New meeting room eliminates some parking spaces Work has begun on replacing the roof at the 5,940-square-foot Magnolia Library following a few delays caused by this winter's rainy weather, said Seattle Public Library spokesperson Caroline Young Ullmann. The phone system and Internet have been installed, along with electrical conduits. "We're waiting for the primary power to be turned on," she said.
McClure student may go to Wrestlemania 1Thousands of kids across the country competed in an essay contest for a free seat at Wrestlemania, but only Emily Hardy's of McClure Middle School was good enough to get arm's length to the likes of Batista, Kane and Big Show.;For her essay on "how wrestling inspired me to read," Hardy won airline tickets to Orlando, hotel accommodations, spending money for two and tickets to see WrestleMania XXIV.
Some say the budding cherry blossoms are telltale reminders that spring is upon us. But in the heart of Magnolia the unilateral trumpeting of spring's arrival is owned by the annual Little League Opening Day Parade.The phalanx of boys, girls, coaches and parents carrying banners and waving from the streets, serpentined through the neighborhood last Saturday and gathered at Magnolia Village.
No matter how you spin it, the attack on Barack Obama, based on a few sermons from the pastor of his church, is racist politics at its ugliest and worse.We are hearing excerpts from perhaps a dozen sermons by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. By my count, in more than 20 years of ministry, the man has offered up well more than 12,000 sermons. To pick out a dozen, or one one-thousandth of his sermons, and present that as representative of his ministry - and Obama's philosophy- is below even the lowest of political scalawags.
Last week, Sonics fans were up in arms about the failure of the state Legislature to act on a last-second request for state funding to upgrade KeyArena. Much grumbling about a "legislature that doesn't do anything!" ensued on sports talk airwaves, not normally an arena for political analysis. And talk about sore losers! You'd think, after giving up 168 points in one game last week and having the second-worst record in the league so far this year, that they'd be used to losing. But I digress. Thing is, in any legislative session, whether 60 days (as in this and all election years) or 90 days (in the odd years, when budgets are passed), Olympia does a lot.
The following is not a Powerpoint presentation, merely a column made up of local news tidbits you might have missed.❚ Much has been happening in the last few weeks in the outside world. Much of interest has happened around here.Boeing just won't let go of the fact that our government recently awarded a contract for a new plane to a competitor. The Pentagon awarded a $40 billion contract for a new tanker plane to Airbus. Boeing, sour-graping to beat the band, filled a formal protest of the contract. This is Boeing's first protest of a U.S. government contract since the 1970s.
 Spring is here at last.  And with the warmer temperatures and showers that come with the season, the trees and lawns are greening up.  The annual challenge to the lawnmower is about to begin.  Mowing the lawn has progressed from the tedious use of a handheld scythe, through the development of the manual push-reel-type mower and then on to all types of power mowers, until nowadays there is even a hovering ground-effect mower. (This last example is, no doubt, the latest invention of some "mad scientist"-type who was put out on the farm for a little well-deserved "rest" and just was not able to shut off his overactive mind.)
Bogus banking An accountant going through the books March 17 at a yacht brokerage on Westlake Avenue North discovered the business had been scammed by someone who used a "manufactured" and forged check to rip off $8,850 from the place. The bogus check included the business-account number and name, and it was deposited in a different bank than the one used by the yacht folks. The report also notes that the perp knew the business owner's name and tried to copy the way the owner signs his or her name.
The Puget Sound Health Alliance will receive access to key Medicare information as part of a broad federal government initiative to encourage health-care performance reporting to spur improvement in patient care, Secretary Mike Leavitt of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced recently.A year ago the secretary was in Seattle to announce that the Health Alliance had been designated the nation's first Community Leader for Value-Driven Health Care, a prerequisite to gaining access to information from Medicare for use in the public reporting on regional health-care performance.
Longtime Queen Anne resident John Loux celebrated his 100th birthday this month at Merrill Gardens, Queen Anne.A dinner reception with family and close friends was also held within the facility. Sitting with him were his daughter, both sons, two grandsons, great grandchildren and friends. Several of his guests traveled from as close as lower Queen Anne and from as far away as Maui and New York. The centenarian also received congratulations from friends living in Tokyo and Tel Aviv.
For seniors, it is never too late to learn another language in our world community When Barack Obama recently gave a speech on the subject of immigration, he spoke not only of the importance of learning English as an essential part for obtaining citizenship in the United States for all newcomers, he emphasized the benefits of learning other languages in general. In this increasingly globalized world, we all should learn at least one language other than our own, so he argued. Such ideas seem only logical for someone of his international ancestry and upbringing. For most Americans they are not.
If it's spring, it's time to swing at Whirligig! Seattle Center's annual carnival of fun for kids. Whirligig! runs daily and charges a minimal fee for a single ride ticket or a day-use pass except, KIDS RIDE FREE on Thursdays (in Center House, not the Fun Forest). Face painters and balloon artists also charge a nominal fee. 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Friday - Sunday; March 28 - April 13. All-Day Pass $7.25, All-Day Toddler Pass $4.25, Single Ticket $1.50 and FREE Thursdays.
It's easy to see from the elegant sample at ACT how this theater company from Seattle's sister city of Tashkent might provoke strong reactions from its most tradition-bound Uzbekistan audiences. Tackling issues of gay love, arranged marriage and justice under Sha'ria are not likely to endear performers in a nation reasserting its own Muslim identity after decades of Soviet rule. But even after the murder of its founder, Ilkhom Theater continues to balance the dangerous line between art and provocation.
Starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth Directed by Robert Luketic Opens March 28 A glitzy and largely superficial drama based on Ben Mezrich's book "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions," "21" is a would-be turgid story of moral corruption in search of gravitas.
Art has the ability to transcend disability. Just ask Kevin Kling. The world premiere of Kling's "How? How? Why? Why? Why?" deserves an enthusiastic list of superlatives, from heartfelt and hilarious, to eloquent and life-affirming.  A regular NPR contributor and storyteller, the Minnesota-born raconteur delivers 90 consecutive minutes of personal recollections. Don't expect a flashy production from this intimate piece of Memoir Theater. Kling tickles the heart with a verbal feather, as he keeps us laughing all the way to our tears.