And we mean that in the best sense By Starla Smith As health care heats up the 2008 presidential campaign, a 17th-century farce offers relief, skewering the medical profession with a comedic celebration of the bowels. Commedia dell'arte meets "House," Christopher Guest and "Saturday Night Live" (when it was actually funny), courtesy of Molière's "The Imaginary Invalid," a silly send-up of hypochondriacs, medical charlatans and upper-crust half-wits. A totally mindless romp, Molière's final play unfolds in a marvelous new adaptation by Constance Congdon, who packs it with witty pop-culture slang and sound bites. Then add flatulence, ludicrous malapropisms and double-entendres delivered by a cast of hilarious characters who bounce off the wall like lunatics.
The fate of the vacant Martin Luther King Elementary School building is still undecided. The building was declared a surplus property in January by the school board. A decision will not likely be reached until this spring. The building has been unoccupied for two years. Part of a series of closures in 2006, which included five other schools, Martin Luther King Elementary had about 100 students when it closed. The district requires a minimum enrollment of 200 students. Most of the students were moved to T.T. Minor Elementary, about 1.5 miles away, which at the time had about 180 students.
tation (SDOT) has advertised for bids to pave two major streets on First Hill this year. The two streets are Boren Avenue between Broadway and Denny Way, and Madison Street between Terry Avenue and 18th Avenue East. Both streets link surrounding communities with downtown Seattle. If all goes well, paving could begin in late April and be completed by October.
Dave Crane There seems to be a chance to change the political landscape with the current group of candidates. About any candidate that is still in the race will be different and better, than what we have now.
I enjoyed reading [Richard Lehman's] article on the old neighborhood theaters in the February issue of the Madison Park Times. I lived in the Madrona district on 33rd Avenue between Pike and Pine for 80 years before moving to Idaho. I walked by the Madrona Garden Theater every day while attending Garfi eld High School.
It didn't make any local media reports. But last Friday, a deal was struck in the state Legislature that could fundamentally change how elections are held in Seattle. The deal concerned two identical bills with different numbers that had been overwhelmingly passed by the Senate (29-20) and the House (56-38). Because the bills had different numbers, one had to be passed by the other chamber, by this week, in order to be forwarded to the governor's desk for her signature. And the Senate version, championed by the venerable Sen. Rosa Franklin, won out. (It's amazing how much of Olympia's legislative process comes down to personalities. It's like middle school on steroids.) Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign it into law.
The number and kinds of connections you make are directly proportional to how well you fare in this world. Most people know about connections that can get them into a particular school or a particular job. These are important, but I am more concerned about a different type of connection, connections that can sustain you during those bad times. Years ago I began telling my college classes on the first day that the most important word is "connection," and the most important action is to connect. I have now concluded that education is responsible for some of the greatest connections in my life. Many of these people I know because of connections I made with them as far back as first grade or as recent as the last craft show. I have so many interests, and I know some of them are the result of college.
Some fathers and grandfathers like to pull out childhood memories of walking fi ve miles in knee-deep snow (or hard rain) to get to school. Any present dilemmas are miniscule in comparison, but I must admit that laboring as an ironworker hanging mullions (window panels), and all the trepidation it incurred, really does entitle me to gloat at how much harder we had it back in the '50s. While waiting for a reprographics project downtown, I glanced out the big window in the waiting area and saw ironworkers on a new building straddling beams and girders (red iron) doing the same job I did years ago.
Madison Park founder of Code Blue Now building grass-roots health-care reform movement The importance of fostering a healthy community is never far from Madison Park resident Kathleen O'Connor's mind. Having grown up in a Navy family, she lived all over the country and spent her high school years in Japan, never staying long enough to grow hometown roots. At an early age she understood what she was missing, and O'Connor promised herself that she would become involved with her neighbors and city once she found a community she loved. In 1962, when she came to Seattle to study Japanese in college, O'Connor found the community she longed for. After living all over the Emerald City, the 63-year-old health-care author, consultant and industry analyst settled in Madison Park. "I fell in love with it," said O'Connor, who cited the walkable nature and easy access to transportation as some of her favorite aspects of the area. "It's a real neighborhood, and a sense of community is real important to me, having been a Navy child, where there was no community."
The Japanese Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum officially reopened for the 2008 season on Tuesday, March 4, with an opening ceremony and blessing on Sunday, March 2. The opening ceremonies included a Shinto blessing of the garden, as well as a newly renovated water feature. The Seattle Kokon Taiko drum group fi lled the garden with traditional percussion sounds. According to Thomas Hargrave, assistant coordinator, the Japanese Garden offers a landscape that has been shaped in culturally significant ways.
Erik Hansen is the new editor of the Madison Park Times. Hansen takes over for Rick Levin, Times editor since January. Levin had been with Pacific Publishing Co. Inc. - parent company of the Times - for five years.
