mayor’s job would be primarily ...

Posted Thu, Oct 20, 9:43 a.m.

Ted... what about an atheist or agnostic? If I remember my polls correctly, they come below all the groups you mentioned in terms of acceptability to the American public as a presidential candidate. Meanwhile, I see no reason to think a President Romney would take orders from Salt Lake City, ...

Posted Tue, Oct 18, 10:27 a.m.

Indeed. Anyone interested in this sordid part of Seattle's history owes it to themselves to read the Racial Restrictive Covenants section of the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project Web site at the UW: http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/covenants.htm

Posted Fri, Oct 14, 10:54 p.m.

This in today's Times: "Swedish Medical Center, beset by mounting opposition to its decision to stop performing elective abortions if a pending alliance with a Catholic health system is approved, will help underwrite a Planned Parenthood center in the Nordstrom Tower adjacent to the hospital." This is also interesting — ...

Posted Thu, Oct 13, 10:59 a.m.

Speaking of what the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street have in common, there's an interesting Venn diagram in this post that's been making the rounds: http://howconservativesdrovemeaway.blogspot.com/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-vs-tea-party.html (http://goo.gl/Jle9c for short) What Occupy Wall Street protesters are upset about: Large corporations have way too much power. What Tea Party members are ...

Posted Wed, Oct 12, 8:48 p.m.

One of the best classes I took as a UW undergraduate was URBDP 300, Introduction to Urban Planning. I had always been fascinated by the city's visible infrastructure, but the extent of the infrastructure we never see — unless we're either very lucky; work on it; or, when it fails, ...

Posted Wed, Oct 12, 8:42 p.m.

Love this. Thanks for the bit about Targy's. I wish there were more places like that. There are certainly parts of residential neighborhoods where bars do not belong, but I think there's much to be said for having a neighborhood pub in the neighborhood. That's probably what I like about ...

Posted Mon, Oct 10, 9:49 p.m.

I noticed the same garbage issues when I was there for the first time in ages last week. As I walked around the neighborhood that night, I thought how great it was that there was a section of town that had so much going on — but how little there ...

Posted Mon, Oct 10, 4:39 p.m.

Interesting piece in the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/history/the-long-shadow-line-history-and-the-war-on-drugs-2368050.html (http://goo.gl/9z52R for short) "What can the tobacco trade of the 17th century tell us about the modern war on drugs? Charles C Mann, whose new book has been called a 'historical Freakonomics', draws the parallels"

Posted Thu, Oct 6, 11:11 a.m.

A couple of thoughts. 1) The difference between enforcement of drug laws and enforcement of laws against minor property crimes is that, by definition, property crimes are not victimless. Drug crimes can be. That sounds like a good place to at least think of drawing a line. 2) Why should ...

Posted Tue, Oct 4, 9:54 a.m.

He points to the example that along Highway 99, each city has a separate contract with different companies to manage the traffic lights. Instead of having synchronized traffic signals along its length, let alone smart lights that read and adjust lights in real time to traffic levels, the corridor is ...

Posted Tue, Oct 4, 9:51 a.m.

Thanks for the overview. Here is the Wikipedia entry, by the way: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington's_10th_congressional_district

Posted Tue, Sep 27, 12:52 p.m.

Odd--the SSO's press release at http://www.seattlesymphony.org/symphony/press/kit/release_detail.aspx?ID=841 no longer appears to include the "first-ever appearance at Bumbershoot" language, though it was certainly there before. At any rate, I wonder if this is what happened. Back in the day, when Wschroer said "it was always the first concert of season for the ...

Posted Mon, Sep 19, 11:20 a.m.

@dbreneman, it's not yet on Amazon, but Google Books does have a page for it -- http://books.google.com/books?id=giHvtgAACAAJ -- from which I see that Barnes & Noble has it for pre-order. The ISBN is 061546940X, and I'm sure a local indie such as the University Book Store, Third Place, Elliott Bay, ...

Posted Sat, Sep 17, 10:27 a.m.

Too few people ask what you do in your final paragraphs. I love digital media—I make my living on the Web—but I also cherish the tangible. I've hit a "publish" button more times than I can count, but nothing compares to the day a box of physical books arrived on ...

Posted Fri, Sep 16, 4:01 p.m.

Odd interaction that sparked the original post. If my seatmate happened to be a minister, I wouldn't dream of announcing that I was "spiritual, but not religious" (a term I wouldn't use to describe myself in the first place). Nor would I tell her I really enjoyed the works of ...

Posted Fri, Sep 16, 11:42 a.m.

I vote for 12 years ago, when Almost Live! was cancelled.

Posted Mon, Sep 12, 2:45 p.m.

Great list, though I'm still getting used to the Central Library. The Arboretum ramps to nowhere especially. Too bad they'll be removed as part of the reconstruction of 520. I'd also add Pacific Medical Center.

Posted Tue, Sep 6, 11:11 p.m.

The College of William & Mary is also notable for the founding there, on December 5, 1776, of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Posted Fri, Sep 2, 2:24 p.m.

@SeattleJew: not a bad idea — Elliott and 15th have so much potential — though I don't know if I favor Seattle Way W. as a name. Too generic. I'd be happy with the Elliott name being extended up 15th to the Ballard Bridge, though.

Posted Tue, Aug 30, 9:50 a.m.

Though noahveil is correct that "people using something for free does NOT [necessarily] equal lost revenue," I take issue with his assertions that "people who download a movie for free generally do so because they can't afford to see it in a theater. Similarly, people use free buses because they ...

Posted Mon, Aug 29, 2:58 p.m.

@mhays, sorry about that. Try the short version--it seems to work. http://bit.ly/n6uSxl

Posted Mon, Aug 29, 9:40 a.m.

Channel 22—good old KTZZ (then KTWB, then KMYQ, now KZJO)! I think I still have my UHF loop antenna somewhere. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwW_pkaPCYw Seriously, though, congratulations to Douglas. I must admit to not having watched KCPQ for a while... that may have to change now.

Posted Mon, Aug 29, 9:36 a.m.

@gabowker: How much more development do we really want to allow on the shifting sands of SODO? http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/Totally-Psyched-for-the-Full-Rip-Nine.html (or http://bit.ly/ojhDOu for short) @mhays: A pedestrian bridge over I-5 between Denny and Lakeview would be welcome, but might I suggest Republican instead of Harrison? http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file;_id=3261 (or http://bit.ly/n6uSxl for short)

Posted Thu, Aug 25, 12:19 p.m.

I'm fine with paying the fee, but wish: 1. You could buy these, without an additional service fee, at the park sites themselves 2. You could apply your $10 one-day payment to the purchase of a yearly pass 3. The already existing State Parks license plates, which I believe cost ...

Posted Wed, Aug 24, 3:42 p.m.

I'm assuming the "know-nothings" in the headline was a reference to the Know Nothing movement of a century and a half ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Nothing

Posted Mon, Aug 22, 2:43 p.m.

animalal, I'm willing to bet that if the Thomson Expressway had been built, it would be just as congested today as I-5. But Ravenna, Montlake, and the Central District would be a lot less liveable, and we'd be missing a huge chunk of the Arboretum. There would probably be calls ...

Posted Tue, Aug 16, 9:36 a.m.

Is it even safe to build a second South Lake Union on top of a massive mudflat? Remember, Elliott Bay used to lap up against the foot of Beacon Hill.

Posted Fri, Aug 12, 1:29 p.m.

The newly released 2010 pavement condition ratings — I didn't see a link to these. Does the author have one?

Posted Thu, Aug 11, 9:07 a.m.

This is why I never, ever, ever, give money to charities which solicit me on the street (or at my door). "I need to look into this more"/"I'll donate online" isn't just a pat excuse.

Posted Sat, Aug 6, 6:21 p.m.

"I could never vote for a Mormon," a well known southern civil-rights advocate told luncheon companions. Civil rights for some, eh?

Posted Fri, Aug 5, 6:06 p.m.

I liked it as an office building, GaryP: 1) Free parking 2) Great views 3) A park right across the street Sure, the food options were limited, and it was not nearly as well served by public transportation as Union Station or the Columbia Center (or the Columbia Building, for ...

Posted Thu, Aug 4, 9:49 p.m.

Smacgry, I'm with you on Red Square, but it's over 40 years old now. And as for the Henry, the addition strikes me more as a prefab shed from The Home Depot. The Columbia Center, though, is indeed a striking building.

Posted Thu, Aug 4, 3:48 p.m.

Rniemi, if we're talking about exteriors, I'd vote for 1201 Third Avenue (the former Washington Mutual Tower), built in 1988.

Posted Thu, Aug 4, 11:26 a.m.

@thoughts: No discounts to its workers? Does that mean no more 10% off for purchases up to $1,000 a year (for locally based Amazonians, that essentially amounts to a sales-tax refund)? @crtic2: I so regret voting against the Commons project. @GaryP: It was my understanding that Amazon is not as ...

Posted Wed, Aug 3, 9:46 a.m.

Doesn't "Whulge" refer to the Puget Sound portion of the Salish Sea only?

Posted Mon, Aug 1, 3:37 p.m.

Strictly speaking, North and West Vancouver are not part of Vancouver. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver) Metro Vancouver yes, Vancouver no. That would be like calling the Eastside Seattle, no?

Posted Fri, Jul 29, 1:59 p.m.

I do hope they manage to keep the site up in some form. Perhaps they should be talking to the folks at HistoryLink.

Posted Tue, Jul 26, 10:23 p.m.

If I buy bottled water — it's not often I do so — it's always spring, never purified. (And don't even think of trying water from those jugs of distilled.) Now, whether I'd want to drink more than a sip out of a spring that close to Eagle Harbor…

Posted Tue, Jul 26, 10:07 a.m.

It appears that Congressman Wu has officially resigned. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/07/26/us/politics/AP-US-Wu-Sex-Scandal.html?hp http://goo.gl/N7RUp for short

Posted Mon, Jul 25, 9:14 p.m.

I love the Union Bay Natural Area, and was thrilled when they reconnected Ravenna Creek to University Slough. The drive to daylight Ravenna Creek was one of the things that really rekindled my interest in local and environmental history. I was sad that they couldn't reach an agreement to take ...

Posted Mon, Jul 25, 9:07 a.m.

I'm not sure about the newcomers, but tourists have helped to support the arts via the lodging tax, as well as support my aunt, who works for a downtown hotel. Bring 'em on. We need more Lions.

Posted Fri, Jul 22, 3:21 p.m.

@sandik: I use AAA TourGuides almost exclusively for that purpose.

Posted Fri, Jul 22, 9:02 a.m.

Dewams, thanks for the link. Loren, your dichotomy is flawed if you're dividing the world into civilized and the U.S., as far as healthcare access goes. Think about which other countries you are tossing into the "uncivilized" bucket. Carol, I see what you're saying. I am glad we have a ...

Posted Fri, Jul 22, 8:58 a.m.

1. Speaking of cider, we really do have some good local ones. Portland has an all-cider tavern, I hear. I'd love to see one of those around these parts. 2. How effective is tourism advertising, I wonder? Anyone have any figures? I'm wondering if the most effective form is by ...

Posted Fri, Jul 22, 8:54 a.m.

It's true about sick customers. They should stay home as well. The difference is one sick customer can infect the whole joint, for as long as they're there. One sick employee can infect the whole joint for the whole day. As for Seattle becoming more hypocritical, on my more cynical ...

Posted Thu, Jul 21, 4:11 p.m.

Smacgry, doesn't that also mean you had no idea how much any of your care actually cost? I can't imagine how that, multiplied by 300 million, would end up leading to lower healthcare costs. But, as you say, Germany seems to be managing it. Do you know how?

Posted Thu, Jul 21, 3:43 p.m.

If that mile-tall cowboy hat is ever built, I hope it looks like this. http://www.hatnboots.org/

Posted Thu, Jul 21, 3:41 p.m.

Ron: In San Francisco, restos were adding a couple of bucks to each check to cover the cost of paying cooks, dishwashers, bussers and waiters who didn't feel like working Shouldn't that be "...who shouldn't be working"? People who are sick should not be at work, especially where their being ...

Posted Thu, Jul 21, 3:38 p.m.

This is a great story, but it's anti-bureaucratic rather than anti–private insurance. While there may be many things that would improve under a single-payer system, I can't imagine that navigating the bureaucratic maze will be one of them.

Posted Wed, Jul 20, 2:42 p.m.

Just saw this piece today: http://mobile-cuisine.com/off-the-wire/how-does-the-end-of-borders-books-relate-to-food-trucks-i%E2%80%99m-glad-you-asked/ (or http://goo.gl/zC7jB for short). Written by a lawyer for food-truck operators.

Posted Mon, Jul 18, 2:21 p.m.

It was indeed Walt. http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file;_id=8303 One time I [Patrick McRoberts] jokingly threw out the idea that we should rename the alley next to the Blue Moon after poet Theodore Roethke. Kim and I had just been to San Francisco and toured Jack Kerouac Alley and William Saroyan Street, home of ...

Posted Mon, Jul 18, 1:29 p.m.

I'm sure the Mike Love/Bruce Johnston version of the Beach Boys puts on a good show, but Brian Wilson has a great touring band now, and sings not only the hits you know but the "teenage symphonies to God" that made the group a serious creative rival to the Beatles ...

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 10:23 a.m.

In a district with as many immigrants as Southeast Seattle, says Pham, “it’s amazing that the signs are only in English.” I hadn't realized this, as I've only taken the light rail once. New Orleans has Vietnamese on its transit signs — at least those on the St. Charles Avenue ...

Posted Thu, Jul 14, 1:22 p.m.

The alley behind the Blue Moon is already named for Theodore Roethke — we'll need somewhere else for Tom Robbins. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukobe/5607484775/

Posted Thu, Jul 14, 10:57 a.m.

Here is Seattle Parks' press release on the recent namings: http://parkways.seattle.gov/2011/06/13/superintendent-names-parks-on-thornton-creek-in-12th-avenue-village/ (or http://goo.gl/lOvqJ for short) The names are: Licorice Fern Natural Area on Thornton Creek Kingfisher Natural Area on Thornton Creek Beaver Pond Natural Area on Thornton Creek LaVilla Meadows Natural Area on Thornton Creek The names aren't completely random, ...

Posted Wed, Jul 13, 10:04 p.m.

I'm sure there will be future Harry Potter fans, just as there are people who still read the Oz, Narnia, and Prydain series and their ilk, or who were fans of Star Wars and Star Trek even before the prequels. The question I'd ask, along with GaryP, is: will there ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 3:39 p.m.

Good find. Reminds me of the "original Starbucks" not being located where the original Starbucks was located.

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 11:10 a.m.

Spike asked: "Look, people, who changed your lives when you were young? Who gave you a sense of value and respect as a person and an intellect? Who helped you discover what you loved in education and where you wanted to go to find the life you needed for happiness? ...

Posted Wed, Jul 6, 2:21 p.m.

You make an interesting comparison to the O.J. case. In the O.J. Simpson trial, at least, you could rationalize that racial factors had colored jurors' judgment. In the Anthony trial, there were no such complicating factors. Could the fact that the defendant was a young white woman have had anything ...

Posted Fri, Jul 1, 10:41 a.m.

@smacgry, how would it work for sole proprietorships anyway, since in such cases one is both the employer and the employee?

Posted Thu, Jun 30, 1:51 p.m.

@sarah90: indeed. This happens all the time. Sick, disabled... you have to be able to prove your case, and that costs money.

Posted Wed, Jun 29, 9:55 a.m.

I wonder — is this supposed to apply to independent contractors? Our ranks are growing. I also wonder — if this does pass, will our ranks grow even quicker?

Posted Mon, Jun 27, 10:13 a.m.

Interesting that they posted this correction — "Information in this article, originally published Sunday, June26, 2011, was corrected Monday, June 27, 2011. A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to the program as the Jackson School of International Relations. The correct name is the Jackson School of International Studies." ...

Posted Thu, Jun 23, 10:32 a.m.

The "CenturyLink" name is so 1990s (even though they only started using that name two years ago). It should be changed. Someone send a memo to the folks in Monroe, Louisiana. Maybe they can get something done before the new signage goes up!

Posted Wed, Jun 22, 3:03 p.m.

I recommend Earl Swift's The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways (http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780618812417) to anyone interested in the history of our road system. Eisenhower, apparently, had little to do with it, though he gets most of the credit. As for the ...

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 8:03 p.m.

Roosevelt neighbors weren't against the upzone just because it was Sisley asking for it. Not that it helped. But I wouldn't characterize them as out for revenge.

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 7:37 p.m.

StarfishMom, regarding this — There is already a political movement afoot to persuade people that only individuals majoring in math, science, and technology need attend a four-year college. From those people we will draw our mathematicians, scientists, physicians, architects, and technology engineers. The rest of us can get by with ...

Posted Thu, Jun 2, 10:30 a.m.

Speaking of education, Peter D, our college campuses also come to mind. Two examples in particular: the Cathedral of Learning at Pitt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Learning) and our very own Suzzallo Library, especially the Graduate Reading Room (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzzallo_Library). Both built around the same time: the late '20s-early '30s. The new medical buildings may ...

Posted Wed, May 25, 10 a.m.

...Starting with the infamous Proposition 13, California has turned the initiative safety valve into an industry and a competitor to the legislature...Polling from the Public Policy Institute of California, quoted in the magazine's essay, makes clear the people the outcome of all this: people are wildly unhappy with the legislature. ...

Posted Tue, May 24, 1:08 p.m.

Another thought: these cigar-bar jobs don't currently exist. If this legislation were to pass, would it be job creation? Or would the would-be cigar-bar operators open other businesses? That is to say, what if the choice isn't between "a living wage and inhaling disease-, heart-attack- and impotence-inducing crud" but rather ...

Posted Mon, May 23, 3:36 p.m.

Working-class employees should not be compelled to choose between a living wage and inhaling disease-, heart-attack- and impotence-inducing crud. On the one hand, that sounds reasonable. On the other hand, my word — think of all the industries that would be illegal, and the things we'd have to do without, ...

Posted Fri, May 20, 10:52 a.m.

There is plenty of anti-Semitism in these parts. Jesus Christ Superstar is unlikely to trigger an increase for the simple reason that those susceptible to the disorder are unlikely to be in attendance.

Posted Fri, May 20, 10:45 a.m.

I realize I'm being off-topic here, but I must comment on PJS's comment. Knute seems to be all things to all people! I've heard him called a liberal, a conservative, and a whole bunch of other things besides. To be honest, I think most people think of him as their ...

Posted Thu, May 19, 1:35 p.m.

I'm willing to accept that e-books are the future. But Amazon's stats mean just that Kindle books are outselling paper books at Amazon by 5%. So, Amazon customers — not necessarily a representative sample of the population — slightly prefer Kindle books to paper ones. That's all. The future is ...

Posted Mon, May 16, 4:59 p.m.

That's another good point, GaryP. Of course, your prescriber should be telling you what it will take to go off them, without you having to ask.

Posted Mon, May 16, 4:58 p.m.

Or http://t.co/NeD81zj for short. Orino — I'd rather endure multiple screenings than die of colorectal cancer. Of course, screenings don't prevent 100% cases from progressing to the untreatable stage — but I'll do whatever I can to not end up like this. http://www.penmachine.com/2011/05/the-last-post

Posted Mon, May 16, 12:25 p.m.

"Psychosocial" strategies, including talk therapy, are great. Too bad so many psychiatrists are turning away from these, as outlined in this March 5 story in the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/health/policy/06doctors.html

Posted Thu, May 12, 10:06 a.m.

That link looks sketchy. They require you to take a survey to get an invite, and it's flagged as malicious. I'd wait.

Posted Mon, May 9, 2:53 p.m.

One place I do miss is the old HUB cafeteria. Salisbury steak, gravy, peas, rice (or mashed potatoes). (Or, if you're in a different mood, triangle-cut tuna sandwiches or burgers and fries from under a heat lamp). Eat your meal, then place the tray on the conveyor belt that ran ...

Posted Mon, May 9, 2:43 p.m.

I just heard about the Rimrock, too. http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Rimrock-Steakhouse-longtime-Lake-City-bar-and-1372317.php http://goo.gl/kDZAa for short Looks like it's already closed. May 1st. The same article notes the Italian Spaghetti House and Pizzeria, farther down Lake City Way, has closed. Darn it — was hoping to finally try it out. A lesson: go hit up ...

Posted Mon, May 9, 1:29 p.m.

I second the Wedgwood Broiler. And what about the U-Village Burgermaster?

Posted Sun, May 8, 10:16 p.m.

Another good one, Hugo. My favorite bibimbap at the moment is the dolsot bibimbap (the sizzling variety you mention) served by Green House, at the corner of 41st & Brooklyn in the U District.

Posted Thu, May 5, 10:17 a.m.

Toward the end of the Town Hall, a woman wondered why the city didn't connect Montlake to Madison Park with a shoreline bike and pedestrian trail. That shortcut near Foster Island could connect with the Burke-Gilman, take a couple miles off the trek between neighborhoods, and get cars and bikes ...

Posted Tue, May 3, 10:56 a.m.

As far as AP courses go, bkochis, see this article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/education/26inflate.html High School Classes May Be Advanced in Name Only These will certainly be interesting times at the UW. I have the feeling I will be happy to see my and my father's old departments ...

Posted Tue, May 3, 10:52 a.m.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I feel about this. I wouldn't say I'm celebrating, but I'm not mourning, either. And I'm very glad this didn't turn into the spectacle of a trial and lethal injection in Terre Haute or Leavenworth.

Posted Tue, May 3, 10:19 a.m.

Martin Luther King did not say "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy." That was one Jessica Dovey. http://mashable.com/2011/05/03/altered-mlk-quote/ http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/anatomy-of-a-fake-quotation/238257/

Posted Mon, May 2, 10:39 a.m.

