In many ways, Lee Lumsden's situation is all too typical. A 24-year Capitol Hill resident, he's one of many who face or have faced difficult housing circumstances brought on when their apartment is sold. But Lumsden faces the added challenge of living on a small disability income. Most of his rent comes in the form of a Section 8 housing voucher. Lumsden moved to his one-bedroom apartment on Boylston Avenue East in October 2001. His rent, mostly covered by his housing voucher, was $750 a month, a fair price six years ago. Brooks didn't raise his rent during his tenancy. They had a special relationship, he said. Brooks told him she would never rent the apartment to anyone else.But when Eileen Brooks died in May at the age of 86, Lumsden's situation changed. She owned three condominiums in the building, as well as a home on Mercer Island. Her estate, including the condo Lumsden rents, must be liquidated by the end of the year.
Riding on a Metro bus twice a day always reminds me of the opening of an old television show I liked way back in the dimness when I was young. I think the show was called "Naked City," a cop drama, but what I remember was the opening: a black-and-white shot of the Manhattan skyline with a voiceover, a male voice droning dramatically, "There are 8 million stories in the Naked City; this is one of them."That's how I feel riding the bus: There are 500,000 stories in this naked city, and all of them will eventually happen, or be talked about, on a city bus.
The one thing pretty much everyone can agree upon is its size. The large, mixed-use project slated for the former QFC site on the 500 block of Broadway East will be, if nothing else, gigantic. How gigantic? Consider that the structure consists of 295 apartments for a start. Plus underground parking for 357 cars. One full block of retail store fronts along Broadway. The project is larger than the recent Broadway Crossing adjacent to the Egyptian Theater, larger than the Brix development under way one block north. Far larger, even, than the highly contentious development planned for the 500 block of East Pine Street.<br
"...In other news, the Seattle City Council today accepted a preliminary draft final report from its subcommittee on What Seattle Can Do To Help Save The Woolly Mammoth..." It's election time again. The smell of blue ribbon panels is in the air. The City of Seattle is renowned - okay, notorious - for "the Seattle Way," an approach to decision-making that at times seems to value the journey a lot more than the destination.
In keeping with a commitment to showcase the best contemporary Asian new-media art, the Seattle Asian Art Museum [SAAM] is featuring "Ink in Motion," a five-minute video installation by Sio Ieng Ng through Dec. 2.Set in a large, capacious gallery, the video projection is flanked by artifacts from Ng's previous experiments. Sitting on a bench, in that darkened room, the viewer is transported out of time and space into a luminous state. Ink floats across the screen at a stately gait with the eddy of positive forms commingling with the pure light of negative space.
Portrait of a grieving family offers too much thematic complexityThe loss of one's child is, as most of us see it, the most tragic event possible in anyone's life. Not only is it devastating to the individual members of the dead child's family, but it is destructive to the whole family structure. We see the crushing impact of such a loss in "The Mojo and the Sayso," now playing at ACT Theatre. The play, by Aishah Rahman, is the second main stage production of the Hansberry Project, ACT's collaborative venture with community organizations to honor, support and celebrate the rich African-American theatrical tradition and broaden the audience for such works. It's partially successfu
Scratch the surface of a Seattleite, the saying goes, and you'll find a buttoned-down Scandinavian.Maybe so.But show up at the Seattle Center Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 29-30, along with some 40,000 others, and you'll do a double take: That's when Seattle goes Italian.Italian Festival, now in its 20th year, celebrates Seattle's Italian roots, which lead back to the Garlic Gulch of old in the Rainier Valley.
Like a good recipe, the Italian community still offers the same flavors in Seattle's South End, albeit on a smaller scale, thanks to some essential ingredients that unite their community.Probably the most obvious, good Italian food and wine, joins other ingredients like a love for Rainier Valley in this recipe that has kept the sense of Italian community alive.Although the appearance of the community has altered considerably over the years, especially with fewer Italian residents and businesses, some key aspects have remained unchanged.
With all of the excitement of a new school year, safety may not be the first subject that springs to the minds of students, or parents. The American Red Cross Serving King and Kitsap counties encourages parents to take time to talk with their children about their personal safety when traveling from their front doors to their school halls.
Salame, prosciutto, salciccia and pancetta are rapidly becoming part of our vernacular as local diners dig into these tasty sausages and cured meats. Tiny Cafe da Pino near historic Columbia City is the workshop of Chef Giuseppi Rogano, maker of cured meats extraordinaire. Sausages laced with hot peppers, wine-cured salami and silky prosciutto are some of the hand-crafted delicacies Rogano prepares in the little cafe reminiscent of an alpine cabin.Called Pino by those who know him, Rogano has festooned the cafe walls with bright posters of Calabria, his birthplace. His early years were spent in a small, coastal town; he played on the beach as a youngster."The water was right outside the door," he explained, gesturing toward busy Rainier Avenue South. When he later went to live with grandparents and uncles on his dad's side, Rogano's future was foretold.
The initial email was sent out in June. It was the day after the deadline for candidates to declare they were running for office. I knew there would be some interest in the races. That's why I extended invitations to the candidates months ago, knowing it was better to be early than not in the mix. The invite? For a candidates' forum in Georgetown.b>The Georgetown Seattle City Council candidates forum will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 2 from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Georgetown Ballroom located at 5623 Airport Way S. Mark your calendars, and bring your questions.
"...In other news, the Seattle City Council today accepted a preliminary draft final report from its subcommittee on What Seattle Can Do To Help Save The Woolly Mammoth..."It's election time again. The smell of blue-ribbon panels is in the air.The city of Seattle is renowned - OK, notorious - for "the Seattle Way," an approach to decision making that at times seems to value the journey a lot more than the destination.
Everyone old enough to pay rent knows that the lack of affordable housing in Seattle has reached crisis proportions. Yet in response to the removal of several thousand low-income housing units in our city to condo conversion, demolition, speculation and redevelopment, the mayor wants to give subsidies and incentives that will spur still more of the very kind of development and speculative activity that has caused this loss in the first place. If the mayor has his way, a program now limited in scope called the Multi-Family Tax Exemption Program (MFTEP), would be extended to nearly every neighborhood of the city and renamed the Seattle Homes Within Reach Program.
DETERMINATIONS 3901 Beacon Ave. S. (3005022) of a Council Land Use Action to modify development standards for a city facility (Jefferson Community Center) to allow additional structure height to light poles (30'allowed, 41' proposed).The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) has determined that the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation's proposal does not have a probable significant adverse impact on the environment. An Environmental impact Statement is not required under RCW 43.21C.030 (2) (c). This decision was made after review of a completed environmental checklist and other information on file with the lead agency. This information is available to the public on request.
Gary Newsome, District Administrator for Little League District 8 (Seattle, Ballard, Queen Anne, Magnolia, Woodinville) for the past 18 years, will receive the Fidelity Investments Inspire the Future Award Newsome began his involvement with Little League decades ago, volunteering as a manager/coach. Now, 34 years later, he oversees 15 leagues in District 8, one of the largest Little League districts in the state.