Most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, go through large portions of our days sometimes bemused, but more often confused, by the actions of our fellow citizens. Jean-Paul Sartre, the famed, troll-like French novelist, playwright and philosopher, said once: "Hell is other people." I have known a couple of the hellish folk, but in general, for me, "What for is other people."
PERMIT DECISIONS: 2103 Queen Anne Ave. N. (3006056) on a Land Use Application to allow a four-story building containing retail at ground level and 39 residential units above. Below-grade parking for 81 vehicles to be provided. The following appealable decisions have been made based on submitted plans: Design Review conditionally granted; Determination of Non-Significance with conditions (no Environmental Impact Statement required). Environmental review completed, and project conditioned as applicable. The hearing examiner must receive appeals of this decision no later than Monday, Dec. 24.
There's probably no time of the year when there are more traditions dragged out than from the period of the middle of November till the first week of January.The Thanksgiving Pilgrim costumes and turkey feathers weren't even stored away before Christmas elves were pitching extended shopping hours at the mall. This year it seemed that the late-nite TV ads were trying to sell Christmas music CDs by the start of October.<
Most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, go through large portions of our days sometimes bemused, but more often confused, by the actions of our fellow citizens. Jean-Paul Sartre, the famed, troll-like French novelist, playwright and philosopher, said once: "Hell is other people." I have known a couple of the hellish folk, but in general, for me, "What for is other people."
The Seattle City Council voted to update the city's noise ordinance to address overly loud amplified music coming from nightclubs. The new code establishes a graduated set of financial penalties for clubs that violate a to-be-determined noise threshold. Clubs will receive a warning followed by a $1,000 citation for the first violation, and a $2,000 citation for each subsequent violation within 365 days of the first violation.
Late December has been a time of celebration for peoples of the northern hemisphere from time immemorial. In the United States, and throughout most of Christendom, it is marked in celebrating the Nativity. Inside the sanctuaries of the many churches on Capitol Hill, Christmas is not a whirlwind of stress, parties and gift-giving, but an annual celebration of community, good will and peace. Many of Capitol Hill's churches have special services to celebrate the birth of Christ and are a welcome, religious experience and a touchstone for Christians of all faiths to reflect and remember what is truly important in their lives.
The Seattle LGBT Community Center has announced that it will move out of its current location at the end of the year. The center, which opened its doors at 1115 E. Pike St. in 2002, serves as an umbrella organization within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community. The center provides meeting spaces, a resource and referral line and an arts space, among other services.
The idea of the First Center for the Performing Arts is slipping away. As a developer works to convert the former First Church of Christ Scientist building at the corner of 16th Avenue East and East Denny Way into 12 high-end townhomes, the prospect of turning the structure into a 600-seat performance space may have run out of time for lack of funding. "We probably need a Christmas angel now," said Dan Fievez, a devoted classical music lover who, for the last 15, months has been trying to acquire the former church.
Few times of year seem as fertile and as ripe for reflection as the end of the year. Just as Spring seems to give voice to living quarters and each whispers, "clean me, clean me well," the approach of January and a brand new year encourages us all to reflect on what has passed and what may come. Writers are not immune from the call of the calendar and, thus, it seemed appropriate to revisit and update a number of columns I've penned this past year. Should you recall your original reading, I hope this update will bring you up to speed. Should you have missed the original column and now find your interest piqued, I invite you to the Capitol Hill Times Web site, which archives its past columns.
Welcome to my 12th year of selecting an annual list of the year's most overhyped and underreported stories. As usual, there's plenty to unravel: stories that should never have been stories, stories whose reporting largely missed the point and stories barely told at all.
The Tudor Choir's beautiful rendition of Handel's "Messiah" with Seattle Baroque Orchestra was a holiday tradition at St. Mark's Cathedral from 1996 to 2001. Now the tradition returns in a new space, Town Hall, with a new family-friendly matinee as well as a full-length evening performance on Saturday, Dec. 22. Despite generating uniformly positive reviews, Tudor Choir's founder and artistic director Doug Fullington decided to retire the "Messiah" in 2001.
1827 Broadway (3007889) for a Land Use Application to allow light-rail transit-facility construction and staging area (Capitol Hill Station). Review includes demolition of 17 buildings (retail and restaurant uses, 81 residential units and 116 parking spaces) and excavation of material. . . . Written comments accepted through Wednesday, Dec. 26.
A glowing Nativity scene flanked by more commercial signs of the season brightens the lawn of a Craftsman-style home in the 4800 block of 43rd Ave. S. Along with Christmas and the start of Kwanzaa, many South End residents will be celebrating the return of the sun. The Winter Solstice is Saturday, Dec. 22, and we all have longer days to look forward to.
The city has installed a reader board at South Myrtle Place and Holly Park Drive South to remind drivers to stop at the four way intersection. The stop signs were added to the intersection in the summer."It takes a high level of education to get motorists to stop in that location," said Wayne Wentz, traffic engineer for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).
COLUMBIA CITY - "Go, Grandpa, go!" A child's cry rang out among the spectators crowding the World Bench Press and Dead lift Championships recently held at Anaheim, Calif. The encouragement worked, for Seward Park resident Richard Waite, 75, and a member of the Bull Stewart Columbia City Power Team, placed first in both the bench press with a lift of 181 lbs. and the dead lift with a lift of 335.9 lbs. The team itself took third place at the prestigious event, a fact made all the more unusual in that the average age of its members is the mid 40s. This is a story about ordinary South End people doing extraordinary things. It's about the power of setting a goal, and recognizing that age, physical condition, and experience are simply beliefs, beliefs that, team members will tell you, have absolutely no power over them.