I do miss that periscope. How appropriate it would be to reinstall it when MOHAI moves into the old Naval Armory next year!

Posted Sun, May 1, 8:13 p.m.

Well, animalal, according to the definition of diversity used in the article, a city that is 90% black is just as diverse as a city that is 90% white, i.e., not very diverse.

Posted Fri, Apr 29, 10:36 a.m.

I'd never heard of this definition of diversity before: "Diversity is usually measured as the degree to which the shares of major racial and ethnic groups are equal. So maximum diversity for six groups (blacks, Native Americans, Asians, Latinos, whites, and those of two or more races) would be .167, ...

Posted Wed, Apr 27, 4:32 p.m.

I've never really read The Daily Beast. This amateurish effort doesn't make me want to start.

Posted Mon, Apr 25, 4:37 p.m.

(Crosscut's commenting system doesn't allow for live links at the moment.)

Posted Mon, Apr 25, 2:01 p.m.

This history of the resistance to the R.H. Thomson was posted today to the Montlake Community Forum. Fascinating reading. http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED205438.pdf "The Montlake community and the R. H. Thomson Expressway: a preliminary case study of a successful freeway fight," Margaret Connon Johnson, July 1979

Posted Mon, Apr 25, 1:59 p.m.

I'm surprised it's taken this long for this to make the mainstream media. As the first commenter writes, "Law schools are just a part (though a big part) of the higher education industry; an industry that I don't believe is sustainable [in its current guise]."

Posted Mon, Apr 25, 1:57 p.m.

I wouldn't pay $30 to see a movie at home unless it was to purchase a DVD. When I go out to see a movie, I'm not paying upwards of $11 to see that movie. I'm paying to have the theatrical experience — to have an excuse to go out, ...

Posted Wed, Apr 20, 2:12 p.m.

I really dislike those Bergen Place sculptures. Good call, Knute. And yes, I'd love to see those Ramps to Nowhere stay just where they are. @NickBob, the Hat 'n' Boots were moved to Oxbow Park in 2003. 6430 Corson Ave. S. in Georgetown. http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/proparks/projects/oxbow.htm http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?id=4416

Posted Tue, Apr 19, 11:08 a.m.

Spike, it's not just readers over the age of 40 who should be frightened. I have never been as glad not to be 22 and just graduating from college as I am now (at just about four years from 40).

Posted Tue, Apr 19, 9:14 a.m.

Well put, woofer, and it's not just about unions or higher education. In times of crisis, we now seem to want to further divide ourselves rather than pull together.

Posted Mon, Apr 18, 9:18 a.m.

That's unfortunate, because if people start resenting what they perceive as too-high ebook prices, they will start to pirate them in greater and greater numbers.

Posted Sun, Apr 17, 9:54 p.m.

I don't think the absence of a hue and cry means people are grieving less. I think it's more that they're coming to recognize the inevitable — physical media will become a niche product. But this 35-year-old doesn't intend to purchase an e-reader anytime soon, and still doesn't own an ...

Posted Fri, Apr 15, 12:22 p.m.

To be fair, as I remember it, BlueLight's comment consisted of more than one sentence. I can't go back to look now, of course, but I do recall things falling apart rather quickly, which is why, I suppose, comments were closed. I was surprised to see that BlueLight's and a ...

Posted Tue, Apr 12, 4 p.m.

I'm glad we're at least getting the FFT — and yes, it does have the advantage of people being able to get inside it, like the museum's Concorde. It was a given that the Smithsonian would be getting a shuttle, and I think it was probably a given that Florida ...

Posted Wed, Apr 6, 11:08 p.m.

Coolpapa: What difference does it make which of the large menu of reasons that a child's reading isn't supported at home? Except, of course, to that child and the people with the task of teaching the child to read. What would be the benefit of aggregated data? Each case must ...

Posted Tue, Apr 5, 10:51 a.m.

Coolpapa, I am by no means saying this is entirely the parents' responsibility and that the state has no interest in the matter. We are all better off if everyone is educated. If I didn't believe this, I'd call for the elimination of all public instruction, across the board. There ...

Posted Tue, Apr 5, 10:07 a.m.

BlueLight is spot on in this case. Of course, this piece was about education in the schools. Still, though, considering it was about why children can't read, I was surprised not to see any mention of parents. I could read when I entered kindergarten, and always read higher than my ...

Posted Mon, Apr 4, 9:50 p.m.

Yet Rainier, Olympus, et al. are a legitimate part of our history as well. I favor the McKinley/Denali solution.

Posted Mon, Apr 4, 4:21 p.m.

Sichuanese Cuisine (aka Lao Szechuan) on the northwest corner of 12th & Jackson is also very good.

Posted Mon, Apr 4, 4:13 p.m.

@animalal: Whether or not the Commons was an exercise in astroturfing, I do wish — if we were going to have Allen-led development in South Lake Union anyway — that we also had a large city park to show for it. Thanks for the piece, Skip.

Posted Mon, Apr 4, 4:03 p.m.

Very true. I suppose it's easier to get public support for sports figures than for Madame Damnable :) Speaking of non–sports figures, S. Lander Street between 16th and 17th Avenues S., on Beacon Hill between El Centro de la Raza and the light-rail station, is being renamed S. Robert Maestas ...

Posted Thu, Mar 31, 10:27 a.m.

That is correct. Per the USGS, the definition of the Salish Sea is: "5,500 square miles; extends from the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca eastward and northward to include Puget Sound and Georgia Strait, and their associated bays, coves, and inlets." If I remember correctly, this is ...

Posted Fri, Mar 25, 10:28 a.m.

Occasional users will have their license plates photographed and be sent a bill (with a surcharge) in the mail. Unless I start working on the Eastside again, I'll put up with this for the handful of times I use 520 each year.

Posted Mon, Mar 21, 8:03 p.m.

"Driveway moment" — what a great phrase. As for the Web and satellites, as seattelifer notes, not everyone has access to the former, and not everyone can afford the latter. We, in Seattle, tend to forget that.

Posted Wed, Mar 16, 10:06 a.m.

It would be a step in the right direction, but what's important is that the content be posted, that it be as clearly written as possible, and that it be properly categorized. Google is not a panacea: look at the state of the Internet today. (By the way, it looks ...

Posted Sun, Feb 20, 10:36 p.m.

No coincidence — Matt Groening is from Portland, Oregon (and went to college at Evergreen).

Posted Wed, Feb 16, 9:39 p.m.

"federal standards which discourage exact replicas of lost historic features in landmark structures" That's interesting. This "fake" business reminds me of the ruins I saw when visiting Italy, Greece, and Turkey. In Italy and Greece, they have mostly been left as they are. (In Pompeii, this apparently extends to letting ...

Posted Tue, Feb 15, 10:44 a.m.

This is a great idea. I might consider going were Oak Tree an option. Even better would be if this were a Landmark initiative rather than one from AMC. Ambiance matters. I'd rather see these at the Guild 45th, Seven Gables, Varsity, and even the Metro than at a more ...

Posted Mon, Feb 14, 11:19 a.m.

As one who makes his living in marketing and communications, I'm of course biased, but I think the government really does need these people. A lot of what's wrong with the way government is perceived by the people is simply a matter of bad PR and hard-to-understand communication.

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 10:26 a.m.

Sounds delicious, although 1) The thought of oxtail and kimchi on the same menu, albeit in different dishes, makes me want to head up to Old Village in Shoreline for some of what I called "bone soup" growing up 2) Any idea where the kimchi comes from? Even other Koreans' ...

Posted Sun, Feb 6, 7:32 p.m.

Asking for ID beforehand? Sounds like Antioch College. Also, it may be no more radical an idea than designated drivers or contraception, but I wonder how many of the IDs in the possession of these youngsters would be fake. Also, I thought the incident with the basketball player had to ...

Posted Tue, Feb 1, 10:36 a.m.

I touched on this, HansvillePastaBoy, in my first Crosscut piece back in 2008. http://crosscut.com/2008/04/24/king-county/13493/Defragging-King-County/ (http://goo.gl/KrPWA for short). Consolidation isn't necessarily a bad idea, but it depends on how it's implemented. There would seem to be two possibilities for Seattle—King County (could apply to Everett—Snohomish and Tacoma—Pierce as well): 1. One ...

Posted Mon, Jan 31, 9:07 p.m.

Does http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/dining/06unit.html not count, Orino?

Posted Sat, Jan 29, 2:17 p.m.

Glad to see Crosscut getting into audio!

Posted Fri, Jan 28, 10:54 a.m.

I remember listening to radio coverage of the Challenger disaster on the gray Panasonic boombox in my bedroom that morning. I was 10. I'm almost positive it was KIRO. Thanks for telling the story.

Posted Fri, Jan 28, 10:50 a.m.

I love the idea of a trail following the old waterline. Most people have no idea how far east the water used to extend.

Posted Wed, Jan 26, 9:39 a.m.

Speaking of a state bank, our treasurer says this would be unconstitutional without an amendment: http://www.tre.wa.gov/documents/blog/blogPost_012511.shtml

Posted Wed, Jan 26, 9:37 a.m.

This is a resolution to place a constitutional amendment on the next general-election ballot. I'm sure it won't make it, but I wonder how it would do if it did.

Posted Wed, Jan 26, 9:35 a.m.

"Oobleck" — love it!

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

If libertarians and greens could organize themselves and agree to work together on those issues where they have more in common with each other than with the Republicans and Democrats, it would be a great thing. But I fear their differences would tend to split them up more than their ...

Posted Thu, Jan 20, 2:57 p.m.

Fascinating. So how do döner kebabs differ from gyros and shawarma, especially in the States? For example, many of the gyro shops in Seattle are actually run by Lebanese, Palestinians, etc. — they call them gyros and use Kronos posters. Do you know if they're also using a more Greek ...

Posted Mon, Jan 17, 10:11 a.m.

Too true regarding centrism. I think what people are looking for is an alternative to the current duopoly, not some middle ground between the two. By the way, I don't think I saw it in this piece, but Washington Territory's second Congressional delegate, James Patton Anderson (served from 1855 to ...

Posted Thu, Jan 13, 10:26 p.m.

This is good news, but I wonder why the bill doesn't simply reconstitute the BGN as it previously existed.

Posted Wed, Jan 12, 9:47 a.m.

I just can't believe that North Korea would be willing to commit national suicide — for that would be the result of a nuclear attack on the United States. For the same reason, I don't foresee a second Korean War launched by the north, either. None of which is to ...

Posted Mon, Jan 10, 11:14 a.m.

No need to pay, Feliks! You can access the same database via the Seattle Public Library, for free. So: "Richard Banel, city Building Department engineer, said occupants of most Seattle homes built in the past 20 years should have little worry about overloaded roofs. He said most homes built more ...

Posted Fri, Jan 7, 3:23 p.m.

Pepper2000 wrote: "The private sector, as a whole, also used to be much more metric oriented that it is now. This was appropriate in the era when assembly line manufacturing dominated American industry. But as lower skills jobs moved overseas, the private sector has been able to adapt by creating ...

Posted Fri, Jan 7, 10:18 a.m.

Of course there is waste, inefficiency, and bureaucracy in the private sector as well as in the public. I think what frustrates people about government waste, though, is that they have no alternative. There's only one United States, and we each only live in one state, one county, and, perhaps, ...

Posted Wed, Jan 5, 10:16 p.m.

Good piece, Tony. Figit — I don't know which men you hang out with, but perhaps you should broaden your horizons. As Tony says, "The results aren’t good for anyone." Turnabout may be fair play, but it's usually a bad idea, and the last thing anyone needs on their hands ...

Posted Sun, Dec 26, 3:57 p.m.

Jonah, many/most/all of the peoples in the mid-east ARE SEMITES!!! For reasons I'm not about to get into - Israel was founded by people who for generations had been living in Europe! The Palestinians NEVER left the region. Without getting into an argument about whether or not Israeli's are Semites...

Posted Tue, Dec 21, 8:54 a.m.

I think people generally understand that shutting down Basic Health to save money is a false economy, since preventative care is a lot more cost-effective than emergency care. No Basic Health may save the state money in the short run, but ER visits are expensive, and we'll end up paying ...

Posted Tue, Dec 21, 12:05 a.m.

Speaking of Hallelujah Chorus flash mobs, this one could have turned out badly: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-21-flash-mob-evacuation-california_N.htm (http://goo.gl/GTBWj for short)

Posted Mon, Dec 20, 10:59 a.m.

Who was it, anyway, who frightened stores into truncating "Merry Christmas" to "Merry" and "Happy Hannukah" to "Happy"? (A good thing, actually, that they weren't still wishing folks a Happy Hanukkah last week, after the holiday was over, which would have shown good intentions but ignorance of the Jewish calendar. ...

Posted Sat, Dec 18, 5:03 p.m.

I had no idea the original plan called for two gates. Aren't the ones in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. singletons? I'm not opposed to the idea of a second one, but it should definitely be at 8th, not 12th. And this isn't just a matter of neighborhood boundaries, which are ...

Posted Thu, Dec 9, 9:09 p.m.

This is a fine idea, especially consolidating some of the counties east of the mountains with minuscule populations. But I can't see them doing it voluntarily unless they were forced to do so by economic circumstances, and perhaps not even then. In the last election, there was a measure on ...

Posted Thu, Dec 9, 9 p.m.

Thanks for writing this. It's hard to watch what's going on from over 5,000 miles away. My mother's family, too, was originally from the north but now lives in the south. Geopolitical events such as these really do look completely different when you have family in the line of fire.

Posted Wed, Dec 8, 10:49 a.m.

I was 5 1/2 and a Beatles fan (particularly a side 1 of the Red Album fan), but still too young to really know who the individual members were. My 13-year-old sister was the one who announced it to the family. "Who's John Lennon?" I remember asking. That and Reagan's ...

Posted Wed, Dec 1, 2:48 p.m.

Sorry, that quote isn't related, is it. Try this: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/appliances/index.cfm/mytopic=10070 ENERGY STAR® computers power down to a sleep mode that consume 15 Watts or less power, which is around 70% less electricity than a computer without power management features. Perhaps the Weekly writer was reading too quickly and grabbed the ...

Posted Wed, Dec 1, 2:38 p.m.

Bad Web editing at the Weekly, it looks like. Here's a current DOE page on the matter: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/appliances/index.cfm/mytopic=10020 "If you live in a typical U.S. home, your appliances and home electronics are responsible for about 20% of your energy bills."

Posted Wed, Dec 1, 12:01 p.m.

Our polling showed that virtually everyone who voted for 1105 also voted for 1100. I'd be interested to see your data. Does "virtually everyone" mean 99%, 95%, 90%? I, and a great many people I talked to, voted for 1100 but against 1105. Neither was perfect, but we tended to ...

Posted Tue, Nov 30, 10:20 a.m.

I'm with dbreneman here. How is it fair to penalize students who had no choice in the matter when their parents decided to come to this country illegally? Hernando is as American as my Uncle Dave was (he came to this country—legally—at about the same age).

Posted Wed, Nov 24, 6:07 p.m.

The man who killed another man with a hatchet on Capitol Hill Monday had been through Mental Health Court. Apparently he has paranoid schizophrenia, but rarely took his medications. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013513644_slaying25m.html Scary story — looks like the killing was totally random.

Posted Tue, Nov 23, 4:49 p.m.

Huckleberry Finn is still OK by the Seattle Public Schools, as are 1984, Animal Farm, and The Sound and the Fury — for now. http://www.seattleschools.org/area/literacy/laaim.html But yes, Scott St. Clair's distinction between educating and training is spot on. To be honest, we ought to be doing both — but we ...

Posted Tue, Nov 23, 4:26 p.m.

Regarding the free wi-fi, it's a great convenience, but be careful what you connect to, since you're operating on an unsecured connection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firesheep

Posted Fri, Nov 12, 11:19 p.m.

Just a few years ago I wouldn't have included Korean in a list of Asian cuisines for which Seattle was enjoying a "veritable bonanza" of restaurants, but their numbers do seem to have increased sharply. Of course, Koreans have been operating restaurants in the area for quite a while — ...

Posted Fri, Nov 12, 10:29 p.m.

Two Democrats and two Republicans, appointed by the legislative caucus leaders, plus a non-voting chair that the first four select. Better than having the legislature do it themselves, which was the case before 1991. I wonder if the process would be improved if those who identified with neither party were ...

Posted Thu, Nov 11, 10:52 a.m.

KIRO has been replaying Dave Niehaus's Hall of Fame speech. It's linked to from http://www.mynw.com/category/mariners_articles/20101110/Mariners-broadcaster-Dave-Niehaus-dies-at-75/ (http://goo.gl/c6tEg for short) and described at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/larrystone/2008076576_stone28.html (http://goo.gl/Jj86E for short). "On a hot, sultry July [1946] evening about 8:30 at night ... Suddenly, from the old Zenith floor model radio in the living room comes ...

Posted Thu, Nov 4, 1:19 p.m.

I am not sure your view on the AMA is all that cynical. I didn't see if the American Dietetic Association had a position on 1107, but, as you can see at http://bit.ly/dcptBy, they are sponsored by a number of companies with a dog in the fight, including Pepsico, Coca-Colo, ...

Posted Thu, Nov 4, 11:29 a.m.

"You're not going to get two-thirds for anything of substance"? If this is true, then we are more split, and in more trouble, than I'd though. (But as you note: I-1053 passed with just about two-thirds of the vote, and I-1098 lost by the same margin. Both, I would say, ...

Posted Thu, Nov 4, 11:05 a.m.

I, too, am glad to read new work from Roger Sale, both of whose books on Seattle have been an inspiration to me. However, wasn't "the area between Yesler and Chinatown that no one could claim" part of Nihonmachi, or Japantown? If I remember correctly, the Buddhist Church was in ...

Posted Thu, Nov 4, 11 a.m.

I'd be very interested to see polling on how many of Tuesday's votes were actually votes against rather than votes for. I am getting extremely tired of our current two-party system, and wonder how "neither of the above" would have fared if it had been a third option on the ...

Posted Tue, Nov 2, 10:10 p.m.

Might work in theory, but a land-based protein tax would be even more controversial than a carbon tax. You'd have as much success levying that as levying a poll tax on carbon-based land-dwelling protein-eating bipeds — after all, we impact others and the environment merely by existing. By the way, ...

Posted Tue, Nov 2, 1:26 p.m.

Good luck converting the world to veganism, though.

Posted Mon, Nov 1, 10:35 a.m.

It is truly unfortunate that the BNSF mainline is the only one that can carry such traffic. I am glad it is there — otherwise the shoreline north of Golden Gardens would be like it is in Magnolia — but wouldn't it make a magnificent rail trail? Speaking of which, ...

Posted Sat, Oct 30, 5:30 p.m.

"A beach is a place where a man can feel / He's the only soul in the world that's real" — Pete Townshend, "Bell Boy," 1973 Gary, thank you for that Web site. And yes, lack of public access to the shoreline is a disgrace. Since it's largely unbuildable, I ...

Posted Fri, Oct 29, 10:21 a.m.

Also, where can we learn more about this cooperative café?

Posted Fri, Oct 29, 10:20 a.m.

Don't forget the People's Memorial Association and their People's Memorial Funeral Cooperative. The former has been in operation for over 70 years — longer than PCC and GHC and almost as long as REI! Is it true that the UW isn't addressing coops at all, though, or is it just ...

Posted Fri, Oct 29, 10:04 a.m.

Cambio: http://lbloom.net/

Posted Thu, Oct 28, 10:19 a.m.

Indeed. Can we ever absolutely know what our candidates are made of? Besides which, even though there are still those who vote for the candidate, not the party, there seem to be many more who vote the party line. How many Murray supporters would really switch their vote to Rossi ...

Posted Thu, Oct 28, 10:07 a.m.

Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Richard Feynman, just to name a few. Richard Dawkins, even (read his work carefully). Christopher Hitchens may not write of it often, but I'm sure this applies to him as well. I think Havel should have chosen a different word. He's talking about those who have ...

Posted Tue, Oct 26, 11:05 a.m.

Lindy, this probably isn't what you're looking for, but here's a summary of Ron Sims's income-tax plan from last decade, when he was running for governor. http://www.itepnet.org/pdf/wa0804.pdf It would have repealed the B&O; entirely, repealed the state portion of the sales tax, exempt the first $100,000 of homes' values from ...

Posted Mon, Oct 25, 8:36 p.m.

Quinn wrote: Ben, why on Earth would a professional science exhibitor, or any adult, presume to tell a child that magic doesn't exist? Because it doesn't? I wouldn't advocate random adults telling random children this, but this is a science museum we're talking about. Sandik wrote: And if this exhibit ...

Posted Sat, Oct 23, 8:15 p.m.

Sounds fun enough, and yes, I do expect that it was taken on so as to fund the "Science Center's more rational endeavours." But do they mention the connection of alchemy to modern science, and do they mention that yes, magic is fun, but no, it doesn't really exist? Or ...

Posted Fri, Oct 22, 11:23 a.m.

That long link didn't seem to work — try http://goo.gl/maps/KIkt instead. Yes, Harborview is at the top of First Hill. I wonder how many people rode up from the waterfront, though, or up from the International District. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them came from Capitol Hill, or ...

Posted Thu, Oct 21, 3:48 p.m.

serial_catowner, our shoreline street ends have been inventoried: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/stuse_stends.htm http://www.seattle.gov/Transportation/stuse_stends_map.htm There is also a group, Friends of Street Ends, working to open them up to the public. They don't have a Web presence, but if anyone is interested in contacting them, send me an e-mail.

Posted Thu, Oct 21, 1:10 p.m.

Are you suggesting expunging certain verses from the Bible, Andy?

Posted Thu, Oct 21, 1:05 p.m.

