Last Friday morning, traffic trying to get off the freeway at Mercer Street was backed up past Capitol Hill and the people streaming toward the Seattle Center recalled a famous scene from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."Guarding Key Arena's press section were thick law enforcement types. I approached the biggest: "Is Dave Hoffman here?" Hoffman was a linebacker on the Husky national championship team and now he's Secret Service."No," smiled the Hulk, "He's on the SWAT team.""You know," I said, "the Secret Service blew it on JFK.""Before my time," he said.***Not mine. In 1960 on Mercer Island I had a Kennedy bumper sticker pasted diagonally across my notebook. Obama's mama was a student at the high school, so I think I know where at least part of Obama is coming from.
"I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president. Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone. This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges" - the late syndicated columnist Molly Ivins, in a Jan. 20, 2006, column, written about a year before her death.You said it, Molly.Her sadly prescient column stuck with me last year as I, and many people I know, wondered why media was ready to crown Hillary Clinton as the "inevitable" Democratic nominee before a single vote had been cast. I had (and have) questions and doubts about all of the Democratic candidates for one or another reason, but I've always been clear that I will never cast a vote for Hillary Clinton.
On Feb. 14 at noon, love will be in the air (and maybe in the water) at the Seattle Aquarium. Two giant Pacific octopuses will meet on a blind date.Aquarium biologists set the mood with decorative hearts, roses and romantic music at the octopus exhibit.
The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs is accepting applications for the 2008 CityArtist Projects program that supports Seattle-based individual artists working in the visual and literary arts, film, media arts and screenwriting. Funding awards range up to $10,000.CityArtist Projects is an annual funding program that provides support to individual artists to conceive, develop and present new, in-progress, re-mounted or finished work. Applications and guidelines are available at www.seattle.gov/arts or contact Marcia Iwasaki at 233-3946 or marcia.iwasaki@seattle.gov. Application deadline is Monday, March 17 and must be delivered to the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs by 5 p.m.
For most people in Seattle, disposing of household garbage is a chore that requires pulling full trashcans to the end of the driveway once a week and then wheel them back empty at the end of the day. But what happens to trash beyond the curb?Seattle trash goes a long way before it's fully disposed of. In fact, Seattle doesn't have a single dump for trash. The Cedar Hills landfill in Maple Valley takes garbage from parts of King County surrounding Seattle, but not from within the Seattle city limits. Instead, the city's trash is taken to one of its neighborhood transfer stations where refuse is sorted, compacted, boxed and ultimately packed onto trains bound for a landfill in Arlington, Ore.
Last Friday morning, Feb. 8, traffic trying to get off the freeway at Mercer Street was backed up past Capitol Hill and the sight of people streaming toward the Seattle Center recalled a famous scene from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Guarding Key Arena's press section were thick law enforcement types. I approached the biggest: "Is Dave Hoffman here?" Hoffman was a linebacker on the Husky national championship team and now he's Secret Service. "No," smiled the Hulk. "He's on the SWAT team." "You know," I said, "the Secret Service blew it on JFK." "Before my time," he said. Not mine. In 1960 on Mercer Island I had a Kennedy bumper sticker pasted diagonally across my notebook. Obama's mama was a student at the high school, so I think I know where at least part of Obama is coming from.
The following are based on incident reports from the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct. They represent the officers accounts of the events described.Theft
Cheers to the city of Seattle and Mayor Greg Nickels for stopping the unnecessary violent act of aggression against God's creation, the Discovery Park coyote.This is a valuable example of truly balanced co-habitation, and furthermore of mature insight into acknowledging and respecting reasonable boundaries for all.
We've had the Super Bowl, Super Tuesday-or Super Duper Tuesday if you prefer-and that fool groundhog saw its shadow. Talk about excitement. I don't know about you, but I'm tuckered out, supered out and just about everything-elsed out.We've no sooner recovered from our state of inebriatus than we're into the football playoffs, and our headlong rush to the Super Bowl-where, incidentally, we are enjoined once again to indulge our proclivity for all things fatty and alcoholic by the makers of beer, pizza, chips and dips. An obesity crisis in America? Imagine that. As happens every four years, we're blessed with yet another presidential fracas with Super Tuesday-following tightly on the heels of the Super Bowl-so we're doubly favored, I guess you could say.
There was a break in the weather last Saturday. There was no nasty, bone-chilling wind, there was no 'wetness', i.e.. rain, and the sun had the potential to warm one's back. In the 'coolth' of January the buds on our trees and shrubs have been fattening, the snowdrops have thrown up their bells and another Daphne variety (Daphne odora, var. marginata) now holds fat buds ready to open this week and fill our gardens with their rich perfume. I so wanted to spend the afternoon further observing all of this new growth, and fussing and raking and straightening and just absorbing the quiet but persistent energy of our winter gardens. Instead, I went to caucus. I had to in order to keep my honor. For those that know me, I rant and rave and carry on, at times excessively, about the importance, and the citizens' responsibility, to vote.
The evening had a sad ring of familiarity. Once again, a neighborhood safety forum took place because, once again, an incident of violence had claimed another life. That more than 100 people came to the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd on Monday, Feb. 11, attested to the Central Area's concern about the incident and what is perceived as a growing trend toward violence.
Too much is happening these days for a weekly columnist to focus on just one issue. And that's not counting the obvious topic of concern for print pundits: Super Tuesday. All I'll say about this is: I received my primary ballot, looked it over and threw it away. I don't like to vote in elections I'm going to write about. No matter. Space is easy to fill this week.
Last week I was hunting through a box of assorted memorabilia down in the basement when I managed to find all of my old elementary school class pictures. My mother had numbered each of my classmates and then-on the back of the picture-recorded each student's name next to his or her corresponding number. I found it amazing, even before I turned the picture over, that I could remember some of the names after some 50-plus years.
In many respects, last Saturday's caucuses were a resounding success. As anyone who spent the afternoon among the crowds at Stevens Elementary School, Seattle Central Community College or just about any caucus location experienced, the event drew throngs of people, many of whom had never taken part in a party caucus before.
There may be more than one coyote living in Discovery Park, according to Seattle Parks and Recreation, but the canine presence in the park is nothing new, according to Dan Moore, a naturalist who has been working in the Magnolia park for seven years. He's seen signs of coyotes the whole time, Moore said at a Feb. 7 meeting designed to teach the public how to live with the wild animals, rather than kill or trap them. Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher agreed that education is key to a problem that seems to have created a bit of a panic and not a little outrage in the neighborhood. Gallagher formerly lived in California and was used to dealing with not only coyotes, but also mountain lions and bears.