BEACON HILL - A group of concerned South End parents and citizens gathered at the Jefferson Community Center last week to discuss ways the community can help stem a rising tide of random teen violence threatening to overwhelm the neighborhood.The Oct. 11 meeting, which drew about 40 attendees, was organized by the parents themselves following a recent assault in an unprotected area near the community center. A number of public officials were also in attendance, including members of the Seattle Police Department (SPD), the city's Parks department and the school district.
In the Oct. 3 article "'Historic event' sees developers and neighbors plan Othello Station," your reporter [Mona Lee] evaluates my perceived mental state based upon the context of my comments said at the event. My comments on crime did not support her subjective biases. Thus, I was labeled "confused." She did not interview me after the event to make sure that she understood my comments, but she had lots of time for people who agree with her points of view.Stuart WeissOthello
Flowers grow in an unusual spot along Rainier Avenue South this year. Pumpkin orange mums, bright yellow Daisies, and a small American flag decorate their spot around the power pole at Rainier Avenue South and 57st Avenue South. October brings a festival feel, but does anyone remember the reason those flowers and flag adorn that pole? I do. I was there. I saw the whole thing and remember vividly the torn bodies, the smell of gas and oil, the wreckage of a once cool car and the bus stop sign severed and tossed. Many people in my own community who witnessed the aftermath of such violence do not keep what happened on Oct. 6, 2006, in their thoughts, but I do.
Two years ago this month - while 24-weeks pregnant and in the ugly throes of preterm labor - this busy, Type-A, perfectionist, 30-something was sentenced to strict bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy lest my otherwise healthy baby arrive up to four months early. I understand that a nice, long, doctor-ordered holiday might sound like just the thing for the average overworked parent in chronic need of a nap, but believe me when I say that such a prescription, in today's fast-paced, take-no-prisoners society, is not one that brings peace and security to the heart of a working-class mom whose health insurance is conditional on her ability to do said job. This might not have been much more than a minor character challenge except that the reason for the bed rest was, of course, to reduce the amount of the mother's stress; physical, mental and emotional, not to pump up the volume. Nonetheless, on the second of three hospital admits, the gravity of our situation was sinking in, as were the questions. How would we make this work? Who would care for our 2-year-old while my husband was at work and I laid on my back in the hospital? Who would cook dinner? How would my husband manage his 60-hour-a-week breadwinner career that had, until that point, involved regular out-of-state travel?
Two young boys go out to explore the Emerald City late at night, crossing out rival graffiti tags and working hard to avoid drawing attention. Such a mildly rebellious, and sometimes destructive, scenario is not uncommon here, or in any other American city, especially when it comes to adolescent boys. Exploring beyond the boundaries of one's home while breaking parental curfews is a universal, urban right of passage akin to earning a learners permit and driving legally for the first time.
Anna Nichol removes tape and stickers from a utility pole along East Pine Street during the Saturday, Oct. 13, neighborhood street sweep sponsored by the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. More than 150 people took part in the quarterly event.Nichol attended with her parents.
Marsha Boxer shows her support during a Sunday, Oct. 14, rally at the Seattle Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Community Center. A large crowd voiced its approval of maintaining and strengthening protections in the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which may be stripped of gender- identity protections.
The park is almost like a secret garden. Located just north of Lakeview Cemetery in a quiet stretch of Capitol Hill, the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Park has no play structures, no planned activities, no restrooms and limited parking. What the park does offer is a pronounced sense of tranquility and a fitting ambiance for the final resting place for more than 500 Civil War veterans and their wives. That the park's serenity can be enjoyed by those willing to seek it out is due in no small measure to efforts undertaken by the Friends of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Cemetery Park, a small volunteer group that has provided stewardship over the park for nearly 10 years. Such efforts included drafting a master plan for park improvements and shep-herding those projects to completion.