Linguistic morphology is far from arcane trivia! Thank you for your explanation of the name.

Posted Thu, Oct 21, 11 a.m.

"Never miss the chance for the public to obtain more access to the shore" — indeed. But we could start by asserting our right to access shoreland that is already public yet inaccessible, whether because of topography or because of encroachment by neighboring private landowners.

Posted Tue, Oct 12, 9:58 a.m.

I enjoyed seeing this more human face to I-1107. Perhaps the governor would have heard of Dry earlier had she been as big a fan of rhubarb as I am! This bears repeating: "It is difficult to argue that DRY Soda, a conscientiously and locally produced beverage, or a can ...

Posted Wed, Oct 6, 1:28 p.m.

As has been said or at least implied, a viable third party would quickly become one of the two main parties. Our electoral system simply isn't set up otherwise. IRV would be a step in the right direction, but as I recall Pierce County voters took that option away from ...

Posted Sun, Oct 3, 2:34 p.m.

Why does the UW throw away books it no longer wants rather than donating them to the book sale, to Goodwill, or to someone else? As for those scanners, I don't think they should be banned. Perhaps, however, they could be restricted to Sundays, when the hangar has been pretty ...

Posted Thu, Sep 30, 12:17 a.m.

Intelligence? Yes. Just as we do not execute children (anymore), so we should not execute those operating at the level of children. Sex? Absolutely not. It's not quite as out of proportion as your figures would make it seem: 1.65% of those on death row are women; 50.7% of Americans ...

Posted Wed, Sep 29, 11:28 a.m.

Interesting parable. But what exactly is a secularist in this context? I assume we are not confusing secularists with committed atheists, militant, radical, or otherwise. I am not religious. But I haven't been toting rocks, either. To argue that those without religious faith have been transporting rocks while those with ...

Posted Mon, Sep 27, 10:33 p.m.

Hugo, it is my understanding that the Delridge, University District, Central District, Lake City, Rainier Valley, and Ballard Neighborhood Service Centers will remain open, while the centers in West Seattle, Queen Anne, Greenwood, Wallingford, Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, and Beacon Hill are being closed. All of the latter except West ...

Posted Fri, Sep 24, 8:32 p.m.

Seattleites recalled Hiram Gill in 1911 and Frank Edwards in 1931, and attempted to do so to Wes Uhlman in 1975. A quick search of the charter and municipal code failed to come up with anything other than Article V, Section 10 of the charter, which provides for the mayor's ...

Posted Wed, Sep 22, 9:53 p.m.

I love your definition of an editor as "a plumber of words." I loved to write when I was a kid, but have mostly made my living as an editor (and an indexer — I wonder what skilled trade that would correspond to). After I left Amazon.com, where I'd had ...

Posted Sun, Sep 19, 4:01 p.m.

Gray Line does still go to Mt. Rainier from Seattle. http://www.graylineseattle.com/sightseeingtours.cfm/mode/detail/product_id/1317

Posted Sun, Sep 19, 3:52 p.m.

I don't think my neighbor's dog, Marley, would appreciate that suggestion, "woofer"! :)

Posted Thu, Sep 16, 3:32 p.m.

I, too, had the Bamboo Village squab. Hadn't gone in planning to order it, but once I saw it on the menu I knew I couldn't pass it up. I would very much like for smaller animals and variety meats to be more widely available. I only know of two ...

Posted Thu, Sep 16, 2:29 p.m.

I am definitely a pie person.

Posted Thu, Sep 16, 11:48 a.m.

Absolutely, though our current voting system makes the long-term stability of such a setup unlikely. If a powerful third party emerged in 2012, it would be more likely to reduce the stature of the Democrats or Republicans than to stand alongside them.

Posted Wed, Sep 15, 3:04 p.m.

The latest: http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/221489.asp 'Norris is essentially entering the witness protection program, but without government assistance. That involves "moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity."'

Posted Thu, Sep 9, 4:07 p.m.

Good points in the article and GaryP's comments. But it should be remembered that many people simply can't afford to move closer to work, buy produce at farmer's markets, buy a house (for the kitchen garden — though Ernie managed to plant things on his windowsill [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M36TyN2TXrY] — replace those ...

Posted Thu, Sep 9, 2:13 p.m.

It's now being reported the Koran-burning has been canceled: http://www.mynw.com/category/national_news_articles/20100907/Church-rebuffs-military-concerns-on-Quran-burning/ (or http://goo.gl/GlDa for short)

Posted Thu, Sep 9, 1:04 p.m.

Interesting take. Of course it's an ill-advised action. But should the government have the power to stop it? I hadn't thought of it as incitement to riot in free-speech terms. Should it make a difference if one is not standing in the crowded theater while yelling "Fire!" but transmitting remotely? ...

Posted Thu, Sep 9, 12:49 p.m.

Looks like Graham Roumieu has another book to write!

Posted Wed, Sep 8, 11:43 a.m.

Regarding #10, so true. Nobody learns about infrastructure unless they already have an interest — and even if they do, the information isn't always easy to find. I've been interested in our city's streets for decades — see http://crosscut.com/2009/10/27/neighborhoods-communities/19316/Fall-is-in-the-air,-and-on-Seattle-s-street-signs/ — but it wasn't until I took URBDP 300 while I ...

Posted Tue, Sep 7, 4:05 p.m.

Good points, Skip, but Dino Rossi and big-trucked yahoos aren't exactly libertarians. The former is a Republican, and the latter — I'm not sure what they are, but they probably don't read Reason. (Or maybe they do — but hopefully not while driving.)

Posted Tue, Sep 7, 12:51 p.m.

Looks like Rob McKenna is personally against it, or at least not affirmatively for it, though as long as the people of the state want him to, he will professionally support it. http://www.mynw.com/category/local_news_articles/20100907/As-state-prepares-for-execution,-AG-McKenna-not-sure-if-ultimate-penalty's-worth-it/ (or http://goo.gl/Lqgz for short)

Posted Thu, Sep 2, 12:01 p.m.

Of course it's beyond property rights. "Civic sanity" is a good way to put it. As far as shariah-compliant finance goes, that makes as much sense to me as eruvim. But I think we all digress. One question is, if religious folk should strive to be in the world but ...

Posted Thu, Sep 2, 10:48 a.m.

"The futures of Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and North Korea all lie within the hands of the inhabitants of those countries." I hope this is not the case, at least for North Korea. The residents are starving and brainwashed. If you're right, my chances of being able to visit my ...

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 10:26 p.m.

"True and authentic reality is being drowned out by the countless superficial information bits, noisily and breathlessly presented in propaganda fashion." True and authentic reality? I am no fan of postmodernism, but I will say this: who's to say people 100, 200, 1,000, 2,000, or 4,000 years had a better ...

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 9:55 a.m.

That's a intriguing proposal, ruffner, and one I hadn't heard before. The idea of the lower level of the Alaskan Way Viaduct turning into a local High Line, an aerial Burke-Gilman, really appeals to me. I don't know if I'd want to walk through the Battery Street Tunnel, though, without ...

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 9:50 a.m.

The second one is priceless.

Posted Mon, Aug 30, 10:16 p.m.

The road diet on Roosevelt Way N.E. does not seem to have increased congestion. However, it does mean that if you're parking on the left side of the street (Roosevelt, for those not familiar with the area, is one way southbound below N.E. 75th Street), your passengers stand a decent ...

Posted Mon, Aug 30, 10:01 a.m.

It is an explicit and affirmative act, and many are not willing to cross that line. I suppose it is the same for medical professionals who will give a dying patient much more morphine than, strictly speaking, is necessary, but will refuse to administer a lethal dose of a substance ...

Posted Sat, Aug 28, 10:32 p.m.

Michael Arrington has just written a piece on this in TechCrunch that's worth a read. "Too Few Women In Tech? Stop Blaming The Men. Or At Least Stop Blaming Me." http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/28/women-in-tech-stop-blaming-me/ It's a response to a Wall Street Journal blog post by Shira Ovide, also worth a read, entitled "Addressing ...

Posted Wed, Aug 25, 3:33 p.m.

Sagacious, I wonder how you would feel if you, someone in your family, or one of your friends happened to be that "occasional error." I am with Abraham, Maimonides, Fortescue, Mather, Franklin, and Blackstone on this one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone's_formulation By your logic, if we are to accept the innocent being executed, ...

Posted Mon, Aug 23, 10:07 a.m.

Seneca: post-literate environment?

Posted Sun, Aug 22, 8:31 p.m.

Fascinating — I don't see the word "nuclear" anywhere in the article or its comments.

Posted Sun, Aug 22, 12:23 a.m.

Very nice history indeed. I have yet to hike the trail, but will have to do so soon — perhaps combined with huckleberry picking on Tonga Ridge.

Posted Sun, Aug 22, 12:22 a.m.

I would try ordering it by that name — dry-fried chicken. It's been years since I've had it there (I can only eat so much at a time, and I prefer to fill up while there on abalone soup, nanja wanja, and tang-su-yuk), but if they indeed still make it, ...

Posted Sun, Aug 22, 12:19 a.m.

Parents are indeed the single most important factor in a child's education, as robelee and westy point out. Perhaps Councilman Burgess instead mentioned teachers because they are a group over which people, via the government, feel they have a chance of exerting some control?

Posted Thu, Aug 19, 9:21 p.m.

Federal Way is a bit too far for me to go for the dry-fried chicken I used to love getting at Tai Ho in Kenmore, but now I have even more reasons to check out BBQ Chicken, on the Ave. just north of N.E. 45th.

Posted Fri, Aug 13, 10:18 a.m.

I had no idea Five Guys was now in the area. Thanks for the tip. For my money, the best "low-end" burgers are at Dick's. The nice thing about them is they don't actually cost $5, unlike those at Kidd Valley and Burgermaster — you can get about three regulars ...

Posted Tue, Aug 10, 10:28 a.m.

Actually, many tribes already do issue their own passports. Whether or not they are honored, however, is another story. Iroquois being refused entry to Britain on their own passports to play in a lacrosse tournament: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jul/15/native-americans-sovereignty http://www.economist.com/node/16643313?story_id=16643313

Posted Mon, Aug 9, 3:16 p.m.

Forgot to mention: Sam Israel, of Samis Land Company and the Samis Foundation, was also from Rhodes. Samis owns, among other buildings, the Schwabacher, Collins, Terry Denny, Washington Shoe, and Yesler Buildings, and owned the Smith Tower for a decade.

Posted Mon, Aug 9, 3:11 p.m.

I've been planning to go to this. My honeymoon last year took me to Rhodes, where I met one of the island's few remaining Jews, Sami Modiano. During the summer months, he sits in the courtyard of the synagogue, which is now mostly a museum, and offers tours. (During the ...

Posted Mon, Aug 9, 1:14 p.m.

The idea of corporate signs on skyscrapers immediately made me think of the PSFS Building in Philadelphia. Looking for a suitable night image, I came across this article: http://www.phillyskyline.com/archive_0806.htm (search for "PSFS" or scroll about 2/3 of the way down the page). Here's the portion that makes me recommend the ...

Posted Fri, Aug 6, 2:19 p.m.

Orino, unless by "college radio" you're referring to a genre, I don't think KEXP qualifies as such anymore. Yes, its license is held by the UW, but it's been years since students ran it. This is a bit off-topic, but it's too bad that the UW's two stations are now ...

Posted Tue, Aug 3, 10:31 a.m.

Speaking of the primary ballot, of the 11 races on mine, 6 are uncontested, and the results of 3 more are a foregone conclusion. Only the two contested Supreme Court races (Rumbaugh vs. Johnson; Chushcoff vs. Wiggins vs. Sanders) offer any real choice. Whether or not the Municipal League is ...

Posted Tue, Jul 27, 4:46 p.m.

Technically speaking, the Arboretum is a botanical garden -- the plant collection is managed by the UW Botanic Gardens, the umbrella organization for the Arboretum and the Center for Urban Horticulture. http://depts.washington.edu/uwbg/gardens/wpa.shtml Why it is so underutilized, I have no idea. Thankfully, the proposals to fence it in and charge ...

Posted Mon, Jul 26, 12:47 p.m.

Speaking of the United States' incarceration problem, the latest Economist cover story is worth reading. http://www.economist.com/node/16636027?story_id=16636027

Posted Tue, Jul 20, 12:42 p.m.

@knielsen: My father grew up in Philadelphia. His niece is the only one who still lives within the city limits. Everyone else who remained in the area lives in one of the surrounding counties, or in New Jersey or Delaware. Though I favor income over sales taxes because of the ...

Posted Mon, Jul 19, 11:02 p.m.

I noticed that Genesis 1 was written like Kurt Vonnegut, while Revelation 22 is Lewis Carroll. (My Crosscut pieces were apparently written like David Foster Wallace. But I am certainly not alone, as http://twitter.com/swimstein/status/18808857149 noted. I mean, so does Justin Bieber, per the Toronto Star. http://bit.ly/9O1uYa)

Posted Thu, Jul 15, 7:40 p.m.

I love sardines (and, since you mentioned it, organ meat). Café Presse's sandwich en baguette with grilled sardines is excellent ($5, 1117 12th Avenue). And Perchè No (1319 N. 49th Street) serves a delicious capellini con sardine for $13. It was having the latter meal one evening last year that ...

Posted Tue, Jul 13, 9:47 a.m.

Beat the system? As I comment, Harris-Moore has just appeared before a judge in the Bahamas. By the end of the week, he is likely to be back in Washington, facing a multitude of state charges and at least one federal charge. How exactly did he beat the system? As ...

Posted Mon, Jul 12, 8:44 a.m.

We could always go back to Sun Dodgers.

Posted Fri, Jul 9, 1:44 p.m.

Well, regarding the sculpture park, that used to be Unocal's tank farm. Hadn't been "open" since the early 1900s. Whether or not a more traditional park would have been better than what's currently there is one thing, but either, to me, is better than more condos.

Posted Fri, Jul 9, 10:16 a.m.

I wonder how much the North Korean government spent on the pavilion. Then again, it's not like they would have spent the money on, say, bettering the lives of their citizens (perhaps by feeding them), had they sat this one out. ~ Benjamin Donguk Lukoff, whose Korean family left the ...

Posted Thu, Jul 8, 3:06 p.m.

Why don't you take a serious risk and write about how our moral character has been influenced by removing prayer from the schools? I do suppose this could be read as "our moral character has been improved by removing prayer from the schools" rather than the opposite. Is that what ...

Posted Tue, Jul 6, 2:35 p.m.

Richard: The declaration of Independence celebrates the end of British rule by Kings and Queens not freedom from government regulation. "He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance." It is true, though, that most of ...

Posted Tue, Jul 6, 10:14 a.m.

15th Avenue N.E. is a nightmare to drive and a quite unpleasant stretch of any bus route that uses it. I can only imagine what it's like these days for bicyclists. (Haven't ridden it since I graduated from the UW last millennium.) With the N.E. 45th Street Viaduct being closed ...

Posted Mon, Jul 5, 11:59 a.m.

This is interesting: On another adjacent block, the city cleared away a brewery and used eminent-domain powers to acquire a sizeable property, which sparked a lawsuit that was later settled. That block now houses a commercial building with office space on the lower floors, capped by some high-end condos and ...

Posted Thu, Jul 1, 10:28 a.m.

Regarding the grid, it is my understanding that the clash exists because Maynard platted his streets to run according to the cardinal directions, whereas Yesler et al. platted theirs to run parallel to the bay. Maynard's grid is followed almost everywhere else in the city, a major exception being the ...

Posted Thu, Jul 1, 10:03 a.m.

The question is: how do you get one of those "steady, reasonably paid, benefit-rich... virtually tenured" government jobs?

Posted Wed, Jun 30, 3:26 p.m.

Seattle history buffs are like Bradbury's book people, except history is not as memorable as great literature. So unless one has time and interest to burn in the Seattle Room, the details get more and more scrambled. Too bad too. afreeman, well put. Except history can be memorable, and occasionally ...

Posted Fri, Jun 25, 2:25 p.m.

That is a good point. Unchanged from what time? Would residents of "Garlic Gulch" in its heyday recognize today's Rainier Avenue? Time to read up: http://www.rainiervalleyhistory.org/

Posted Fri, Jun 25, 1:07 p.m.

That's a good question, John. I'd like to know, too. A quick search on the Census Bureau's Web site comes up with nothing.

Posted Thu, Jun 24, 12:34 p.m.

Ah, Sweet Water! I didn't know they were still together. The second-biggest band to come out of the Bush School, where they were known as S.G.M.

Posted Wed, Jun 23, 1:58 p.m.

Mezcal has nothing to do with mescaline. Mezcal = a tequila-like drink made from Agave americana (tequila is made from Agave tequilana). Mescaline = a psychedelic drug derived from various cacti, including the peyote cactus.

Posted Wed, Jun 23, 1:53 p.m.

What exactly makes a blogger sexy?

Posted Mon, Jun 21, 10:11 a.m.

Ah, David Seville — AKA Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., cousin of William Saroyan, co-writer of "Come on-a My House," and — sadly, this may be his most enduring legacy — creator of the Chipmunks! Regarding Spring and Seneca, that is the problem with the Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Protest mnemonic. ...

Posted Tue, Jun 8, 4:24 p.m.

The BGN never had authority over the naming of incorporated places, so Seattle will remain Seattle until the mayor and city council decide otherwise — which is even less likelier to happen than Mt. Rainier becoming Ti'Swaq.

Posted Tue, Jun 8, 12:41 p.m.

Even if BlueLight's assertions were true, the question still remains — who is now to keep track of things in this state? Customary usage is fine for many purposes, but with the proliferation of maps in this digital age... I don't even want to think about the consequences of a ...

Posted Mon, Jun 7, 4:25 p.m.

Interesting. Is that handout the same one incorporated into http://liq.wa.gov/BusinessAdvisoryCouncil/business%20advisory%20council%20minutes%201-20-10.pdf (http://bit.ly/cJDX3d for short) — the WSLCB Business Advisory Council meeting minutes from January 20 of this year?

Posted Thu, Jun 3, 2:03 p.m.

I am wondering what the foreign-relations repercussions of our seizing BP's North American operations might be. Beyond angering the British, it could set a precedent for other countries to seize our assets in their countries. I am not saying whether this is a good or a bad thing, but it ...

Posted Tue, Jun 1, 4:38 p.m.

It looks like The Star Rover is currently in print. http://www.amazon.com/Star-Rover-Literary-Classics/dp/1573926957

Posted Tue, Jun 1, 12:07 p.m.

I'd like to see a follow-up poem on the candy-with-flour exemption! I see via the News-Tribune's database at http://www.thenewstribune.com/1459 that my favorite, Baby Ruth, is taxable, but that Milky Ways are not. (However, Milky Way Midnight Bars are. How fun.)

Posted Fri, May 28, 1:01 p.m.

Did Native Americans consider the Europeans' entry to be illegal? I regret to say I don't know more about the history of first contact, or their system of jurisprudence.

Posted Fri, May 28, 10:23 a.m.

What should I see in my inbox this morning but this NPR piece, "Website Editors Strive To Rein In Nasty Comments" (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126782677)? (And why are "to" and "in" capped?) By the way, Sarah, Meir was the Hebrew version of her married name, Meyerson, not her maiden name, Mabovitz. You are ...

Posted Thu, May 27, 10:20 p.m.

Nichka, I was lumping Smirnoff with Belvedere, not with Monarch :)

Posted Thu, May 27, 2:46 p.m.

I can see both sides' points. I do think that having a registration process is a good idea, however. Sites that allow truly anonymous posting are simply asking for it.

Posted Thu, May 27, 1:26 p.m.

Dman, interesting piece. 'With other products, they can offer customers local or higher quality alternatives, but "a bottle of vodka is a bottle of vodka," said Jan Gee, president and chief executive of the Washington Food Industry Association, which represents independent grocers.' "A bottle of vodka is a bottle of ...

Posted Thu, May 27, 10:51 a.m.

This doesn't take away from the fact that sin taxes are incredibly regressive. Nobody wants to cut children's healthcare, seniors' dental care, or financial aid for college students. And obviously, the cuts that are being made are incredibly painful. I'd like more insight into what was under consideration for being ...

Posted Thu, May 27, 10:43 a.m.

GregMcD is correct in that Costco is currently headquartered in Issaquah. It was founded in Kirkland, hence the "Kirkland Signature" brand — the likely source of the confusion. I agree with BlueLight — let's call them Tea Partiers. Chris Vance doesn't use "the Democrat Party," at least not in these ...

Posted Tue, May 25, 9:38 p.m.

The radio business obviously isn't working the way it used to, but dead air? I still don't know a better way to spend my daily commute (or my time in the dentist's chair) than by listening to the radio. And it's still usually KIRO. If the rumors that Hersholt's departure ...

Posted Tue, May 25, 2:05 p.m.

I wonder if there's any truth to the rumor that that fake stream was originally supposed to be a real one. There used to be springs all over the city, of course, though most of them have been paved over. Supposedly one was located somewhere in the vicinity of today's ...

Posted Thu, May 13, 4:27 p.m.

Oh, but Spam does taste good! Love the K&K; and their pies (and their traditional, strong, ginger beer). Didn't know about the store in Burien they came from, though. Good to know. Now if I could just find a reliable source of English steak and kidney pies — or, even ...

Posted Tue, May 11, 3:46 p.m.

How's the national business journal doing? :) As much as I like discount prices, I never did feel the Rack fit in with the rest of Nordstrom. Perhaps it's just the store I'm most familiar with, the one on Second Avenue in Downtown Seattle, but it always seemed a bit ...

Posted Mon, May 10, 1:29 p.m.

Good to hear that about Washelli. They're moving in the right direction. There is also, of course, the People's Memorial Funeral Cooperative (founded 2007), an offshoot of Seattle's pioneering People's Memorial Association (founded 1939), for those who prefer the nonprofit route.