By Erik HansenThe following incident records from the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct present the officers' accounts ARBORETUM Property damage Friday 2/1, 3:30 p.m. An employee at the Japanese Gardens in the Washington Park Arboretum reported to the police that someone had cut the ropes cordoning off the tea garden exhibits. They were unsure what kind of tool was used, but the damage was estimated at $400. DENNY-BLAINE Burglary Monday 2/11, 12:30 a.m. A couple living in the 100 block of Lake Washington Blvd. E. went to bed shortly after midnight with his home seemingly secure and in order. At 4:55 a.m., the wife's cell phone rang with a call coming from her husband's cell phone, but he was sleeping next to her. They went back to sleep, and, when they woke a few hours later, went downstairs to find someone had pried open their French-style doors while they slept, ransacked the basement and stole a desktop and laptop computer along with a wallet. The investigating officer felt it was likely the early morning phone call was from the thief who accidentally hit the redial button on the husband's phone. During questioning the officer also learned the husband's wallet had been stolen, which contained the victim's wedding ring and $2,000. However, the list of stolen items was not complete, for the husband became increasingly frustrated to the point of terminating the conversation and the investigation. Therefore, the officer did not have the opportunity to process any of the rooms for fingerprints or look in the allegedly ransacked basement. Burglary/p> Wednesday 2/20, 8 p.m. An officer on patrol was routed to the 400 block of 39th Ave. E. to investigate a burglary. The owner of the home returned in the evening and found the lock on her kitchen door was broken with parts of it lying on the kitchen floor. She stepped inside and saw many of the kitchen drawers and cupboards opened. She immediately backed away, left the house and called 911. Two responding officers searched the house and found no suspects inside. They did find at least two different sets of dried, muddy shoeprints just inside the kitchen door. The victim found a silver and rose quartz pendant, a silver bracelet, an amber pendant, several credit cards, her drivers license, and $20 missing. LESCHI Theft Friday 2/1, 11:37 p.m. An officer patrolling near the intersection of 29th Avenue South and East Alder Street spotted a teenage boy looking inside the passenger-side door of a white sport utility vehicle. When the boy saw the cop car, he stepped back, closed the door and began to slowly walk in the grass bordering the sidewalk The officer noticed the boy drop something under a truck parked nearby and continued to walk west along East Alder Street. The officer detained the boy, and when a second cop arrived on the scene, the first offi cer retraced the boy's steps, looking for the dropped object. In the wet mud the officer found an electronic key attached to a chain and fob that was warm to the touch. The officer triggered the door button on the key, and it opened the white SUV. The vehicle only had a temporary license plate taped in the rear window, and a record check on the SUV revealed it was stolen. The boy was arrested, transported to the East Precinct and then booked into Youth Services Corrections. Car prowl Monday 2/4, 8 p.m. A woman had parked her car in a garage featuring locked security doors at around 8 p.m. She left her car locked before heading into her South Jackson Street apartment. When her boyfriend came to her home around 3 a.m., he passed by her car and noticed the gas tank door was open, but he deduced she had just forgotten to close it. The next morning while on her way to work for a meeting, the car's owner went to her car and found the small, rear-passenger side window had been shattered and its frame ripped out. She also saw the gas tank door had been pried open and a pair of red and black wire strippers sat on the back seat. The woman called a cab to get to work and notified the police when she returned home. The window and gas tank door damage was estimated at $350. Gun assault Monday 2/4, 10:10 p.m. While walking home near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Jackson Street, a woman felt something strike her head. She reached up and found a pellet in her scalp. The woman immediately looked around and saw a man in a cream-colored, 1990s sedan drive away heading west on South Jackson Street. The victim walked home and called 911. Seattle Fire Department personnel treated her for the contusion on her head, and the officer submitted the pellet into evidence. The investigating officer noted that 15 minutes prior to the woman's pellet gun assault, a similar assault occurred near the intersection of Boylston Avenue and East Denny Way with a similar vehicle and suspect description. Gun assault Tuesday 2/19, 5:05 p.m. A woman was riding her bike along Lakeside Avenue South when a group of teenagers riding in a silver sedan passed her and she felt a sudden sharp pain in her left buttock. The woman thought the teens hurled a rock at her. However, when she told her husband about the incident, the two deduced she had been shot with a BB gun. She told an officer the teens wore hooded shirts, but could not give more detailed descriptions or further information about the car. Burglary Tuesday 2/19, 7:30 p.m. While a woman was walking north through an alley off the 500 block of 30th Ave. S., a woman watched a man struggling to push a wheelbarrow. She offered to help, but he refused, and when she asked him where he was headed, the man pointed toward the intersection of 29th Avenue South and South King Street before continuing on his way. At this point the woman realized the wheelbarrow belonged to her. She went back to her carport and confirmed that it was her wheelbarrow. She also realized the thief had managed to use a dolly to move the heavy barbecue smoker that was originally in the wheelbarrow. She called 911 while walking down the street looking for the thief, but he was gone. The victim posted an e-mail about the incident to her block-watch group, and a neighbor replied saying a man matching her thief's description had been seen in the