Frederick Law Olmsted, the legendary 19th-century landscape architect and park planner, famously said that parks are the lungs of a city. So the prospect of adding two small parks to Capitol Hill might bring a smile to his face. Seattle Parks and Recreation purchased two small sites on Capitol Hill this summer, using money from the voter-approved Pro Parks levy. Last week, 20 people met in the basement of the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church to talk about the sites. One is at Summit Avenue East and East John Street, across the street and north of Starbucks, and the other is at 16th Avenue East and East Howell Street, adjacent to the former Church of Christian Scientists. Community Gardening advocates are interested in using at least a part of each site for gardening plots urban gardeners can rent from the city
WET moves into its fourth season Some five years ago, a group of University of Washington drama students got together after graduation and asked themselves a collective version of that familiar post-college question: "What do we want to do with our lives?" The answer they came up with was fortuitous, at least for anyone concerned with the health and well-being of arts in the Emerald City. Five of the '02 grads, all of whom had been students of UW drama instructor Jon Jory, decided to stick together and form a new, independent theater company. They named their new venture the Washington Ensemble Theatre-WET, for short.
I was talking recently with a young woman I know glancingly who has been working in a local mortuary. Her conversation concerning the newly dead tweaked my thoughts in the direction of Ted Zink, a unique individual who was the Kitsap County coroner most of the time I was a reporter over there. Ted had a sense of humor and a seemingly complete indifference to the fact that many people knew they couldn't, and wouldn't want to, do his job.
The city's recent legalization of pygmy goats is yet another reminder of governmental malpractice in the city of Seattle. Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin's statements that the city has legalized goats in order to promote sustainability is based on very little knowledge of either goats or sustainability.In my opinion, urban livestock in Seattle is at great risk from predators. There is a huge infestation of chicken and rabbit killers: raccoons. And, according to Gary Fredericks, agent for Washington State University's agricultural extension college, "Dogs create more of a threat than coyotes, because dogs are much more comfortable with humans and will come into people's yards and barns
This past summer, Seattle and especially Capitol Hill earned a rather dubious achievement: according to the Seattle Gay News (SGN), five gay bashings occurred in the span of a few months and, sadly, this number only reflects the incidents that actually got reported to the police. Thus, it's certainly in addition to the occasional yet typical name-calling and taunts common in a country that views homophobia as a culturally sanctioned form of discrimination. Even worse, this number may also be in addition to other incidents where its victims preferred to suffer in silence.
Dear Mr. Zabel:I question whether you have actually read Jack Hamann's book "On American Soil" ["Rep. McDermott speaks of WWII injustice at Ft. Lawton," Oct. 3] because as the author makes perfectly clear, the melee at Fort Lawton was not between African-American GIs and Italian POWs, it was an attack by 200 black soldiers on the largely defenseless Italians. Although Mr. Hamann has been photographed posed solemnly beside the grave of the lynched Italian POW, Pvt. Guglielmo Olivotto, it doesn't become clear until later in the book that Mr. Hamann's sympathies lie with the "railroaded" black soldiers who were accused, brought to trial and ultimately convicted.Mr. Zabel and Mr. McDermott: What is it with this country and its media, who still find it "easy" and "OK" to jump on the side of anyone and any programming that supports an anti-Italian, pro-any other ethnic group position? It's high time that someone stands up and says it's not OK ... we are not Tony Sopranos, or Vito Corleones, or Rocky Balboas ... we are Supreme Court justices, mayors, governors, captains of business, family-oriented, church-going, patriotic Americans.
It is great to have the weather a bit more seasonable, with beautifully lit warm, sunny afternoons that quietly end with soft pink western skies. Yes, I suspect that pink hue is just special lighting effects on bad pollutants. And now we no longer can keep our heads in the sand about pollutants, no matter how strikingly lit, for this year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded and will be shared by dual winners who share a concern about manmade global warming. For me the beauty of this prize-sharing is that it has embraced two very different styles, and at times, different scientific substance. To celebrate and acknowledge this complexity of approach is the true genius of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.