Posted Mon, May 10, 1:03 p.m.

It now looks like they're considering taking library funding out of the general fund, as well: http://www.seattle.gov/council/conlin/miw/2010/1004miw.htm#4

Posted Sun, May 9, 8:10 p.m.

Are those days gone? I was a pallbearer at my (Jewish) aunt's funeral, which was followed by a long cortege to the cemetery. Of course, that was 1) seven years ago, 2) on the East Coast (Philadelphia, to be exact), and 3) she was 90. Perhaps it is different in ...

Posted Sun, May 9, 4:28 p.m.

There are Boundary Commissions for that, and they are nonpartisan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Commissions_%28United_Kingdom%29

Posted Thu, May 6, 7:57 p.m.

Teaching young children Lushootseed alongside English is indeed mandatory if the language is to survive. However, having them grow up with it as their only language before puberty would put them at a disadvantage in this country. Why not raise them bilingual? Frankly, this is what should be happening in ...

Posted Tue, May 4, 7:37 p.m.

I wouldn't call it gerrymandering. There are no separate elections for the executive and the legislature, as there are in the U.S. Rather, there are a number of local elections to Parliament, and who becomes Prime Minister is determined by which party has a majority of seats when all is ...

Posted Mon, May 3, 11:38 a.m.

The full text of Initiative 1077 is available at http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/text/i1077.pdf. (All this year's proposed initiatives to the people can be found at http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/people.aspx. Incidentally, this includes I-1069: "This measure would require the Seal of the State of Washington to be changed to depict a vignette of a tapeworm dressed in ...

Posted Sun, May 2, 7:57 p.m.

I like the urban archaeology idea as well, but is Pioneer Square the best place for it? It makes most sense from a historical perspective, but if it's aimed at residents and not tourists, I do wonder. There are a number of Seattle neighborhoods I tend to avoid if I ...

Posted Tue, Apr 27, 2:49 p.m.

Thanks for this! And to think most Seattleites don't even know of the waterway's existence.

Posted Fri, Apr 23, 11:09 a.m.

Sounds fascinating. I've added it to my to-buy list. (Yes, I still buy printed books!) As for the future of books like 101 Theory Drive, and more broadly, in-depth studies of any sort, I must hope that if they go away for lack of funding, it will be noticed, and ...

Posted Thu, Apr 22, 5:31 p.m.

… it looks like the Weedins' own plat, to the east, had what is now Roosevelt Way as Weedin Avenue, so I guess they weren't above eponymy, after all. I'm glad the name survives!

Posted Thu, Apr 22, 5:29 p.m.

You're right! And a look at the original plat shows that this wasn't a case of developers naming streets after themselves: the street was originally platted by William and Emma Wood of the Green Lake Electric Company (and of Woodlawn — that was the name of this addition) as Ravenna ...

Posted Thu, Apr 22, 1:16 p.m.

Baby steps, Josh :) Renaming arterials is a much more complicated affair than naming hitherto nameless alleys. However, if this were to happen, why not William Grose for 23rd? You can read more about him here — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Grose_%28black_Seattle_pioneer%29 Nothing in particular comes to mind for 12th, though I'm sure Seattle ...

Posted Mon, Apr 19, 4:56 p.m.

Sounds like my Whole Foods at 64th & Roosevelt. Or perhaps the U-Village QFC. Now, if they could get this going in places with lower price points,...

Posted Mon, Apr 19, 9:14 a.m.

Which is to say, even if you're right about Austin (though it's my opinion you're not), his main points still stand.

Posted Mon, Apr 19, 9:09 a.m.

FlyintheOintment, the B&O;, a tax on gross receipts instead of net profits, is regressive, and when applied to the small businesses you also mention, is especially onerous, as they (we) cannot as easily pass those costs on to consumers as larger businesses can.

Posted Sat, Apr 17, 7:40 p.m.

At least we've still got Bop Street — though the dearth of record stores on the Ave (just one left, last time I looked) is still shocking to me.

Posted Fri, Apr 16, 8:52 p.m.

Well, there used to be good Jewish food around here — Matzoh Mamma's, New York Bagel Boys, Kosher Delight. Not sure what happened — maybe it was a health thing. (Not as if there aren't plenty of other fatty foods being consumed on a daily basis around these parts!) I ...

Posted Fri, Apr 16, 3:40 p.m.

I wonder what "you're welcome" originally meant: literally "you're welcome [to my services, so no need to thank me]"? Either way, if the person I'm dealing with says anything to me I count myself rather lucky. As for those self-checkout machines, what bugs me most is that they (the ones ...

Posted Thu, Apr 15, 5:10 p.m.

Hmm. It is my understanding that "no worries" is simply an Australianism picked up, for some reason, by Americans. Perhaps we can blame the late Crocodile Hunter. (Note: the phrase has also made it into Papua New Guinea's Tok Pisin, as "no waris.") I also wonder if "no problem," used ...

Posted Thu, Apr 15, 3:34 p.m.

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since Andy Wood died. Sounds like a great show. It may have been as Pearl Jam that they became superstars, but for my money, it's hard to beat their incarnation as Mother Love Bone. Speaking of previous incarnations, by the way, any truth ...

Posted Thu, Apr 15, 9:59 a.m.

Amen. The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, by Jean M. Twenge, PhD, and W. Keith Campbell, PhD, is a great encapsulation of this phenomenon. It doesn't address this victimhood mentality as much as the self-esteem-run-amok issue, but, at heart, they are related.

Posted Wed, Apr 14, 8:34 p.m.

Yet vinyl is experiencing a resurgence. It may no longer be the dominant form of music distribution, yet most people who want it can get it, and it's selling better than it has in years. (Record Store Day is this Saturday, April 17, by the way.) And the LP only ...

Posted Wed, Apr 14, 8:47 a.m.

Oh, and speaking of private shelters and the "ethics of the shelter doorway," Robert A. Heinlein's Farnham's Freehold is worth a look. It's not his best work, but does contain the lines: "In a lifeboat, how do you tell the boat officer?" "Is that a riddle?" "No. The boat officer ...

Posted Tue, Apr 13, 10:08 p.m.

I would love to get inside the Weedin Place structure. Living just a few blocks away, I've passed by it many a time and found out about its history a while back, but never thought of converting it into a museum! As for the sense of pride that Seattle would ...

Posted Tue, Apr 13, 9:39 a.m.

Love it, seattlelifer. I was doing a Seattle Times archive search to remind myself how long this project has been going on, and to read up a little on the siting controversy. I came across this story -- http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20031210&slug;=sewage10n0 -- and found a mention of a "Washington Tea Party." Plus ...

Posted Mon, Apr 12, 12:31 p.m.

@mikemc: Chinese gypsum, anyone? http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011550757_realdrywall11.html

Posted Mon, Apr 12, 8:45 a.m.

Holden writes it was "built as a joint venture between the Carpenters Union and Harbor Properties," so I can't imagine this was a non-union job.

Posted Fri, Apr 9, 5:34 p.m.

The Husky Den hasn't been the same since the last remodel, when they chucked the salisbury steak, triangle-shaped sandwiches, and burgers and fries under heat lamps. The building always seemed perfectly adequate to me during the '80s and '90s.

Posted Fri, Apr 9, 5:32 p.m.

hacknflack, you are correct: the Space Needle is privately owned and is on private land. Perhaps we can give Ms. Clement the benefit of the doubt and assume that when she wrote "Like the Space Needle, the Chihuly museum would be a for-profit business — one built on public land ...

Posted Fri, Apr 9, 5:24 p.m.

Andy, for those of us who are not religious, "Thank God I am not like them" and "There but for the grace of God go I" are still useful figures of speech. I am reminded of a clip from the 1980s in which a television interviewer thought he'd scored a ...

Posted Thu, Apr 8, 10:44 a.m.

We're no longer allowed to make jokes about Swedes? So much for Almost Live's COPS in Ballard — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGlDVmBLibg I'm not entirely sure what "Seattleites will have a new way to stay in Seattle and find affordable housing" means. Seattleites can already move to White Center. Are there really people ...

Posted Tue, Apr 6, 9:36 a.m.

I like Kleiman and Kennedy's strategies of concentrated deterrence, the reassertion of community norms, and certain, swift sanctions. But why do we incarcerate so many people in the first place? Why are people breaking into homes and cars? Whoever stole the wheels off my wife's car last month probably wasn't ...

Posted Mon, Apr 5, 7:52 p.m.

I am curious: why are the choices for race 1) White, 2) Black, 3) American Indian/Alaska Native, 4-14) various subsets of Asian or Pacific Islander, 5) Other? Specifically, why such specificity with Asians and Pacific Islanders, and so little with those of other races? At least we now have the ...

Posted Sat, Apr 3, 10:46 p.m.

This may very well produce goodwill for KIRO, but will it produce an audience? As I understand it, the switch from 710 AM to 97.3 FM hurt listenership greatly, and even though it's still my default choice for the commute, I haven't been thrilled with the move away from live, ...

Posted Thu, Apr 1, 9:15 p.m.

But the context was alternatives to FM radio, so what really matters is broadband penetration. I don't have figures at hand regarding computer ownership, but the number is likelier higher than we imagine. If anything, that is elitist — to imagine everyone across the land is situated as well as ...

Posted Thu, Apr 1, 5:23 p.m.

It's no longer cute to brag about not having a computer, nor is it probably correct to say "like many people." That's simply elitist. Was it ever cute? As for the comment about many people not owning a computer, this statistic may be of use. According to the OECD, there ...

Posted Thu, Apr 1, 1:26 p.m.

I must agree. The last paragraph, though, is no joke!

Posted Thu, Mar 25, 4:04 p.m.

For the purposes of this article, I considered anything south of Denny as downtown, and 2201 Westlake is just south. As for the UW Tower, I don't know if it's an official POPOS, though many people do treat the plaza as public space. Any idea where the FHABML got the ...

Posted Thu, Mar 25, 3:15 p.m.

So the tacos basically contain bulgogi, and the nunya sauce is doenjang + Best Foods? Interesting... I'm just not sure, though. Spam, on the other hand, I could go for. I thought it was a staple of everyone's kitchen growing up... little did I know it was a Korean thing. ...

Posted Wed, Mar 24, 10:13 p.m.

Neither extreme has a monopoly on insanity. http://www.ringospictures.com/index.php?page=20100320 http://zombietime.com/sf_anti-war_rally_3-20-2010/ The far left doesn't much like Obama, either, and is unfortunately far likelier to parade its antisemitism in public. I don't see much coverage of *this* in the mainstream media... That having been said, of course threatening people's lives is reprehensible, ...

Posted Wed, Mar 10, 10:33 p.m.

And effective writing, especially knowledge of an efficient writing process, is not common knowledge to most people outside of academics and English teachers. @nw — You seem to be leaving out all sorts of editorial/communications professionals. Was that deliberate? Granted, there may be more journalists, PR folks, and marketers than ...

Posted Wed, Mar 10, 9:24 p.m.

Fascinating article indeed, and Lisa is spot on in her comments. I have found that nothing has helped me learn to write more than reading, reading, reading, and reading some more. Is reading being taught as a way to learn how people communicate — or fail to do so — ...

Posted Thu, Mar 4, 1:20 p.m.

So that explains the borscht and Spam on the menu at Utopia Cafe, a new Chinese place on the east side of the Ave just north of 50th. It's next to Mandarin Chef and occupies what used to be a Filipino restaurant. (Being half Korean and half Russian Jewish I ...

Posted Thu, Mar 4, 9:53 a.m.

I love the idea of leaving at least one of the ramps to nowhere in place. And I'd be first in line to take a ferry from Madison Park to Kirkland, though I'm not sure how the economics of an actual commuter service would work out.

Posted Thu, Mar 4, 9:52 a.m.

Interesting. FixMyStreet.com sounds like SeeClickFix.com, which covers Seattle. SDOT does seem to be monitoring it.

Posted Fri, Feb 26, 12:07 p.m.

Your categorization leaves out those who were born here after the late 1980s! I wonder what they say — or if they go to Ivar's at all? Anyway, you're right as far as I'm concerned — I'm a native Seattleite and was certainly born before the late 1980s, and it's ...

Posted Mon, Feb 22, 1:11 p.m.

Won't putting sales tax on things like legal services, accounting, and — horrors! freelance writing and editing — cause people to use professionals, if they can, who reside in states with a lower, or nonexistent, sales tax rate? A Seattleite can't use an auto mechanic in Oregon or Montana, but ...

Posted Mon, Feb 22, 1:06 p.m.

Or maybe silver. Apparently a lot of people are complaining that NBC put hockey on MSNBC while giving ice dancing the NBC slot. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/NBC-explains-its-ice-dancing-over-U-S-Canada-ho?urn=nhl,219149 There seem to be some demographic reasons for doing this, but apparently NBC in HD is much more widely available than MSNBC in HD, and ...

Posted Mon, Feb 22, 10:04 a.m.

This time, padua, it's not the fault of Comcast (soon to be "Xfinity"!). CTV beat out CBC for coverage rights this year.

Posted Sun, Feb 21, 1:37 p.m.

Sounds like a fascinating class. And if 47 students is "intimate" for a 400-level class at the UW these days, things have sure changed since I graduated, only 12 1/2 years ago!

Posted Sun, Feb 21, 1:25 p.m.

King County is still King County. All they did was "redesignate" its namesake. As for the Salish Sea, I don't see the problem. No old names were changed. It's just like taking Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior, and slapping "Great Lake" on top of them — the individual ...

Posted Sat, Feb 20, 9:39 p.m.

Yes, but the Salish Sea includes a lot more than just the Strait of Juan de Fuca. So it's not inaccurate, but it's not very specific, either. "Earthquake in Salish Sea" could mean anything from, well, "the Campbell River of BC to the southern reaches of Puget Sound." "Earthquake in ...

Posted Sat, Feb 20, 5:08 p.m.

Looks like the AP's using the name in headlines, even where it may not belong: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011137181_apwawashingtonstatequake.html, "USGS reports small earthquake in Salish Sea." The quake took place in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. "Salish Sea" doesn't help here. I didn't think this "overlay" would cause confusion, but if the ...

Posted Sat, Feb 13, 3:31 p.m.

Surprised to see no mention of Charlie Watts, who's been the Rolling Stones' drummer for the last 47 (!) years.

Posted Thu, Feb 11, 3:36 p.m.

... which was at Westlake and Lenora. http://www.historyink.com/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File;_Id=698

Posted Thu, Feb 11, 3:33 p.m.

Regarding that sliver by the river, doesn't it look like nothing less than the boundaries of a gerrymandered district? http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/nmaps/images/NN-1470L.Jpg Seattle's southern city limits — http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/nmaps/south.htm — quite a contrast to the northern limits, which since 1953 has been a straight line from sound to lake.

Posted Thu, Feb 11, 11:10 a.m.

Sinbad: Marble? I wonder if that has anything to do with the fountain that used to stand at the entrance to Cowen Park, and which is now, well, see for yourself: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukobe/4338612604/

Posted Thu, Feb 11, 9:38 a.m.

Panhandling is one thing — property crime is another. What's our latest ranking on the car-theft tables? Someone stole one wheel off my wife's car the other day, and tried to steal another before they apparently got bored and left the job half-done. We called in a police report, they ...

Posted Tue, Feb 9, 9:44 a.m.

Fascinating — I had no idea you could e-mail or fax your ballot now. Doesn't seem particularly secure; then again, neither does the mailstream. I'm glad the actual paper ballot still needs to be sent in. So there are only five ballot drop boxes this year, I see — saves ...

Posted Sun, Feb 7, 12:58 p.m.

I see they haven't increased juror pay in the 9 years since I served on one! I, too, gained a great deal of faith in the system and my fellow citizens through the process. Some of that has been lost in the years since, but I still had a much ...

Posted Thu, Feb 4, 11:29 p.m.

I grew up on this stuff. Almost always go to Tai Ho for it (63rd & Bothell Way in Kenmore) — in fact, I even had my recent wedding rehearsal dinner there! Do yourself a favor and order some nanja-wanja (pork/beef meatballs) along with the tangsuyuk and jajangmyeon. Tai Ho ...

Posted Wed, Feb 3, 10:23 p.m.

Bobo: Bertha Knight Landes.

Posted Mon, Feb 1, 10:15 a.m.

Well, at least Rolls-Royce has something to do with aerospace, if we're talking about the engine maker, not the automobile marque. As for the Night at the Museum ad, I was just reading this yesterday in the New York Times, via Language Log (http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2089): There’s a new edition of Dante’s ...

Posted Sat, Jan 30, 2:10 p.m.

Great piece, as much about the value of "seedy" suburbs and roads like Aurora as about the food itself.

Posted Sat, Jan 30, 2:08 p.m.

Don't forget the Roosevelt Square Whole Foods, on NE 64th between Roosevelt Way and 12th Avenue. Was in place around 8 years before the one on Westlake.

Posted Fri, Jan 15, 10:33 a.m.

Amen, GaryP. First and foremost the reconstruction of the seawall should be about safety, but if we can increase public access to the water, we should. I know that would get me to spend more time along Alaskan Way.

Posted Mon, Jan 11, 12:16 p.m.

P.S. It looks like the Pacific Northwest has made the list two years running. What will be our contribution to their 2010 list, I wonder?

Posted Mon, Jan 11, 12:14 p.m.

Anyone with any interest at all in onomastics should sign up for the ANS-L mailing list at http://www.wtsn.binghamton.edu/ANS/commun.htm. I never would have heard about this were I not a member.

Posted Wed, Jan 6, 7:17 p.m.

According to WritersWeekly, a lot of these books were free, which raises the question of whether they should be counted as sales: http://writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/005806_01062010.html

Posted Wed, Jan 6, 9:36 a.m.

"E-books are now outselling regular books on Amazon"? Not exactly, though that's what the press release to which the Huffington Post refers would have you believe. Specifically, as the article goes on to say, "for the first time ever, they had sold more eBooks than physical books on Christmas Day." ...

Posted Mon, Jan 4, 4:52 p.m.

A REIT is merely a certain kind of corporation. Zoning, etc., still applies.

Posted Tue, Dec 29, 10:34 a.m.

There's still the Roosevelt QFC and the U-District Safeway, though I understand the former will come down to make way for the light-rail station. I'm not sure what's going on at the Safeway, but they've been doing some sort of work on the exterior. And, of course, my childhood market, ...

Posted Fri, Dec 18, 3:02 p.m.

Thanks for this, Matt. Yahrzeits are hard. You hit the nail on the head in your paragraph on "closure." Those who have yet to lose a loved one, don't expect things will ever be the same. You'll come to accept it in time, but "closure" only really exists on daytime ...

Posted Fri, Dec 18, 2:42 p.m.

Mr. Kane — I have not! I would love to go someday.

Posted Thu, Dec 17, 10:27 p.m.

How can I have missed this place for so long? The name, as you point out, doesn't help. Similarly, I wonder how many people never knew the Continental Store on Roosevelt was a German deli. I've been looking for good Russian food in Seattle ever since the Kaleenka closed. I ...

Posted Sat, Dec 12, 11:09 p.m.

Missed that piece. But what is a grown woman doing sitting on a mall Santa's lap, anyway?

Posted Thu, Dec 10, 10:57 a.m.

Spam, the beloved canned meat of Hawaii, is a habit acquired from the state’s longtime military presence, and is served with noodles and most often in a rice ball wrapped in seaweed, a borrowed form of Spam sushi. Having grown up the son of a mother who grew up in ...

Posted Mon, Dec 7, 10:16 a.m.

Thanks for posting the blackout clip. Nothing quite brings it home like actual contemporary recordings. Americans sometimes forget that by the time Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, World War II had been underway for more than two years and momentous change had come to continental Europe. The ...

Posted Thu, Dec 3, 10:44 p.m.

Love it. No way can it be as good as my aunt's cooking, but what is? Grew up on ssam and my mouth is watering just reading this. I also loved hearing of the Koreans being referred to as the Jews of Asia, as that's the other half of my ...

Posted Mon, Nov 30, 10:27 a.m.

"Pretend that €1 = $1 and have an enjoyable trip"... exactly what I did on my honeymoon. It worked! The South African couple on our cruise couldn't quite manage it, though, since one rand is worth about 14¢, and beer cost about six times more on board than back home...

Posted Tue, Nov 24, 11:20 a.m.

Interesting piece in today's Independent — http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-should-we-pay-double-to-save-the-bookshop-1826467.html — or http://bit.ly/6e7Tx4 if you prefer — "Should we pay double to save the bookshop?" Here's a passage: I've found myself wondering exactly how much of a premium I'd pay to keep that small bookshop in business. Because — all millennial gloom about ...

Posted Fri, Nov 13, 2:44 p.m.

Funny — "They would love to have me volunteer as a writer, she said. But it would be even better if I would also join their board" — that's almost exactly how I ended up on the board I currently serve on! No pushy ED, though, in my case.

Posted Fri, Nov 13, 2:36 p.m.

I'd be very interested to see an example of the media using "Salish Sea" where they only meant to be referring to Puget Sound.

Posted Wed, Nov 11, 8:43 p.m.

At least we can still read those letters and postcards. Imagine if we'd put in 5¼-inch floppies and Betamax tapes instead! Maybe this — http://www.scripting.com/stories/2009/11/08/archiveorgsS3alikeService.html — will be the time capsule of the future...

Posted Sat, Nov 7, 9:48 p.m.

Your first two paragraphs are a perfect summation of what it's been like working in this business recently, and why we keep at it nevertheless.

Posted Thu, Nov 5, 11:13 p.m.

That's great news! Now, can we get the Google Trike to start going down our alleys? Staircases and paths would be cool, too.