area for the past several weeks trying people's door handles and ringing their doorbells to see if anyone was home. Burglary Wednesday 2/20, 7 p.m. A woman called the police to report the theft of an outboard motor from an enclosed area along the south side of her home in the 700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. She told the responding officer her husband had verified with her that the gate leading to the side of the house was secured when he left home earlier in the morning. The motor was valued at $1,000. Arson Saturday 2/23, 12:25 a.m. After hearing three gunshots fired near her home in the 3300 block of E. Yesler Way, a woman called 911. The responding officers arrived in the area and found a car on fire in the Frink Park parking lot and discovered Seattle Fire Department personnel had received a call about the fire and were on their way. Two witnesses who were outside the Blue Water Bistro on Lake Washington Boulevard noticed the fire and ran toward it to investigate what happened, but they saw no one near the car. Officers determined the car was not stolen and managed to contact its owner. A fire marshall arrived to investigate and determined the blaze began in the rear passenger seat of the car. The vehicle was a total loss and towed from the area to the police impound. MADISON PARK Burglary Wednesday 2/20, 2:45 p.m. A man left his home, locked and secured, in the 1900 block of 38th Ave. E. for the afternoon. Upon his return in the evening he discovered the front door stood slightly open. Inside, he noticed many of his things were out of place and that his laptop computer and digital camera were missing. He also found the door on the north side of his home had been pried open, the lock lying in pieces on the floor The investigating officer found no suspect fingerprints but did spot suspicious shoe prints in one of the bedrooms. The officer noticed that one of the waffle-style shoe prints appeared to be the same as the one he photographed at another burglary a short distance away (see the Denny-Blaine burglary account on 2/20). The officer also noted that the method of forced entry was the same for both burglaries. Car prowl Thursday 2/21, 6 p.m. A man called the cops to report someone had pried and shattered the rear, driver's side door window of his 2004 Volkswagen parked in the 4100 block of E. Edgewater Pl. Once inside, the thief forced the locked center console open. The victim reported the thief then stole an iPod, Chanel glasses worth $200 and a gym bag. Car prowl Thursday 2/21, 9 p.m. A man parked his sedan in the 2400 block of 42nd Ave. E. for the evening. When he returned to his car on Friday morning he saw that someone had shattered the rear, driver's side window. He noticed that the dashboard had been pulled back and his car stereo was missing along with the FM adapter for his iPod. The victim told the officer that he felt the thief knew what he, or she, was doing, for the break in appeared neat. MADISON VALLEY Burglary Tuesday 2/12, 11:16 a.m. A woman living along East Denny heard a late morning knock at her front door, but she did not answer it. A few minutes later she heard someone walking around her house. She went to her basement, where she heard some unfamiliar sounds, and observed a man approach her basement's north-facing door. The man tried to force the door open by running at it and slamming into the door with his back. The force of his blow splintered the doorframe and damaged the locks, but the door held. The woman yelled at the man, who startled and ran away toward the west side of her house. She did not see him again, and responding officers did not find the suspect when they patrolled the neighborhood looking for him. The door and lock damage were estimated at $200. MADRONA Property damage Friday 2/8, 12:01 a.m. The east wall of a business in the 3400 block of E. Union St. was tagged with graffiti. The complainant reported, upon the investigating officer's arrival, similar damage occurred two weeks ago. The clean up bill was estimated at $400, and the officer took nine Polaroid pictures of the graffiti. WASHINGTON PARK Theft Wednesday 2/20, 4:45 p.m. A woman working the register of a video rental store along East Madison Street said a man in his late 30s to mid- 40s approached her register inquiring about buying some used DVDs. The woman rang up his five choices with the bill coming to $62. The man produced an unsigned travelers check worth $200 to pay for the DVDs. She counted out his $138 in change and laid it on the counter next to where the man was signing the check. During the transaction, the clerk decided to answer the phone to help another customer. As soon as she turned her back on the man, he grabbed the cash, his travelers check and the DVDs before running out of the store. By the time the clerk realized what happened and went after the thief, he was gone.
At Roosevelt High School last week, students had the chance of a lifetime. As their winter production debuted on Feb. 27, the cast of six shared the stage with the very subject of their drama: Anne Frank's childhood friend and stepsister, Eva Schloss.In 1944, Schloss found herself amid thousands of other female Jewish captives at Auschwitz, struggling to stay alive. Separated from both her father and brother, Schloss (then Eva Geiringer) and her mother woke each morning in fear, watching the death toll mount in the Nazi concentration camp.
Myke Folger is the new editor at the Queen Anne & Magnolia News. Folger takes over for Rick Levin, who succeeded long-time News editor Richard Jameson in January. Levin has moved to Eugene, Ore. "Rick told me he made a life decision he'd been contemplating for some time," said Dillon.
Dental X-rays are following the lead of still cameras for a growing number of dentists. The X-rays are now digital, and the images are displayed immediately on a computer monitor, said Thomas Roberts DDS, who switched last October to the high-tech system at his Queen Anne dental practice. "I held out for a long time because the quality of the original sensors wasn't very good," he said. The equipment he uses now is much better, Roberts said: "The quality of the films just went through the roof, it was so good."