Posted Thu, Oct 29, 12:15 a.m.

I think this is the link Knute was trying to post: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file;_id=5218 Allie — I have seen new-style green signs go up on Olmsted routes, though. Here, for example, as mentioned in the story. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukobe/4030683422/ There is also the issue, as I mentioned, of signs going up with errors. We're ...

Posted Wed, Oct 28, 11:46 p.m.

I have the utmost respect for police officers and others, such as those in the military, who put themselves in harm's way for our sake. However, I don't think that makes them immune to criticism. But, as debbalee says, thank you for mentioning the possibility of a ride-along. I don't ...

Posted Mon, Oct 26, 3:47 p.m.

I don't follow, WashingtonStateLaw. Let's say the author and her husband had been able to tell the officers the whole story, and the officers had believed them. In that case, the officers would not believe (i) that a felonious assault had occurred; nor would they believe that (ii) an assault ...

Posted Tue, Oct 20, 1:46 p.m.

This is the first time in years I'm not voting early.

Posted Tue, Oct 20, 11:05 a.m.

I would love to read more about this.

Posted Wed, Oct 14, 12:38 p.m.

Adults have had their chance? I think many born in the 1970s would disagree with you — then again, it depends on your definition of "adult."

Posted Tue, Oct 13, 8:47 p.m.

Thanks for this. I'd seen the P-Patch under construction, but didn't know the story behind it. Glad to hear Shiga's Garden will be around for at least 3 years. If I'm not mistaken, this is the parcel, correct? http://www5.kingcounty.gov/kcgisreports/property_report.aspx?PIN=8714600055 Surprising that it hasn't been developed yet. I don't suppose anyone ...

Posted Mon, Oct 12, 9:21 a.m.

I didn't know about Puerto Rico! Apparently it's the oldest of the mottos listed here, having been granted by the Spanish nearly 500 years ago. "John" is John the Baptist, as in San Juan.

Posted Sun, Oct 11, 12:04 p.m.

It's a 50th anniversary profile, not an exposé. Perhaps we'll hear about Johnson's opinions once he retires from KOMO. I caught the tail end of KOMO 1000's piece on Johnson last night, and remember thinking "Bryan Johnson? THAT Bryan Johnson? Not possible. 1959?" But then I Googled for him when ...

Posted Fri, Oct 9, 10:01 p.m.

I think I know the sort of wedding you're talking about, mrmcoy, but I don't think it's the same sort of wedding that I had or that the article is about. Maybe I misread the article. As for not RSVPing, that really wreaks havoc with the organization of the event. ...

Posted Fri, Oct 9, 10:19 a.m.

I'm having trouble telling whether you think the failure of the Commons at the polls was a good thing or not. Not like my one No vote was the deciding one, but I regret it precisely because we got the development without the park. Yes, taxpayers saved money, but I'd ...

Posted Wed, Oct 7, 10:31 p.m.

How timely! I just got married this September 13. It was a bigger and more expensive affair than my wife and I had planned, but I wouldn't call it extravagant, lavish, or elaborate. Traditional, yes, in a sense — though it wasn't in a house of worship, there were many ...

Posted Wed, Oct 7, 9:40 p.m.

Good news — it's a start!

Posted Sun, Oct 4, 3:52 p.m.

And yes, Richard, even the best writers need editors! (Full disclosure: I'm an editor :) )

Posted Sun, Oct 4, 3:50 p.m.

Great piece, especially the last two paragraphs. But do most people really hate to write, and is that really the cause of so much bad business prose? I guess what I see more of is people who think they can write well, who really can't. But I suppose it depends ...

Posted Thu, Oct 1, 11:15 p.m.

Fascinating. I thought I'd at least make it to 35 before I began to feel like an endangered species, but it looks like that had already begun by the time I was five! (Group Health Hospital, here.) Don't get me wrong, of course — I'm a first-generation Seattleite and the ...

Posted Thu, Oct 1, 12:12 a.m.

hacknflack, the floating synthesizer, and those shades, are priceless. Thanks for posting the video.

Posted Sat, Sep 12, 1:48 p.m.

Nice piece. WSF did indeed purchase most of the U.S. operations of the Black Ball Line in the '50s, and BC Ferries did the same for the Canadian routes the next decade. But it is my understanding that the current Black Ball Ferry Line, whose MV Coho plies the waters ...

Posted Sat, Sep 12, 1:40 p.m.

Oy. You know, I actually bought proof sets of the state quarters. I don't think I can go through that again.

Posted Tue, Sep 8, 11:19 p.m.

Last year, just after your piece, Bob, on the Puget Sound Energy buyout and the calls for mass takeovers by local PUDs, I wrote a piece at http://www.examiner.com/x-479-Seattle-History-Examiner~y2008m8d4-PSE on the 1941 campaign by Puget Sound Power and Light, as it was then called, to resist takeover by Seattle City Light ...

Posted Thu, Sep 3, 1:02 p.m.

If it's too late to save the old mom and pops (RIP Georgetown Pharmacy — http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2009788753_pharmacy02m.html) at least we can try to ensure they have a fighting chance in the future. David — interesting concept — where would the rental subsidy come from? Metro itself?

Posted Fri, Aug 28, 12:07 a.m.

Would that there were a similar order regarding floodplains for King County government buildings — http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009748050_webflood26m.html

Posted Wed, Aug 26, 10:16 a.m.

Hear, hear. What I'll miss most next week is wi-fi access. Sure, I have it at home, and yes, I can get it at Tully's, but it's hard to beat the library for distraction-free computing. Well — I'm glad the KCLS is still open — Shoreline has longer hours anyway.

Posted Wed, Aug 26, 10:10 a.m.

Knute, I was going to ask if the city used these neighborhoods for reporting purposes, after computing figures by census tract — http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/nmaps/neiglist.htm — but looking more closely at your list there seem to be a few which don't appear on the list, so maybe not. Do you know what ...

Posted Thu, Aug 20, 10:15 p.m.

The state defunded a legally necessary board after originally trying to kill it entirely? I suppose that shouldn't surprise me, but man. However, this is great: Joining forces to solicit input makes sense when resources are scarce, or non-existent. And everyone will be making their decision on the same set ...

Posted Tue, Aug 18, 2:37 p.m.

I am wholly in favor of cremation, but this is just bizarre. Gotta love the comments on BoingBoing's post on Neptune's tactics (http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/05/free-pre-paid-cremat.html): "That just burns me up." "What an inflammatory post." "Gotta pay the carbon tax." "I say mark it 'Return to Cinder.'" Seems like a good time to ...

Posted Tue, Aug 18, 2:14 p.m.

Not to excuse the misinformation, but HR 3200 is over a thousand pages long. (Here's the PDF: http://bit.ly/h8p8w) I doubt anyone has read the entire legislation, and I mean anyone. This is no way to run a government that does not create attitudes like Kathleen Baker's.

Posted Fri, Aug 14, 5:04 p.m.

Hmm! Liberty Orchards was founded by Armenian immigrants. Hence their flagship product. I learn something new every day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Orchards

Posted Fri, Aug 14, 4:58 p.m.

You should have told him Aplets & Cotlets are essentially Turkish delight. I had the latter for the first time last year and I realized they were one and the same. Kind of funny that Edmund betrayed his siblings to the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the ...

Posted Fri, Jul 24, 3:27 p.m.

Actually, this English major does want to preserve books that describe harness making, and I would love to take a ride in a 1950s-era taxi sometime.

Posted Wed, Jul 22, 10:51 p.m.

I do think lorenbliss has a point. They're not doing as well as they used to, but I think British papers, and European papers in general, are still doing better than American ones, and I've heard more than one person attribute this to the higher use of public transit. After ...

Posted Wed, Jul 22, 10:39 p.m.

I like Carlyle, and the cloud is useful — I swear by Gmail — but I'm not so sure about using the cloud for the state's data. A data center elsewhere — commercial or otherwise — is fine by me, but personal data I want to be sure I can ...

Posted Fri, Jul 17, 8:19 p.m.

This is not going to work. This might actually drive people who used to go to that Starbucks away, and give Ladro, Victrola, or Remedy Tea their business. Starbucks isn't fooling anyone. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukobe/3683681966/ Now, where it MIGHT work is if Starbucks opened one of these faux shops in a new ...

Posted Tue, Jul 14, 9:48 p.m.

I was going to say "'100 years could be just too recent for the anniversary to seem very important'? What? This is Seattle, where if something dates from the 1930s it seems old!" I know when I hear of a local business having been around, for example, since World War ...

Posted Wed, Jul 8, 11:47 a.m.

Great piece, and I love the links directly to Bogue's plan at Google Books. I regret not having seen your blog before, but it's going directly in my RSS reader.

Posted Thu, Jun 25, 1:55 p.m.

Sad about Island. Don't know, of course, which branch you're talking about, but I have very fond memories of the store on Madison at Lake Washington Boulevard, a few blocks from where I grow up. It's Scarecrow for me now. I hope they are doing well.

Posted Wed, Jun 24, 11:44 p.m.

More public waterfront access — yes, I do wish we had more of that in Seattle. There are plenty of street ends that are platted into our lakes, bays, and the Sound, but many of them aren't really accessible, and some of them are being used by the neighboring landowners.

Posted Wed, Jun 24, 10:20 p.m.

Indeed, Mud Baby. Thank the 1889-1890 legislature for that. http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/pugetsound/tour/public_shore.html They may not let you pump your own gas there, but Oregon got this one right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Beach_Bill

Posted Fri, Jun 19, 10:44 a.m.

TomL, regardless of the merits of this idea, do you honestly stick by your assertion that "to be an eloquent advocate of any kind of city planning, you need to have a professional background, preferably with a degree"? If I remember correctly, Jane Jacobs graduated from the Columbia School of ...

Posted Wed, Jun 10, 9:57 a.m.

Dick — it's an interesting idea — but do you mean to restrict doctors from owning even one share of Merck? What about mutual funds and ETFs? Or do you just mean non-publicly-traded corporations and institutions?

Posted Tue, Jun 9, 3:12 p.m.

PebbleCreek — interesting theory, but I'd contend that if there's an analog (ha) to vinyl, it's not broadcast television but rather news on paper — or, and I hate to think of this becoming true, but any words on paper. Especially in terms of "respect for content" and the "experience." ...

Posted Mon, May 25, 3:13 p.m.

The Best Years of Our Lives is a great film and I heartily second the recommendation. Harold Russell, who played Homer Parrish in the film, was a veteran himself. He lost both his hands while serving in the Army in 1944, and was cast for the part of the double-amputee ...

Posted Tue, May 19, 10:08 p.m.

Seattle's libraries aren't perfect, but, as you say, animalal, they have certainly improved. Until last month, I hadn't gone to any of them in a long time — but, driven by the desire to have internet access without the distractions of TV, fridge, couch, or coffee cake and espresso machines, ...

Posted Thu, May 14, 2:34 p.m.

For all its possible flaws, at least light-rail trains will come on a predictable schedule, unlike buses. This is what Chuck Taylor had to say about trying to ride from Bryant to Colman Dock, and, the next day, to West Seattle: http://seattleposttimes.typepad.com/blog/2009/05/riding-the-bus-sucks-which-is-why-i-drove-my-suv-to-the-sustainable-west-seattle-festival-.html (or http://bit.ly/UIqRH)

Posted Thu, May 14, 2:25 p.m.

Ammons, I can think of many organizations and people who could use that "budget dust"...

Posted Thu, May 14, 2:24 p.m.

Have the primary races by district but have the general election at-large. That way you guarentee the geographic distribution of the candidates, but hold the candidates to city-wide appeal from the whole city population. Isn't this the way the school board is elected?

Posted Wed, May 13, 10:22 p.m.

I wonder how long it will take for the first test case to be filed.

Posted Wed, May 13, 10:18 p.m.

I too am slightly wary of giving neighborhood councils funding authority, but then again, if they were to be given such authority I would be much more likely to get involved. But, back to the point of the original post, I am for devolution to neighborhoods at least on the ...

Posted Tue, May 5, 5:10 p.m.

I'm still surprised by how many people don't know Hutchison is a conservative Republican. I thought this Stranger cover story (http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/CoverArt?oid=1387602, http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/closet-case/Content?oid=1393918) deserved the Sibyl Fawlty award for pointing out the bleeding obvious, but perhaps not.

Posted Mon, May 4, 7:51 p.m.

Funny you should refer to the Royal BC Museum. I was just in Victoria, visiting the museum, last weekend. The Inner Harbour is of course much smaller than Seattle's waterfront, but so much more inviting, traveled, and just pleasant. I can't help thinking a lot of that has to do ...

Posted Tue, Apr 28, 12:31 a.m.

I covered the CLF's designation last December: http://crosscut.com/2008/12/17/architecture-design/18710/

Posted Tue, Apr 28, 12:29 a.m.

"Thinking the glue smelled funny, the TSA decided to take no chances and destroyed the instrument"? Wow.

Posted Tue, Apr 28, 12:28 a.m.

That sounds right. When religion would come up, my Korean mother always said her side of the family was Confucian, but that that wasn't a religion. I wonder if the survey questions need to be rethought.

Posted Sat, Apr 25, 12:31 a.m.

I see where you're coming from regarding Northwest libertarianism versus Northeast egalitarianism. The latter, though, is being preached all over Seattle — along with the gospel of community, institutions, and, yes, authority — and one would think the true libertarian position on marriage would be to get the state out ...

Posted Tue, Apr 21, 7:31 p.m.

Dbreneman: Don't forget William Henry Harrison. Of course, he didn't really have the chance.

Posted Fri, Apr 17, 11:32 p.m.

Wonder what the job was.

Posted Thu, Apr 9, 10:49 p.m.

Suspicious of the establishment and political consultants? She doesn't have my vote (at this point, no one does) but I'll definitely listen to what she has to say.

Posted Wed, Apr 8, 10:05 a.m.

Wow, PACCAR built the Globe? Who knew! (Probably a lot of people, but I never heard that tidbit before.)

Posted Mon, Apr 6, 1:01 p.m.

"Effective but probably illegal"? Sounds more like our "free-speech zones." I don't see anything wrong with not providing portapotties. Anyway, if your cause is important enough, surely public urination is a small price to pay. Now, if the police weren't letting people out for any reason (like something as simple ...

Posted Tue, Mar 31, 1:07 p.m.

Microsoft has killed Encarta: http://bit.ly/ripencarta Many are calling for them to donate their content to the Wikimedia Foundation.

Posted Tue, Mar 31, 1:01 p.m.

I don't lament the loss of the old Seattle Star (though I do miss the one that existed from 2002 to 2005)--but I do wish I'd had the chance to read The Argus.

Posted Mon, Mar 23, 11:18 p.m.

Oh, and Brian — of course. But one would think even simply stacking boxes in storage for a few years — however long it takes for budgets to right themselves — would be preferable to losing the records permanently. If and when budgets recover, then proper archiving can take place.

Posted Mon, Mar 23, 11:15 p.m.

Just received this via e-mail and am posting with permission: A couple of weeks ago I was in a long-abandoned office and, on a whim, flipped through a pile of folders sitting up on a shelf. Inside one of the folders was a stack of negatives of the P-I globe ...

Posted Tue, Mar 17, 11:07 a.m.

Ladybegood, you say "Journalism's future mode of distribution is IP packets, RF radation, and electronic paper." That's fine. What is journalism's future business model, though? Electronic paper is useless without content. Some might be lamenting the end of the print product — I think more are lamenting the end of ...

Posted Mon, Mar 16, 10:41 p.m.

Tim, the demise of the P-I has nothing to do with liberal government. I dislike the B&O; tax as much as the next guy, but even if it were rescinded completely I doubt that would have allowed the paper to keep printing.

Posted Mon, Mar 16, 4:09 p.m.

Here's the Weekly's take: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/03/new_p-i_site_promises_more_kit.php In her announcement of a revamped Seattle P-I Web site, Michelle Nicolosi gives us a few tantalizing hints of what's to come. First, as our Mark D. Fefer predicted, more inane slide shows of adorable pets, delectable starlets, and wire photos of important world events--without ...

Posted Sun, Mar 15, 9:35 p.m.

I'm still trying to figure out what was supposedly so radically left-wing about the P-I... As for the reader blogs, Sue, you'd think the P-I would leave them as part of the new venture. Since the writers are unpaid, I don't see any economic reason for taking them down...

Posted Tue, Mar 10, 11:03 a.m.

I'm confused. Is there something wrong with living in Seattle and reading the New York Times?

Posted Thu, Mar 5, 1:02 p.m.

I'm an introvert too, though (and lived here all my 34 years), so I think your theory is incorrect. It's not simply extroverts complaining.

Posted Wed, Mar 4, 3:27 p.m.

"Customers" on the Web tend to not want to pay anything. Is that an accurate reflection of the content's value? Perhaps, if something is worth what people are willing to pay for it. I still wonder what's going to happen when the content (or at least quality content) goes away. ...

Posted Wed, Mar 4, 11:10 a.m.

Funny that Seattle's thought of as a city for breeders, when I've heard it said time and time again that it's becoming less and less attractive a place to raise the product of that breeding! I wouldn't know... yet. It was fine growing up here from 1975 to 1993.

Posted Tue, Mar 3, 10:48 p.m.

I should note, as I usually do when this topic comes up, that it's not simply a matter of Seattle native being unfriendly to newcomers. I was born and raised here and I share many of the newcomers' complaints. As I also usually do when the topic comes up (I ...

Posted Tue, Mar 3, 12:26 p.m.

Update: According to the Daily (http://dailyuw.com/2009/3/2/high-school-language-classes-now-count-uw-credit/), this has officially been approved by the Faculty Council on Academic Standards. All that now remains is President Emmert's signature. Also, apparently "the plan originally mandated that students earn a 3.0 GPA in high-school language classes; it now accepts any passing grade."

Posted Thu, Feb 19, 11:10 a.m.

Nick, what is "the real thing"? What is "truly diverse"? Washington may have a lower percentage of blacks than in the U.S. as a whole, but the figures for Native Americans and Asians are higher than the national average. In Seattle, the Asian percentage is far higher. I wonder if ...

Posted Tue, Feb 17, 2 p.m.

I'm happy to see the Barenaked Ladies' "If I Had $1,000,000" there, but am wondering about the Neil Young choices. First, is "Hopeless" supposed to be "Helpless"? If so, that's cool, but "Rockin' in the Free World"? No thanks. I can come up with a double album of Neil Young ...

Posted Fri, Feb 13, 3 p.m.

The terminally ill are deserving of help in surviving, and nothing about I-1000 changes that. As for deserving compassion, that is why I-1000 was written and passed. It is the opposite of compassion to force someone to live out their last few months, weeks, or days in pain, against their ...

Posted Mon, Feb 9, 4:52 p.m.

Well.. the same question could be asked about why people from Westport should have to pay for things in Colville and vice versa, though, no?

Posted Mon, Feb 9, 10:24 a.m.

You heard it loud and clear from the right throughout the 2008 campaign — the system is broken. Exactly how it’s broken, nobody really says, but apparently we’re going to hell on a hot rail unless we elect a bunch of people who hate government to somehow want to fix ...

Posted Fri, Feb 6, 4:28 p.m.

Thanks for the link to the Willamette Week article on Vancouver and Portland. Fascinating stuff. Bellevue urban and hip? Sorry, no. I don't mind Bellevue, but urban and hip are two of the last words I'd ever use to describe the place. Honestly, what modern Bellevue reminds me of is ...

Posted Thu, Feb 5, 11:07 p.m.

smacgry: Unlike most transplants to Seattle, you can't yet read the subtlety or understatement of the imported Scandinavian and Asian cultural and social mores and introspection...But you'll be over your culture shock when you can finally navigate Seattle-style social interactions more confidently and when you can look at the cultures ...

Posted Thu, Feb 5, 2:11 p.m.

I can see the headlines now: Down in the Duwumps

Posted Tue, Feb 3, 4:33 p.m.

"Cars don't have to run on gasoline..." True enough. What did you have in mind? At what price point? And using how much fossil fuels to produce what one does use (the main problem with tar sands, ethanol, fuel cells, etc)? hbobrien, as mentioned above, biofuel from algae is one ...

Posted Mon, Feb 2, 5:25 p.m.

Cars don't have to run on gasoline....

Posted Mon, Feb 2, 2:23 p.m.

I do wonder if we'll see a spike in arsons, barter, and hunting/gathering, actually. As for counseling? There is indeed a need, but I forget what the current state of mental-health parity is... individual plans, at least, don't allow for very many visits.

Posted Sun, Feb 1, 11:42 p.m.

It's a landlord's right to ban smoking in his property. But to allow marijuana and not allow cigarettes — that is just stupid. And if it's a new regulation, it would have been nice of him to grandfather Dawdy in, as I assume that he has been a good tenant. ...

Posted Thu, Jan 29, 11:26 a.m.

Will one be able to read the same material on Plastic Logic's reader that one can on a Kindle? I can't possibly see buying a Plastic Logic reader only to read newspapers (then again, I don't see myself buying a Kindle anytime soon, either). I'm a believer in the "three ...

Posted Thu, Jan 29, 11:20 a.m.

You do all realize that if you bring back Koma Kulshan and Tahoma, the Pacific Northwest's largest city will eventually end up being called Duwamps. It does bring up a larger question: it is generally accepted that there have only ever been two populations in this area — the Native ...

Posted Tue, Jan 27, 7:36 p.m.

The Stranger posted a rumor over the weekend about the Science Center going bankrupt next month: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/01/25/always_be_closing ; it was retracted yesterday: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/01/26/re_always_be_closing_the_rum . Brendan Kiley writes "Bryce Seidl, chief executive of the Pacific Science Center, says they're not planning to file bankruptcy and that I should've waited to hear ...

Posted Tue, Jan 27, 4:58 p.m.

This is why I will maintain my Economist subscription as long as I can afford it. I wonder what will happen if/when Greenland becomes independent? I also bet that Finland is really smarting over the loss of Petsamo/Pechenga right now... that sliver of coastline could have made a huge difference ...

Posted Mon, Jan 26, 5:07 p.m.

Oh, and as far as Rainier/Tahoma goes: I don't mind, as long as the McKinley/Denali formula is followed: leave the mountain alone, change the name of the national park.

Posted Mon, Jan 26, 1:37 p.m.

Ah, I can't resist an article on toponyms, especially Pacific Northwest toponyms. "Salish Sea" is delightfully alliterative and works for me, as long as it's overlaid on the current names and doesn't replace them (much like a new area code!). I was originally going to ask if it made sense ...

Posted Thu, Jan 22, 12:11 p.m.

Posted in today's P-I: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/virgin/396991_virgin22.html "Legacy means little to a customer" I hope the P-I's archives stick around if that institution ends up closing its doors....

Posted Thu, Jan 22, 10:13 a.m.

Many times during the last eight years I found myself thinking how much I disliked George H.W. Bush when he was president, and then trying to remember why. Surely he couldn't have been that bad, compared to his son. In fact, I remember thinking "man, I'd so much rather have ...

Posted Sat, Jan 17, 11:47 a.m.

If you guys are unfamiliar with his beliefs (although, I would add that i'm not the expert myself), one of his more famous ones include "people with darker skin are mentally and socially lesser than those with lighter (white) skin." I highly doubt Dinesh D'Souza ever said that, considering his ...

Posted Fri, Jan 16, 3:38 p.m.

Interesting. Of course, US Bancorp, along with Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, has been among the most stable large banks throughout this crisis. What would really be impressive is if people start having the same experience at Key Bank... or Spokane's Sterling Savings, which just suspended its dividend. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008624696_sterling140.html

Posted Fri, Jan 16, 9:56 a.m.

"Market Street Landing," eh? I see that they "gathered inspiration from the old Ballard City Hall as well as Ballard's maritime history" — the latter is, I assume, where the name came from — but honestly, shouldn't a "landing" be, well, on the waterfront?

Posted Thu, Jan 15, 11:46 a.m.

Wow, Erica C. Barnett really can't seem to get over you... http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/back-to-the-future/Content?oid=969209

Posted Wed, Jan 14, 5:20 p.m.

What consumer actually wants to see the equivalent of a full-page ad? Speaking not of the future of journalism but the likely demise of the print edition of the P-I, I wonder if the last issue will be as big a seller as the Obama election issue, and if they ...

Posted Tue, Jan 13, 10:37 p.m.

Thanks for the links. I want to see the Anacortes-Sidney run stay, too, but it seems like the Canadians should pony up some more money to keep it running. As for moving the Coho out of the Inner Harbour to Esquimalt or Sidney, that sounds as sensible as having the ...

Posted Tue, Jan 13, 10:32 p.m.

The first WOPR didn't turn out so well, either. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WOPR

Posted Tue, Jan 13, 10:30 p.m.

I don't know who I was supposed to pray to when I lost my virginity -- they never taught us that Oh, this is a great one... I just had to look this up. Saint Agnes, perhaps, for forgiveness? Or, if you're unlucky, Saint Vitalis of Assisi or Saint Fiacre...

Posted Tue, Jan 13, 4:31 p.m.

The point is, there's still a fair amount of freight traffic to Interbay and Ballard. That will have to take surface streets, then? Or is the idea to send it through the new tunnel, then over to Dexter or Westlake and thence across the Fremont Bridge to Leary or west ...

Posted Tue, Jan 13, 2:57 p.m.

Do the governments of Canada or British Columbia contribute anything to the Anacortes-Sidney run, or is it all on Washington State Ferries' dime?

Posted Wed, Jan 7, 4:27 p.m.

You're probably right about King County, if you consider it to have had two separate names: King County (after W.R.D. King) and then King County (after M.L. King), but of course the county's name has never really changed: its namesake was simply redesignated. I wonder if they ever considered changing ...

Posted Mon, Jan 5, 4:57 p.m.

$15k+ is right. From http://www.bush.edu/admissions/journey.asp: Tuition for 2008-09 Kindergarten - Second Grade is $17,230 Third - Fifth Grade is $17,975 Sixth - Eighth Grade is $22,355 Ninth - Twelfth Grade is $23,420

Posted Tue, Dec 23, 11:32 a.m.

Oh dear, it has been too long since I've been, because I didn't know the bell-curve machine was gone. That was seriously one of my favorites. Are the echo dishes still there? I seem to remember them being moved outside, along Denny Way, sometime last decade.

Posted Sun, Dec 21, 5:37 p.m.

Thanks for your replies, all. Crystal: I believe your phrase "breathlessly suggesting that there are plans afoot to remove or destroy parts of Pacific Science Center with its well known Yamasaki architecture" refers to my quoting the Cultural Landscape Foundation's reading of the Century 21 Master Plan. I tried to ...

Posted Fri, Dec 19, noon

That having been said, my guess is the SPD will be lenient during this icy period. They can hardly ticket you if you can't move (I hope).

Posted Fri, Dec 19, 11:59 a.m.

Re selective enforcement, indeed. I grew up in Washington Park and the only time I have ever seen an orange tag slapped on a car in that neighborhood in my 34 years is when my neighbors finally got tired of looking at my friend's father's orange 1968 VW bus. Other ...

Posted Mon, Dec 15, 10:58 p.m.

Well put, Eugene. I remember being a student at the Bush School in the 1980s and 1990s when the whole "diversity" movement was just getting going in earnest. I think I remember hearing Bush was the whitest school in the city, and whether or not that was true, it certainly ...

Posted Thu, Dec 11, 11:01 p.m.

As "political" says, dead on, indeed. Will Bloomberg be next decade's Perot? Meanwhile, I never noticed before how much Blagojevich looks like Wayne Newton.

Posted Wed, Dec 10, 3 p.m.

It's an interesting thought experiment, but of course everything's connected. Do we also imagine no port, no Aurora Avenue and East Marginal Way on either end, no piers? No industry? Etc. I don't know if any one neighborhood can really be considered in this way.

Posted Sun, Dec 7, 9:22 p.m.

Ted, that is scary. When a body does not even consider the option of voting 'no', it's time for that body to go.

Posted Sun, Dec 7, 9:04 p.m.

Amen, Lisa. Leftatarians (I can't believe there are only about four Google hits for that term, because I know I've seen it around, and have certainly heard it spoken) unite! During the last eight years it seemed to be a mortal sin in Seattle not to declare oneself a liberal ...

Posted Sun, Dec 7, 8:34 p.m.

Sam Taylor of The Bellingham Herald e-mailed to let me know that Idaho has been renaming toponyms that include "Squaw". Here are a couple of Spokesman-Review articles: 10/6/2006: Tribe wants 'squaw' off map http://www.spokesmanreview.com/idaho/story.asp?ID=153172 9/7/2007: Effort for less offensive names includes N. Idaho, Montana http://www.spokesmanreview.com/idaho/story.asp?ID=208502 As in Washington, the names ...

Posted Thu, Dec 4, 12:07 p.m.

Speaking of Northwest, I see that its upper-school tuition this year is $25,095. And speaking of other area private schools (and taking over closed public schools), I do know that Bush has had its eye on the adjacent Martin Luther King campus for years, though I think the community has ...

Posted Thu, Dec 4, 12:01 p.m.

Short-termism, more than anything else, I think, is responsible for the current state of the U.S. economy. This does not bode well for the region.

Posted Wed, Dec 3, 10:56 a.m.

Christmas wouldn't exist in its current form, but a solstice celebration of some sort certainly would. And, of course, there is a difference between Christmas on the one hand and Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day on the other. Christmas is a religious holiday and the others aren't.

Posted Tue, Dec 2, 11 p.m.

Someone's done an atheist parody of Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/12/02/atheism-song-adam-sa.html

Posted Tue, Nov 25, 1:22 p.m.

If Klingle is who I think he is, Emerald City may in fact be based on his doctoral dissertation, which I have a copy of. I heartily second your recommendation.

Posted Mon, Nov 24, 11:27 p.m.

New York Times: You've got to have some source for national news, though I suppose there are the networks' news sites and the Washington Post. Squire Park: Here's the neighborhood's "official Web site": http://www.squirepark.org/. I had heard of this one before. However... Cherry Hill: Never heard of it until Swedish ...

Posted Mon, Nov 24, 10:28 p.m.

Richards: Exactly. Who would want to buy a minority stake in something "worthless"?

Posted Mon, Nov 24, 3:34 p.m.

I don't think the UW would be able to maintain its size if tuition skyrocketed. Not without a massive increase in its endowment, which is unlikely to happen at present.

Posted Mon, Nov 24, 11:55 a.m.

I remember seeing on either the Times' or P-I's site a couple of years ago an interactive feature on which you could check and uncheck certain programs to see just how hard it was to balance the state's budget. Once you were satisfied with your cuts I think you might ...

Posted Sun, Nov 23, 9:37 p.m.

Their sardine baguettes, pommes-frites, and yogurt with honey and walnuts are indeed delish.

Posted Sun, Nov 23, 8:27 p.m.

I guess the boundaries of Capitol Hill have slowly been creeping. Seattle University has always been on First Hill, as far as I'm concerned. And just because someone says they're located in a certain place doesn't mean they really are, of course (I'm thinking of the developments on Madison stretching ...

Posted Sun, Nov 23, 1:25 p.m.

Lainie, 1) Your evidence for illegal votes for Obama? 2) Your evidence that, even if Obama were a socialist or communist, that Congress would go along with his plans?

Posted Sun, Nov 23, 12:39 p.m.

I had the same feeling as you, Sue, on first reading this piece. On the one hand, coverage of Seattle is a great thing. Nobody wants to give up tourist dollars. And I don't mean to knock down Preusch. However, yes: I, too, can't help noticing the inaccuracies and errors. ...

Posted Fri, Nov 21, 10:16 a.m.

Dbreneman: I learned the term 'apatheism' yesterday when reading about the Brights (see my above comment). Perhaps that would work? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism

Posted Thu, Nov 20, 3:26 p.m.

I-1000, which doesn't allow physician-assisted suicide, but merely allows physicians to write lethal prescriptions, which the terminally ill people who request them must be able to take themselves, is neither a conservative nor a liberal issue, but a libertarian one. It had a number of Republican supporters, a number of ...

Posted Thu, Nov 20, 3:12 p.m.

Harrybari: An alert proofreader well grounded in basic English grammar is required. Indeed. However, proofreaders don't proof for free... and have you heard of Crosscut's recent financial troubles? Paddystclair: As one who leans towards atheism (Agnostic is such a loose label) It is, but I can't call myself an atheist, ...

Posted Tue, Nov 18, 11:05 a.m.

Received the following comment via e-mail from a reader, and am posting with his permission. — Ben Lukoff -- Members of the audience were concerned about unfunded Medicare and Social Security liabilities --------------------------------------------------- This is an issue they should have focused on during the presidential campaign, not at a UW ...

Posted Mon, Nov 17, 9:12 p.m.

ivan, you'll miss a lot of good stuff if you refuse to read the work of people whose politics you disagree with.

Posted Mon, Nov 17, 7:39 p.m.

sjenner and anyone else who's interested: I address Keiser's bill and its results in the endnote to http://crosscut.com/2008/11/14/econ-finance/18633/.

Posted Sun, Nov 16, 9:08 p.m.

A bit more attractive, possibly — except for the proximity to the freeway. Good point on the price comparison, but still. If I had $500,000 to spend on housing, I'd always opt for more land, less noise, and less pollution, and give up the view, I think. To each his ...

Posted Sun, Nov 16, 2:14 p.m.

Those "inappropriate" links appear on all comments and are simply a way for you to e-mail the editors, asking them to take a look at the comment in question.

Posted Sun, Nov 16, 2:13 p.m.

I'm curious why one would spend half a million dollars on a condo on what I assume is Franklin or Boylston Avenue E., right next to or under I-5. This is a serious question. I just did a search on Windermere and found plenty of houses — actual houses — ...

Posted Fri, Nov 14, 4:53 p.m.

This doesn't bode well for the FLPPP... http://crosscut.com/2008/11/14/econ-finance/18633/?pagejump=1

Posted Fri, Nov 14, 1:57 p.m.

Lainie: Plenty of physicians, today, do just that, when they give patients far more morphine or tranquilizers than they really need to "control pain" or "control breathing" or "control anxiety." Who determines "quality of life"? The individual should, I think, as long as they are mentally competent. In addition, I-1000 ...

Posted Thu, Nov 13, 5:18 p.m.

Yes, of course Runte was a protest candidate. But wasn't it supposed to be news that he did rather well for being a protest candidate — who normally would have gotten 20% or less — and that if there had been a serious candidate in the race, Nickels would have ...

Posted Thu, Nov 13, 1:19 p.m.

Regardless of Smith's qualifications, if he ends up being Nickels' challenger, he's likely to do pretty well, no? As Geov Parrish reminds us in Eat the State! (http://eatthestate.org/13-05/Slate2009.htm) (I believe I originally saw this story, or a version thereof, in his North Seattle Herald-Outlook column), Al Runte got nearly 40% ...

Posted Wed, Nov 12, 1:46 p.m.

Apparently Orange is the new Green: http://www.ci.orange.nj.us/Special_Orange_Master_Plan_Summary.pdf

Posted Wed, Nov 12, 1:18 p.m.

Excellent point. We should be funding all levels of education, but if we have to make painful choices, we should be focusing on early-childhood education.

Posted Tue, Nov 11, 11:48 p.m.

Piper does make a good point. Perhaps this discussion would have been more appropriate for November 12. I don't think anyone involved meant to demean the sacrifices of America's military men and women. I certainly did not, my father and his brothers having served in the U.S. Army during World ...

Posted Tue, Nov 11, 5:20 p.m.

Makes sense, as war has largely been the result of politics and religion...

Posted Tue, Nov 11, 1:50 p.m.

Tstcusmc, I honor the sacrifices of every one of our soldiers, during peacetime and during every one of our wars, but just how did, say, the Mexican-American War, or the Spanish-American War, ensure and protect our freedoms?

Posted Mon, Nov 10, 11:33 p.m.

I checked with the city. Apparently "it is intentionally abstract, i.e., rain, notes, db, balance, etc."

Posted Mon, Nov 10, 3:56 p.m.

My cynical side agrees with dwhiting. My optimistic side hopes Sanelli means exactly what she says. For what it's worth, I'd stick with your friend and I wouldn't have corrected the old woman, either. And I really like your cab driver.

Posted Mon, Nov 10, 3:54 p.m.

Your experience at the Lorraine Motel reminds me of my experience at an exhibition on the Japanese internment I saw 11 years ago in Washington, D.C. (I can't remember which of the many museums I saw it at, but there's a good likelihood it was one of the Smithsonian's.) Slightly ...

Posted Mon, Nov 10, 3:49 p.m.

Re the map for the presidential race, it's probably a good idea to trot this page out again: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/ I'd love to see the Secretary of State's office put out similar cartograms for Washington and its counties by precinct.

Posted Fri, Nov 7, 3:46 p.m.

Amen to much of what you say, Bryan, but characterizing the passage of I-1000 as a blow against the "value of life"? I would be surprised to find that a single supporter fails to value life: on the contrary, I-1000 was all about valuing the individual's choice to live their ...

Posted Thu, Nov 6, 1:31 p.m.

Fascinating. What will the "after" picture look like, I wonder? http://flickr.com/photos/lukobe/2792037644/

Posted Thu, Nov 6, 1:30 p.m.

Oh, and couldn't find a copy of the Bellingham Herald? This may be why: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/386706_bellingham07.html Meanwhile, there's always eBay: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/153634.asp

Posted Thu, Nov 6, 12:19 p.m.

Re trying to find a physical copy of Wednesday's paper, apparently The New York Times would be glad to sell you a commemorative edition for $14.95, postpaid. Also, the Seattle People Examiner, Laura Vecsey (formerly of the P-I), just posted a link to the Newseum's collection of Wednesday front pages. ...

Posted Tue, Nov 4, 12:53 p.m.

I'd like to see both major parties give libertarians a stronger role, but apparently they think they can do just fine without them. Given our current electoral structure, I don't see third parties ever doing well unless one or both of the major parties self-destructs (and it does look like ...

Posted Tue, Nov 4, 12:47 p.m.

Ah, good old McGilvra. Had a great time in kindergarten there, and remember the gym well. McCain/Palin sign: not terribly surprised.. if I'd expect to see one anywhere in Seattle, it'd be in Madison Park/Broadmoor or Laurelhurst/Windermere... As for Sims's office, I vote cayenne.

Posted Tue, Nov 4, 12:24 p.m.

Not only is Owen the BIAW's candidate of choice, he's also a drug warrior, and, according to the Weekly (http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-10-22/news/the-upside-down-race), anti-abortion and "lukewarm on gay rights." Yet Democrats who should know better keep voting for him anyway.

Posted Mon, Nov 3, 3:30 p.m.

You do have to wonder why campaigns, parties, and apparently the media, haven't adjusted to the new reality of early voting. My local Democratic party dropped off a sample ballot at the end of last week. That was almost two weeks after I'd mailed my ballot to Renton. OK, maybe ...

Posted Thu, Oct 30, 5:20 p.m.

The Times article (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2008330176_zmus30cityofmusic.html) includes the City of Music logo. Correct me (and the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_musical_symbols) if I'm wrong, but don't notes always look like d's or p's, but never b's? Or are they going for "db," i.e., "dB," i.e., decibel (or Holsapple, Stamey, Rigby, and Holder")?

Posted Wed, Oct 29, 10:39 p.m.

steptoe.fan: I can't answer your first and third questions, but as for the children? What's the alternative? We're neither Sparta nor the London of Oliver Twist. I honestly don't see the alternative. Douglas Tooley: Excellent point. But as for Norm Rice, I don't see how he's being promoted as a ...

Posted Wed, Oct 29, 10:35 p.m.

"BenjaminF" posted this over on another article, but I think it was meant for here: There is a simple, and I would think, obvious answer to short-termism. That is to make most of the bonuses paid to top executives dependent on long range earnings rather than short range earnings. It ...

Posted Wed, Oct 29, 3:42 p.m.

Overuses and misuses. But she's got plenty of company. I'm sure it's not him, but does anyone else think the voiceover guy sounds like Ed Wyatt of Almost Live? (He lives in Australia now, and undoubtedly cares a lot more about WA politics when that refers to Western Australia instead ...

Posted Wed, Oct 29, 12:48 p.m.

Was this comment meant for http://crosscut.com/2008/10/29/econ-finance/18599/ ?

Posted Tue, Oct 28, 1:47 p.m.

Vanderleun, with no Times or P-I, where do you expect to get your daily local news?

Posted Mon, Oct 27, 4:39 p.m.

How much is the e-paper going to cost, and will it only display the P-I or other Hearst papers? If so, I can't see its advantage over the Web or Oprah's favorite new toy, the Kindle -- especially with the advent of the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1 (aka the ...

Posted Mon, Oct 27, 12:13 a.m.

GV_Ranch: Resolution 362... an act of war against Iran. Read about it. It was authored by Israel's interest group AIPAC, not Americans... 8000 rich Israeli lobbyists pushed to get it supported. How can our congress be so active in pushing for war based on a foreign country's lobby? Something is ...

Posted Fri, Oct 24, 11:17 a.m.

Brett: re your point 2, it's probably worth repeating a comment I made on this issue last month: It is true that I-1000 mandates that the underlying disease be listed as the cause of death, just as it is listed as the cause of death when high doses of morphine ...

Posted Tue, Oct 21, 11:23 a.m.

Debbalee, your best shot at getting a "none of the above" box on the ballot is in fact via initiative... Seriously, though, it sounds like you'd like some sort of ballot reform, and major changes in that direction, such as lowering access requirements or wholesale changes of system, like the ...

Posted Tue, Oct 21, 10:58 a.m.

Matt: Crosscut is "quite a conservative publication?" Compared to what: The Stranger and Eat the State!? Ted: You write that "ballot measures can subvert good government... they encourage elected officials to shun their responsibilities and buck difficult political issues to the ballot." Yes, this was indeed the case with the ...

Posted Mon, Oct 20, 4:47 p.m.

I would love to see stats on the effect of newspaper endorsements on the way people actually vote. Will the Spokesman-Review's endorsement of Gregoire really hurt Rossi east of the Cascades, for example? Or will the Times' having gone for Rossi really boost him in Seattle?

Posted Mon, Oct 20, 3:24 p.m.

Thanks Trevor! By the way, are links in comments disabled now?

Posted Mon, Oct 20, 3:23 p.m.

Thanks, sjenner. I am following up with Senator Keiser's office on this.

Posted Mon, Oct 20, 3 p.m.

Mr. Baker, do you mean the portion of Aurora just north of the city limits? It does look nicer, but it's still hardly pedestrian-friendly. Nobody walks to Aurora Oriental Market, Old Village Korean Restaurant, or Hae-Nam Kalbi & Calamari. (Now I am hungry.) As for our Viaduct situation, as long ...

Posted Fri, Oct 17, 2:17 p.m.

jabailo: In days of old (the 80s), a person could cross Broadway on Capital Hill in the middle of the street without a crosswalk, and the "traffic" (ie, one or two cars) would halt to let you pass... Now 45th Street to Ballard is a "major thoroughfare". One probably could ...

Posted Thu, Oct 16, 11:16 a.m.

I do like — though would love to once again see a preview step in the comment process. Noticed the "most popular articles" sidebar is gone, too. But overall I like! Things do seem to be running faster and more smoothly.

Posted Thu, Oct 16, 11:15 a.m.

I second Sue's thanks, and highly recommend Agua Verde as well, for the kayaking as well as the food upstairs. I've only ever gone into Lake Union from Agua Verde, but have taken out canoes a number of times from the UW Waterfront Activities Center, just southeast of Husky Stadium ...

Posted Thu, Oct 16, 11:08 a.m.

I saw that piece in the New York Times and did a little investigation, turning up the Doc Maynard chapter but never making the connection to Walt. Thanks for doing so, and glad to hear he did get his wish to be buried in Lake View's pioneer section.

Posted Wed, Oct 15, 10:55 p.m.

Alex, I highly respect your opinions, but are you really suggesting that long-term lay investors invest in early-stage private companies instead of diversified mutual funds?

Posted Tue, Oct 14, 10:20 a.m.

Very nice. Thanks for shedding light on (pun half intended) the Pacific Northwest connection.

Posted Thu, Oct 9, 10:41 a.m.

Great site; thanks for the link: But, unfortunately, I think their tagline, "This isn't a Popularity Contest" (trademarked, and featuring German-style capitalization, I might note), is inaccurate. Perhaps they should be using "This shouldn't be a popularity contest"? Or perhaps it's wishful thinking, or meant to be inspiring. Because if ...

Posted Wed, Oct 8, 1:43 p.m.

Remember the billboard?: Will the last person leaving SEATTLE - Turn out the lights. Losing Safeco and Washington Mutual is bad enough — we do not want to see this sign re-erected along Pacific Highway South. But what sort of concessions from government will Boeing demand? Will we be able ...

Posted Tue, Oct 7, 3:08 p.m.

RE: new choice: I wonder what your intracity rates will be like in Seattle? The ZIP Code idea is an interesting one, but doesn't that mean it'd cost as much to ride the three blocks from 15th & John to 12th & John (crossing from 98112 into 98102) as it ...

Posted Tue, Oct 7, 10:54 a.m.

Roses: Is it true planting that garlic among your roses reduces aphids? We started doing that in my mother's garden a while back. Don't know if it really works but I kind of like how it looks.

Posted Mon, Oct 6, 4:14 p.m.

PTSD lecture at University of Puget Sound on November 11 (Veterans Day): Speaking of PTSD, I just heard about this from the Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa: Caesar in Vietnam: Did Roman Soldiers Suffer From PTSD? Who: Aislinn Melchior When: Tuesday, Nov. 11 Time: 4:30-5:30 p.m. Where: Trimble ...

Posted Mon, Oct 6, 4:11 p.m.

RE: huh? Indeed!: Why restrict it to the last 100 years? But even if you do, Teddy Roosevelt was in the Spanish-American War; and Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Bush Sr. were all in World War II.

Posted Thu, Oct 2, 9:18 a.m.

Goodwill on the Ave: Looking forward to it. From the photo I thought it might be in the old House of Carpets building north of 50th but I take it that shot is from elsewhere. Looks like it'll be in the 4500 block instead, which makes a lot more sense ...

Posted Tue, Sep 30, 11:30 a.m.

RE: It's time: It is my understanding the King County Charter Review Commission is currently discussing this, though I don't think it's a high priority for them. Perhaps they are waiting to see how things pan out in Pierce County this November. IRVWA (soon to be RCVWA) is the statewide ...

Posted Tue, Sep 30, 10:10 a.m.

RE: Memories Bond Us to a Place: Lovely, inspirational pieces — both Berger's and Myrick's.... Five generations of Bergers! My branch of the Lukoffs has only been here since 1964, and I was born 11 years later, so just as I'm a first-generation American, I'm also a first-generation Washingtonian and ...

Posted Tue, Sep 30, 8:50 a.m.

Ron Paul (L? R? C?): This year would have been dynamic if Ron Paul had the support and resources of a real alternative party. By "real" do you mean a third party with a shot, however slim, like the Liberal Democrats in Great Britain? Of course no such animal exists ...

Posted Fri, Sep 26, 3:11 p.m.

Washington Mutual blew it in April: If another bank had bought WaMu in an orderly way, rather than the sudden swoop of FDIC and the shotgun marriage to JPMorgan Chase, the acquirer would have negotiated with WaMu's board and made promises about reaching out to the communty and made pledges ...

Posted Fri, Sep 26, 12:24 p.m.

RE: Sen. Ed Murray voices a dissent: Good for Sen. Murray. That's probably as strong a statement as he felt he could make given political realities. I'm all for strong leadership on the transportation issue, believe me, but the opposite of the Seattle Process should not be total secrecy.

Posted Thu, Sep 25, 11:27 a.m.

When Washington Mutual lost me: (I still refuse to refer to them as WaMu...) I must admit I looked on with pride as the local institution with the best headquarters building in the city grew to become the largest thrift in the country. Wow, branches in New York City — ...

Posted Wed, Sep 24, 4:30 p.m.

RE: Highest Quality Health Care??: I'm not talking about the U.S. versus the rest of the world but Seattle versus the rest of the U.S. Oh, by the way, I just came across a piece by Sam Harris in Newsweek on this very topic: "Governor Palin, are you ready at ...

Posted Wed, Sep 24, 11:29 a.m.

It's great Microsoft's expanding the Connector service...: ... but how about getting their agencies to provide something similar, since v-dash and a-dash "CSGs" aren't eligible to use the service? I don't know the latest figures, but a lot of the people out in Redmond aren't legally employees of Microsoft and ...

Posted Wed, Sep 24, 11:23 a.m.

RE: Lainie and Piper,: "Factors demonstrating Oregon residency include but are not limited to: (1) Possession of an Oregon driver license; (2) Registration to vote in Oregon; (3) Evidence that the person owns or leases property in Oregon; or (4) Filing of an Oregon tax return for the most recent ...

Posted Tue, Sep 23, 4:57 p.m.

Chinese food in Victoria: I've never had bad luck walking into a random Chinese place in either Victoria or Vancouver — it's a far cry from Seattle. Can't remember the name of the last place I went to, about a year ago, but I believe it was on Fisgard Street. ...

Posted Tue, Sep 23, 2:36 p.m.

Eyman: And the initiative preamble actually refers to the measure as the "Son of 747 Initiative"! Pretty funny, Tim...

Posted Tue, Sep 23, 1:33 p.m.

RE: no joke: Good luck with your surgery, Steve. With Harborview, UWMC, and Swedish in town, you could hardly be in a better place! For all of Seattle's faults, at least we do still have top-notch medical care.

Posted Mon, Sep 22, 11:49 p.m.

RE: Lainie and Piper,: But I also know that the global impact on our society and culture of making death a question of mere convenience or dollars and sense is, to me, more severe. You devalue what these people are going through by characterizing what they want a matter of ...

Posted Mon, Sep 22, 11:35 p.m.

End Times: Bill — would a strike, now, spell the end of the Times? That strike nearly eight (!) years ago threw the paper for a loop as it was, and as bad as 2000 and 2001 were, my guess is the current state of the business makes newspaper folk ...

Posted Mon, Sep 22, 11:33 p.m.

Very smooth Google Calendar embedding...: ...and it works quite a bit better than the automatic (Google) maps the Times has been using.

Posted Mon, Sep 22, 2:03 p.m.

RE: Gregoire Won Debate Not Rossi: Let's not damn the concept of the free market because of what's been going on lately. First of all, those who think the modern Republican Party and George Bush are the standard-bearers of small-government, free-market conservatism are out of their minds. In addition, what ...

Posted Sun, Sep 21, 12:41 a.m.

RE: Lainie and Piper,: (continued) Lainie "Under I-1000, if a physician prescribes a lethal overdose, when that physician completes the death certificate, he or she is required - actually required - to list the underlying disease (say lung cancer) as the cause of death, even when the doctor knows full ...

Posted Sun, Sep 21, 12:40 a.m.

Lainie and Piper,: Lainie Now we encourage and expect people just to kill themselves. Who's encouraging? People, this is happening anyway — we should recognize that fact and regulate it. Or would you really rather people continue to follow what Rush Limbaugh termed the Hunter S. Thomspon method? We ought ...

Posted Fri, Sep 19, 2 p.m.

RE: whichever way you cut it, the mossback: I wonder how many socialists there are in Spokane?

Posted Thu, Sep 18, 11:08 p.m.

Wikipedians are indeed fast: Remember the Tim Russert incident?

Posted Thu, Sep 18, 11:06 p.m.

RE: so close, I can almost touch it: I'm all for yards on public property (i.e., parks). Perhaps I'm missing the joke, but why exactly would you want to have elevated Aurora Avenue in Shoreline?

Posted Mon, Sep 15, 10:28 a.m.

Monday update: Joel Magalnick, editor of JTNews (formerly the Jewish Transcript), just sent me a link to his posting on Jew-ish.com about the very same signature gatherer. Apparently he didn't believe Joel when he was told of Judge Gonzalez's decicion. An excerpt: Then he goes off on some tirade about ...

Posted Mon, Sep 15, 8:36 a.m.

RE: Go get em Knute! Save the emerald city from the wicked witch of the saw.: It's kind of funny how David Sucher asks if Knute Berger is "a Republican, who just makes things up?" and Tstcusmc writes that he's a "hippie-liberal who needs a haircut and a shave." Knute, ...

Posted Thu, Sep 11, 2:51 p.m.

Charter Amendment 7: Today, Eyman found friends in an unlikely place – the editorial board at The Seattle Times, which argues that voters deserve to have a clear ballot title for Charter Amendment 7, a measure that, if passed, would double the number of signatures required to put an initiative ...

Posted Wed, Sep 10, 4:11 p.m.

RE: I-1000: Here's a piece by Michael Hood of Blatherwatch supporting I-1000, from the POV of the son of a man with a terminal illness who had begged for a gun with which to kill himself a few months earlier.

Posted Wed, Sep 10, 10:41 a.m.

Camellia sinensis: Wow! Who knew. Now, can we grow tea here? Would love that.

Posted Tue, Sep 9, 2:26 p.m.

I-1000: Thanks for posting the Parrish piece, which looks like it also ran in the Beacon Hill News & South District Journal and Madison Park Times. The comments are by and large respectful and worth reading along with the post. Supporters of the initiative have a significant fundraising advantage at ...

Posted Tue, Sep 9, 12:32 p.m.

RE: Note to Richard about Obama not having done much...: Would love to check out some of those URLs, but they appear to cut off. Any chance of reposting with, say, TinyURLs?

Posted Sun, Sep 7, 10:09 p.m.

Freeway Park: So it belongs to the state, not the city? Does that apply to the part directly over I-5 only, or to the whole parcel?

Posted Sun, Sep 7, 7:57 p.m.

in the 20s for business costs and quality of life?: Our low ranking for business costs — I wonder how much the B&O tax has to do with that. As for quality of life, I wonder what the criteria were that ranked New Jersey #1.

Posted Sun, Sep 7, 7:50 p.m.

If even Peggy was caught unawares by this,...: ...what chance do the rest of us have? Something tells me the city doesn't actually want public comment... either that or they are woefully unaware of how to effectively communicate with their citizens. I don't like either option.

Posted Thu, Sep 4, 9:57 a.m.

RE: Go away and rebuild your party!: Palin's views on energy alternatives, abstinence, and climate change may indeed be short-sighted, but creationism and abortion? Not that I agree with her on any of these issues.

Posted Wed, Sep 3, 9:53 p.m.

RE: the amazingly clueless Piper Scott: MadisonAve: Didn't realize Berger was in the Barr camp. Sean: "Waste time writing about politics"? Leaving aside for the moment that, by extension, you must therefore be wasting time reading – and commenting – about politics, do you really want to live in a ...

Posted Wed, Sep 3, 1:23 a.m.

RE: Librarians Against Palin: Funny: when I first read your comment, I thought it said "library staff and liberty lovers." But it might as well have. Sarah Palin is definitely not from the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. I can't imagine they're thrilled with McCain's pick. How many will ...

Posted Fri, Aug 29, 1:25 p.m.

RE: Saturday Night Live! will have fun with Ms. Palin: As "duckdog" commented on Ted Van Dyk's article on the Palin choice, "writing off the Palin choice as a Dan Quayle-like blunder could be a serious mistake for the Democrats." Let's not count our chickens before they've hatched.

Posted Thu, Aug 28, 10:26 p.m.

Diversity in office: I had no doubt back then that in time the United States would have a black, woman, Latino, Asian, or Native-American president. As it turns out, Obama is the first such American to have gained a major-party nomination and he may, in fact, be our first African-American ...

Posted Thu, Aug 28, 3:52 p.m.

Bidens: I must say I did find Beau Biden's tribute to his dad and Joe Biden's tribute to his mom rather moving. (I think I was reminded of my own parents.) No tears though.

Posted Wed, Aug 27, 4:02 p.m.

RE: The next event: Fortunately for Nickels, SR 167 now ends at 405 in Renton (well, technically, a few blocks north at Sunset [SR 900]) — otherwise he'd probably have had to get WSDOT's cooperation. (167 was truncated in 1992.)

Posted Wed, Aug 27, 3:33 p.m.

I'd be interested to hear more about Seattle's supposed "tolerance": Of things that traditionally fall under the rubric of multiculturalism, certainly. Of divergent viewpoints, especially political and religious? I'm not so sure.

Posted Tue, Aug 26, 4:47 p.m.

RE: Huh?: It was my impression — whether true or not — that these closures, unlike those for the Blue Angels, Seafair, Opening Day, and Bicycle Sunday, were to make a point, not to accomodate an event. I don't think I'm alone in having that impression. That is the difference.

Posted Fri, Aug 22, 11:25 p.m.

Biden: I see it's Biden... and I'm still waiting for my text message...

Posted Thu, Aug 21, 5:14 p.m.

The P-I catches up...: ...finally.

Posted Thu, Aug 21, 1:55 p.m.

RE: Active "blue space" complement's park's "green space": Can you provide any more information on the North Lake Union site?

Posted Wed, Aug 20, 11:20 p.m.

RE: parties and initiatives: It certainly is. Perhaps we get the government we deserve — but until we can find a way to get one better than we deserve, I'd like to keep that sword handy.

Posted Wed, Aug 20, 2:48 p.m.

RE: Still need more facts: I am aware of the history of Medic One, and I think you misconstrue my point. The Medic One levy could fail: it should be made permanent, not excess, and thereby become part of the general fund. Of course I do not advocate cutting public ...

Posted Wed, Aug 20, 2:03 p.m.

parties and initiatives: "Parties are good." That may be — I'd feel a lot better, though, if there were more than two viable ones. Whether it's ill-thought-out or not, the reason Washington voters support all these "reforms" is because they are frustrated with the Democrats and Republicans and want at ...

Posted Wed, Aug 20, 1:05 p.m.

RE: Need a few more facts here: Regardless of who funded the initiatives, they enjoy wide support. I wouldn't care if it was the Official Monster Raving Loony Party behind a push to, say, fully fund Medic One from the general budget rather than putting it to a levy vote ...

Posted Wed, Aug 20, 12:56 p.m.

Vanilla bean vs. French vanilla: Esser is obviously not a habitué of Baskin-Robbins, Häagen-Dazs, or Molly Moon's, otherwise he'd know French vanilla is a lot eggier, and quite a darker shade of yellow! How that translates to candidates, I'm not sure.

Posted Wed, Aug 20, 12:51 p.m.

Noodling: "That was cold. That never should have happened. The person who sent that has been beaten up with a wet noodle." I'd like to see Gillis beaten up with a wet noodle. Why are people like that in the media business in the first place? Surely they could be ...

Posted Tue, Aug 19, 11:42 p.m.

RE: Agreed regarding election days, but not regarding initiatives and parties: (continued) In 2006, state senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles told the Weekly that, while she supported instant-runoff voting on the local level, she didn't on the state level because it would be "hard" for third-party officials to be effective within the ...

Posted Tue, Aug 19, 11:40 p.m.

Agreed regarding election days, but not regarding initiatives and parties: Ballot measures are used to raise funds for projects and activities which could never be approved through a deliberative legislative process. You're absolutely right, but I interpret this to mean you're against the initiative system. I see it more as ...

Posted Tue, Aug 19, 6:18 p.m.

RE: Hydrogen Changes Game: Sorry, what does "100% efficient" mean? Are you proposing solar-powered electrolysis of water to create hydrogren with no loss of energy in the process?

Posted Tue, Aug 19, 3:44 p.m.

RE: Not famed prostitutes, famed businesswomen: And like most euphemisms it's terribly non-specific (this one happens to be howlingly tautological as well). Two thoughts: I would like to see a woman who provides male sexual interaction (though I don't want to experience this personally) — and wouldn't "women who provided ...

Posted Mon, Aug 18, 11:50 p.m.

RE: Calendars?: UW Libraries Digital Collections' Pamphlet and Textual Ephemera Collection?

Posted Mon, Aug 18, 10:21 p.m.

RE: a tad creepy: I'm more worried that the opposite will happen, and people will continue to believe what they see and read — only now it won't bear any relation to reality.

Posted Mon, Aug 18, 6:13 p.m.

That Photoshop article really freaks me out.: But surely the Times was being tongue-in-cheek? I can't imagine they'd actually approve of the phenomenon. I guess nothing is even theoretically permanent anymore. The memory hole is progress?

Posted Mon, Aug 18, 6:10 p.m.

RE: People Don't Respond Like They Should: College campuses will be a thing of the past? They've been saying that for at least 50 years... do we really want everything to go virtual?

Posted Mon, Aug 18, 3:27 p.m.

RE: forgetting an inconvenient truth: You're getting all that from "his formative years were not the Eurocentrism of those of past presidents"? I don't think McKay said anything like what you're implying above. There is a difference between growing up in a society and serving as a diplomat.

Posted Sun, Aug 17, 10:19 p.m.

RE: the meaning of slut: Here's another woman trying to reclaim the term, on ynetnews.com (a friend sent this to me a couple of years ago). A few notes: reader reactions are definitely mixed ... and, like the Independent article, this is also in the relationships/lifestyle section.

Posted Sun, Aug 17, 3:33 p.m.

RE: How to Value Trees and Hug Them Too: I'd love to vote for a tree, if one would only run.

Posted Sun, Aug 17, 12:54 a.m.

RE: No grandfather status??: I'm wondering why this hasn't been covered in the Times or P-I... and, frankly, why they aren't selling their papers here. Thanks for the article and another great look into a bit of our forgotten history.

Posted Sun, Aug 17, 12:02 a.m.

RE: the meaning of slut: It was still being used in its original sense when I lived in London at the turn of the millennium, at least by (I think it was) The Independent. Wish I could find the article now... I was surprised to see the word being used ...

Posted Fri, Aug 15, 9:58 a.m.

RE: true: Regarding the Space Needle, see this P-I article in today's Clicker: During summer, out-of-towners represent 90 percent of visits to the observation deck and 80 percent to 85 percent at the restaurant. In the off-season that drops to 70 percent to 75 percent at the observation deck and ...

Posted Thu, Aug 14, 10:57 p.m.

It would be a shame if Thiese were to be "less willing to be candid with the next guy": I hadn't heard of Thiese before the article ran (no oenophile I) and he neither came off as negative nor did I think he was a crusader against riesling. Perhaps he ...

Posted Thu, Aug 14, 10:54 p.m.

RE: Progress: Sounds like a scene from Bottle Shock!

Posted Tue, Aug 12, 4:52 p.m.

RE: Albert Speer & Albert Speer, Jr.: Here's Kruschchev's granddaughter's take on the Speer issue.

Posted Tue, Aug 12, 4:27 p.m.

RE: Albert Speer, Jr: Khrushchev's granddaughter weighs in on the Speer connection

Posted Tue, Aug 12, 1:28 p.m.

RE: Um... The topic is what to do with old Nazis...: Absolutely. How anyone can think there should be a statute of limitations on war crimes and genocide is beyond me.

Posted Tue, Aug 12, 1:26 p.m.

RE: Trashing the media: You're right about that — nor do I read Slog. Perhaps "political discourse" is too sweeping a term. Stewart, Black, Maher, Carlin, Miller, Rock, Bruce, and their ilk are great. They are also all comedians. I suppose what I really meant was "political journalism."

Posted Tue, Aug 12, 10:37 a.m.

loopholes: Even worse, the School District would have needed a permit, but according to the Save Our Trees press release, managed to get around that by (temporarily) withdrawing their application for a Master Use Permit for the building project: They "have withdrawn [their] pending application for a Master Use Permit ...

Posted Tue, Aug 12, 10:15 a.m.

RE: Trashing the media: I'm not offended by swearing at all. Portnoy's Complaint is on my bookshelf, and I'm quite a big fan of Tuli Kupferberg's "Go F*** Yourself with Your Atom Bomb." It's just a turnoff to me when I see it in political discourse. That's all. As for ...

Posted Mon, Aug 11, 4:19 p.m.

RE: WASL: WASLMAO!

Posted Mon, Aug 11, 3:55 p.m.

Luxemburgum irredentum?: America's always had strange behavior to spare, so tulipomania wouldn't entirely surprise me. Meanwhile, Belgium had better watch out (not as if they're not already in danger of falling apart)...

Posted Mon, Aug 11, 3:38 p.m.

RE: Trashing the media: Crosscut may not be able to approach the coverage provided by the dailies, but compare the sizes of their staffs! That having been said, you're absolutely right. If the "traditional" media went away tomorrow, like so many seem to wish it would, the blogosophere would pretty ...

Posted Mon, Aug 11, 3:16 p.m.

WASL: Why ROFL at Rossi for promising to jettison the WASL? Randy Dorn is taking the same position in his race against Terry Bergeson for Superintendent of Public Instruction, and he's backed by the Democrats...

Posted Fri, Aug 8, 2:53 p.m.

RE: Old economy companies: Speaking of Boeing, do you think aluminum grows on trees? (I guess even if it did you'd object to their harvesting it.) The point is, our economy has many interdependencies. You may think your life is somehow post-industrial but in order to read this you are ...

Posted Fri, Aug 8, 11:17 a.m.

RE: Old economy companies: However you may feel about "old-economy companies," how do you think places like Seattle were built in the first place? No Weyerhaeuser --> no Boeing --> no Microsoft. Or, more simply, no old economy --> no new economy. I also think you severely underestimate the abilities ...

Posted Thu, Aug 7, 4:33 p.m.

RE: Put our money where it will make a difference!: The two shouldn't be mutually exclusive. Obviously there's only a limited amount of money to go around, and I agree with the premise that it should be spent where it will make the greatest impact if triage needs to be ...

Posted Thu, Aug 7, 1:10 p.m.

RE: Yes on I-985; No on everything else!!: You're equating Mossback with this?

Posted Tue, Aug 5, 1:48 p.m.

RE: Local utility history: Speaking of municipal takeovers, I found this great Puget Power billboard in the Seattle Municipal Archives' photo database (#16205, for if they ever change their URL structure, or TinyURL kicks the bucket). Dating from 1941, it shows a hooded executioner (presumably the government) dragging Reddy Kilowatt ...

Posted Mon, Aug 4, 4:27 p.m.

RE: The Golden State Freeway: I-5 in Seattle was the Seattle Freeway when it opened. Don't know if that's still officially the case. Of course, no one actually uses the official names of the 520 and I-90 bridges, which are still signed...

Posted Mon, Aug 4, 3:08 p.m.

Local utility history: Didn't Puget Power still operate in parts of Seattle until 1951, when City Light consolidated ownership? I wonder why it's taken so long for other localities to follow suit. Thanks for a fascinating article. If the PUDs succeed, there won't be much left of PSE for Macquarie ...

Posted Mon, Aug 4, 3:05 p.m.

third parties' chances with top-two: Libertarians say the new "top-two" primary hurts third-party candidates' chances at being elected. That's interesting. I didn't know they had any chance to begin with. Hardly any chance to begin with; less than even that now. That is, if they declare themselves to "prefer" said ...

Posted Fri, Aug 1, 4:39 p.m.

RE: This screws third party candidates: It's worth noting that Pierce County will begin limited ranked-choice voting this fall, with expansions in 2010. Beginning this year, Pierce County will use Ranked Choice Voting to elect the following Pierce County officials: * Executive - Partisan * Sheriff - Nonpartisan * Assessor-Treasurer ...

Posted Fri, Aug 1, 2:27 p.m.

Airport taxis: Working with the Port of Seattle to resolve the issue of "deadheading" between the city and Sea-Tac Airport, so that trips to the airport would be able to pick up passengers there, rather than returning empty. A superb idea. I have never understood the STITA monopoly. I hope ...

Posted Fri, Aug 1, 12:20 p.m.

RE: Ah schucks...: ...the sea of humanity helplessly sustained by machines, living out a fantasy existence in their heads. I bet if a company could provide a similiar service people would line up outside their doors. Undoubtedly. And Ray Kurzweil will be there, helping to usher them through.

Posted Fri, Aug 1, 12:12 p.m.

RE: roll of cellphone law: Cell phones are still allowed in cars, as long as you're using the speakerphone feature or a headset.

Posted Thu, Jul 31, 4:44 p.m.

RE: correction: The sentence in question is "But could there have been something else effecting his decision?" To affect basically means to have an effect on. To effect, as you note, means to cause to come into being, to accomplish, or to put into operation. Obviously, given the following sentence, ...

Posted Thu, Jul 31, 3:08 p.m.

RE: getting ones goat: THAT (safe for work) is definitely illegal (though only since 2006, apparently).

Posted Thu, Jul 31, 10:44 a.m.

RE: Why the label of Drew Carey?: Is Carey really a right-winger, or is he more of a libertarian? Seems to be some confusion out there, no thanks to him.

Posted Wed, Jul 30, 2:55 p.m.

OKC development... it gets worse.: Heard last night at Old Pequliar trivia (and confirmed it today in the Times) that they are also considering the Barons, the Bison, the Energy, the Marshalls (yes, with two l's), and the Wind.

Posted Wed, Jul 30, 2:39 p.m.

RE: everse "nannyism": I wonder if it's actually legal to slaughter a pygmy goat in your backyard. Unsurprisingly, the answer is pretty difficult to find. I checked the RCW, the King County Code, and the Seattle Municipal Code, and didn't come up with much.

Posted Wed, Jul 30, 10:18 a.m.

RE: The nanny wants you to speak properly: Try "nanny state" — it's a common enough term in the U.S.

Posted Tue, Jul 29, 5:13 p.m.

Death with Dignity initiative: I'd hardly call it a party... anyway, here's Dan Savage's response to the Connelly piece.

Posted Tue, Jul 29, 3:38 p.m.

RE: Sean, your the typical rail shallow supporter: More than "at what cost," the real question is "where"? Besides running a freeway through the CD and Madison Valley now being completely politically impossible, house values have skyrocketed since the R.H. Thomson Expressway was canceled. So that's out of the question. ...

Posted Tue, Jul 29, 3:04 p.m.

Bagism: Love the headline of the city's bag-fee press release: Seattle passes landmark measure to eliminate waste. Wait, I thought they were getting rid of the public toilets? I also found amusing Councilman Burgess's claim that "this is a market-driven strategy to protect the environment."

Posted Tue, Jul 29, 10:57 a.m.

what's a voter to do?: As a nearly lifelong resident of the 43rd district, I've never really had much of a choice, but if I lived in, say, #7? I'd do what I always do — vote for the lesser of the two evils. Though I tend to vote D, ...

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 4:11 p.m.

RE: Underground news: No, you're thinking of the hypocenter. epicenter hypocenter

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 3:25 p.m.

More peeves: I think top on my list are people referring to Madison Street as Madison Avenue (this is Seattle, not New York!), Broadway as Broadway Avenue ("way" is the street type here), and University Way as University Avenue (granted, its nickname is "The Ave"). Even the city has been ...

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 3:21 p.m.

Responding to AerosmithNirvana: He is not a Mariner. He is a baseball player. He is a member of the Mariners. He is a member of a group, not groups. I know compound singulars can be confusing. Sometimes it is called a "group noun". It is a singular that encompasses a ...

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 1:52 p.m.

RE: Feminized 'The Seattle Way': I do agree that hearing examiners and judges — both male and female — should issue "well-reasoned opinions and rulings" that aren't boilerplate, but perhaps we're asking too much of them, given what we allow our legislators to do.

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 12:47 p.m.

RE: More pet peeves on the linguistic front: Looks like we have the makings of a peeveblog! I do believe "graduated from high school" is standard around here, but it is also my recollection that "was graduated from high school" is the older standard form, which just goes to show ...

Posted Fri, Jul 25, 5:08 p.m.

RE: Stupid Team Names: I wonder what's worse: something mind-numblingly generic like the Thunder, or something really silly, like the proposed but ultimately rejected Portland Wet Sox. (Or, for that matter, Snohomish County's own Aqua Sox.) For my money, the worst names in the NBA, NFL, and MLB (leaving aside ...

Posted Fri, Jul 25, 3:26 p.m.

Automation isn't perfect: Do you know if Times staff provide coordinates for the map, or if Google Maps "figures it out" from the story? I also wonder if the Times can set the zoom level.

Posted Tue, Jul 22, 5:07 p.m.

Blue berries: Me, I prefer wild mountain huckleberries. It's time for a trip back to Tonga Ridge!

Posted Tue, Jul 22, 11:18 a.m.

Gawker says newspapers shouldn't allow comments: Why Newspapers Shouldn't Allow Comments: Comments are thought to be an added value to a newspaper's site–providing another reason to read. You come for the article, and stay for the interesting discussion. The only problem is, there is no interesting discussion. Almost never. ...

Posted Mon, Jul 21, 4:38 p.m.

Good for the Times for calling for the pot's return, but....: The Seattle Times editorial board also says "marijuana is a mind-altering substance and recreational use ought to be prohibited." Given that reasoning, I look forward to their endorsing the Prohibition Party's Gene Amondson this fall. A plus: he's a ...

Posted Sat, Jul 19, 3:12 p.m.

(Excess) good intentions make excellent pavement...: ...but we all know where those roads lead. At least we're supposed to! As for the "Okies waltzing off with the team," I can't believe they couldn't come up with a better name than the Thunder.

Posted Fri, Jul 18, 10:53 p.m.

Good for arousing passion...: ...I hope incidents like this don't scare editors into dumbing down their publications and eschewing satire in favor of pap.

Posted Fri, Jul 18, 10:55 a.m.

Soap Lake: Sounds like they still haven't been able to install the World's Largest Lava Lamp yet. As one who greatly enjoys "taking the waters" but is somewhat frustrated by the relative lack of facilities in Washington state, I was happy to discover Soap Lake a few years ago. Only ...

Posted Wed, Jul 16, 1:56 p.m.

RE: esponse on the hazard to working women: Plenty of people park under I-5 in the carpool lots at Cherry and James, the ID lots at Jackson and King, the Ravenna park and ride. But, again — why the emphasis on where people park? What about where people walk? And ...

Posted Wed, Jul 16, 1:07 p.m.

RE: Ideological account of I-1000 fundraisng is wrong: While Clark Fredricksen is indeed correct on Lifenews's reported figures (that's a useful link to the PDC, by the way), I do have to ask why such an obviously biased source was linked to (their About page states that "LifeNews.com is an ...

Posted Tue, Jul 15, 1:50 p.m.

RE: Urban myths abound: Speaking of Lakoff, I highly recommend two of his earlier books, Metaphors We Live By and Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind. And of course I second your recommendation of Jacobs.

Posted Tue, Jul 15, 1 p.m.

RE: Buses can't meet the need: Perhaps somewhat unproductively, I was speculating on why we didn't do things that way in the past. Certainly it is too late now to realign Central Link (and boy, do I hate that name). And yes, Downtown is a special case; it's a bottleneck ...

Posted Tue, Jul 15, 12:52 p.m.

RE: Response on the hazard to working women: Take that to the extreme and we should remove the viaduct sections of I-5 as well, and clearcut the greenbelts. There are also a few neighborhoods that we should then take the wrecking ball to. Safety is definitely a concern, but this ...

Posted Tue, Jul 15, 12:14 p.m.

RE: Buses can't meet the need: Buses are most assuredly not the sole solution to our transportation problems. But regarding rights-of-way, I seem to remember proposals for running light rail literally down the I-5 corridor. Weren't our interstates designed to be able to accommodate rail? That's a lot of already-acquired, ...

Posted Tue, Jul 15, 11:10 a.m.

Seattle 101? Seattle Ice... and the Seattle Process: "Some of our old ways are being washed out in a tide of change." Some of that is good. As the author points out, Seattle's "Scando-Asian" temperament doesn't exactly serve us well when it comes to integrating new residents: "A constant complaint ...

Posted Thu, Jul 10, 7:02 p.m.

Guerrilla gardening on BoingBoing: Boulder man faces $2000 fine/day for guerilla garden fencing

Posted Thu, Jul 10, 3:52 p.m.

The primary mess: It's obvious that the people hate pick-a-party and that the parties hate the alternatives. Who will blink first? Will the people finally get fed up and implement nonpartisan races or instant-runoff voting? (Both by initiative, of course.) Or will the parties ditch the ballot box return to ...

Posted Thu, Jul 10, 10:53 a.m.

RE: The Workingman's Waterfront View: If it's the same rubberized asphalt they're using on 520 between Medina and Bellevue Way, I'm all for it (assuming they haven't found any negative side effects). Can't speak to how much quieter it is from the roadside, though that Times article says "'tire slap' ...

Posted Thu, Jul 10, 12:10 a.m.

I hadn't even heard of trap shooting before: Thanks for the story; looking forward to part two. (Here's the Wikipedia article on the sport for the other readers in my boat.) But... Jere Irwin bought Ljutic Industries from the IRS for $250,000? Didn't know the IRS seized whole companies for ...

Posted Wed, Jul 9, 3:12 p.m.

Another one bites the dust: Sad. Any word on whether they put together an online-only strategy, and why it wasn't pursued?

Posted Wed, Jul 9, 2:39 p.m.

Postman on Glickstein on McDermott: David Postman today: "Another (losing) case against McDermott's re-election." ...Voters in the 7th District return him to office by consistently huge victory margins. I believe Seattle voters know McDermott's record, as well as his shortcomings, and must believe he is doing just what they want ...

Posted Wed, Jul 9, 2:35 p.m.

Looks like Gregoire has released hers: David Postman today: "Gregoire releases tax returns, but nothing from Rossi." Gov. Chris Gregoire released three years of her family's tax returns today. The Gregoires' total income has gone up from $129,073 in 2005, the governor's first year in office, to $180,179 last year.

Posted Mon, Jul 7, 5:07 p.m.

RE: McDonald's eXpresso is undrinkable: "Fight the McMan!," says Jackson Rohrbaugh. As is common with the UW Daily, it's hard to tell how serious he's being, but one of his claims is that Seattle is too snobby a place for this campaign to work: Bad tactic. Seattle is one of ...

Posted Mon, Jul 7, 4:24 p.m.

Are they really talking about *design*?: Great piece and comments, but I take some issue with the original study. "Design" incorporates, according to the Hillier press release, "public transit systems, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings, LEED registered buildings, art and design universities, museums, sustainability rankings, architecture ...

Posted Mon, Jul 7, 10:52 a.m.

Seattle Times article on the Health Technology Assessment board: Published today: an article on the state's HTA board, which makes such decisions for state and public employees and people on worker's comp and Medicaid.

Posted Sun, Jul 6, 2:25 a.m.

If you're on our southern border, however...: ...it's just $2.66 a gallon, thanks to subsidies from the Mexican government. Probably won't last long, however — it costs them $20 billion a year. Also, the sulfur content is quite a bit higher than in U.S. gas and diesel. For perspective, though, ...

Posted Sat, Jul 5, 2:51 p.m.

Looks like the Daily's solution is Facebook: Want to comment on stories posted by the UW Daily? For now, you'd better have a Facebook account... "You must log in using your Facebook account to post a comment. It's fast, easy, and we don't store any of your personal information, except ...

Posted Sat, Jul 5, 2:42 p.m.

Any chance of links to the aerial photographs...: ...mentioned in the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth grafs?

Posted Sat, Jul 5, 2:30 p.m.

TPL and railroad history: Thanks for the article; glad to see my donations to the Trust for Public Land are doing some good, even if I've probably only enabled them to pick up a couple square feet of forest. Just a couple of historical points: Plum Creek was spun off ...

Posted Sat, Jun 28, 12:19 a.m.

Heartening: I'm glad to see it's still possible to do this sort of thing in Seattle, even if, as I assume, the margins are slim and the profits just enough to keep them going. It's indeed too bad they can't afford to employ others, even at meager bookstore wages — ...

Posted Fri, Jun 27, 5:13 p.m.

RE: Nuclear is the WRONG answer!!: Good point re building costs and debt service. And I'm all for solar, wind, etc., and planting more trees. Efficiency and conservation, too. But I've heard it said we're not going to be able to conserve our way out of this, and if even ...

Posted Fri, Jun 27, 3:34 p.m.

RE: writing history as it happens: Thanks for the the link, sadpants. Looks like an article in the Globe and Mail headlined "I killed Tim Russert (on Wikipedia)." I find his his concluding paragraphs interesting — I guess everyone has their own motivations. The action is in writing history as ...

Posted Fri, Jun 27, 3:09 p.m.

Fried food may not be healthy, but...: ...what on earth makes it non-green? This viridimania (or is that chloromania?) is getting out of control.

Posted Thu, Jun 26, 8:18 p.m.

RE: There Is Plenty of Energy: What about nuclear? It's not a panacea, I know, but surely it deserves more attention than it's getting now. I don't hear anyone seriously proposing new plants around here, and I'm wondering why. I'm sure Grays Harbor County would love the jobs that would ...

Posted Wed, Jun 25, 4:16 p.m.

Things aren't looking good for the Times...: What's next, outsourcing copyediting to India?

Posted Wed, Jun 25, 12:11 p.m.

RE: Many guerillas do return in the night: Here's a group I found on the guerrillagardening.org forums, based in Olympia: Cascadia Guerrilla Gardening Brigade. Can't say I care for the gun imagery, but am glad to see there's something organized and local.

Posted Tue, Jun 24, 10:49 p.m.

Urban horticulture: Great story. A couple of questions: do guerrilla gardeners return to the scene of the crime, as it were, and maintain their plantings? And I'd love to see some examples around Seattle. I don't suppose there's any sort of directory?

Posted Tue, Jun 24, 3:22 p.m.

RE: Apparently Russert's death is now supposed to be a learning experience: Here's another from the Times: "From a Prominent Death, Some Painful Truths."

Posted Tue, Jun 24, 12:33 p.m.

PIN number, ATM machine, ISBN number.... GOP Party?: RAS syndrome strikes again, apparently: are the Washington State Republicans really going to have "GOP Party" on the ballot instead of "GOP"?

Posted Mon, Jun 23, 3:19 p.m.

They let seven-year-olds on the tour now?: That's good. I remember being a very disappointed eight-year-old in 1983 when I found out you had to be 13 to visit the Everett plant and had to stay home while my father took my uncle, who was visiting from Florida. I guess ...

Posted Mon, Jun 23, 12:12 a.m.

RE: You just don't get it: Steven — Thanks for your comments, but I was extremely dedicated during my three years of heavy activity (2003-2006), and I'm not sure how you draw the conclusion that I think the verifiability policy is something new. I actually don't know its history, but ...

Posted Sun, Jun 22, 11:09 p.m.

Replying to readers' comments: Jerry — You're welcome. Incidentally, your description of Providence (now Swedish/Cherry Hill) as being on Capitol Hill is a good example of how, in Seattle, there's really no such thing as an official neighborhood. Most people think of Providence being either in the Central District, Squire ...

Posted Fri, Jun 20, 1 p.m.

RE: Aren't there plenty of R.O.W. areas which need tending?: I wonder how many of these rights-of-way are level enough to be a garden. Many are on rather steep hillsides. Then again, terraced agriculture has been around for millennia... What would the adjacent property owners think, though? Recall the shoreline ...

Posted Fri, Jun 20, 12:47 p.m.

Apparently Russert's death is now supposed to be a learning experience: This in the New York Times' "Well" blog post "Could a Defibrillator Have Saved Tim Russert?": "One of the many lessons from Mr. Russert's death is that everybody should find out whether their building has a portable defibrillator and ...

Posted Thu, Jun 19, 3:15 p.m.

RE: On the other hand: Supposedly slugs really are just snails without a shell--so why not? Just don't eat 'em raw.

Posted Wed, Jun 18, 2:39 p.m.

Corry's Slug & Snail Death: Having grown up in a household where the product in my headline was never in short supply (by the way, isn't that one of the best basic, we're-not-beating-around-the-bush product names of all time?), I don't have a problem with people getting rid of the slugs ...

Posted Wed, Jun 18, 12:52 a.m.

RE: Assisted Suicide: I'd be interested to hear exactly what the Democrats do mean by "death with dignity."

Posted Tue, Jun 17, 2:59 p.m.

The nuclear option: Certainly switching from gasoline to electricity has no environmental benefits if that electricity is produced from coal. At least we have a good hydroelectric infrastructure in the Northwest. But if everything is going to be plugged in, I honestly don't see an alternative to nuclear. Time to ...

Posted Thu, May 29, 12:03 p.m.

Commons: Not that my vote alone would have made a difference, but I so wish I had voted for the Seattle Commons back in 1995. I'm not sure what others' reasons for voting "no" were, but my (20-year-old) thinking was "sure, we'll get a park, but we'll destroy the neighborhood, ...

Posted Tue, May 27, 5 p.m.

There goes another piece of quality local programming: Is Evening Magazine next? Seriously, this is bad news for those of us who prefer insightful local programming to the likes of Access Hollywood. Mak's letter to his KING 5 colleagues has been posted over at Blatherwatch. I was on KING's Music ...

Posted Tue, May 27, 10:03 a.m.

RE: One more nonsource: I'd agree with you, aperdue, that this isn't funny--but not because Steve isn't a good humorist; he is--it's because this is all too true. More sad than funny, really!

Posted Sat, May 24, 5:45 p.m.

RE: numbered streets: Actually, Ravenna Blvd. N.E. turns into Ravenna Ave. N.E. at its eastern end. OK, I'm done now :)

Posted Thu, May 22, 11:02 p.m.

RE: numbered streets: OK, here's where I put my dorkiness on display. I actually wrote the Wikipedia article "Street layout of Seattle". You're basically right: avenues run north/south, streets east/west, and the directional designator precedes the name in the case of east/west roads and follows it in the case of ...

Posted Thu, May 22, 12:51 p.m.

RE: street mnemonics: Yes, but that mnemonic doesn't really help you to remember which of the pair comes first! (It's James, BTW, not Jackson.)

Posted Wed, May 21, 10:41 a.m.

Informative: Fascinating: I'd always wondered how Knight Ridder ended up with nearly half of the Times. Thanks for enlightening us!

Posted Wed, May 7, 4:32 p.m.

Bigfoot: Perhaps the publishers of Me Write Book: It Bigfoot Memoir, In Me Own Words: The Autobiography of Bigfoot (did he forget he'd already written one?), and Bigfoot: I Not Dead can help him with a lawsuit against Sasquatch!

Posted Mon, Apr 28, 12:24 p.m.

RE: "...developers forming their own governments?": Here's some context to the "developers are essentially trying to form their own private governments" statement: Noble was referring to the fact that Idaho legislators recently "passed a bill to allow developers to organize taxing districts to sell bonds to pay for roads, bridges ...