Chuck Read, owner of Read Products on 15th Avenue West, admits he wasn't a monorail fan when the public narrowly approved the system in a 2002 vote. He's even less of one now.That's because the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) needs access to some of his property on the Magnolia side of the Emerson Street Bridge. It's a vacant lot and not much to look at, but the way the agency has gone about getting access to the land has the business owner fuming.
From mid-February until March 2 the Rainier District Little League hosted its eight skill days. Every prospective player ages 8-14, including those who played last year, participated in the general tryouts at the Rainier Playfield.
November 1971. Across an old oak table piled with print, the old librarian passed me the latest Rolling Stone. Under a drawing from hell was:We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like, "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive . . ."And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about 100 miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas...Hunter Thompson and his 300-pound Samoan lawyer were on a roll:
The public's right to know what government officials are up to is under attack - again. This time in the state Legislature. Last spring, a 5-4 vote in the state Supreme Court made it perfectly acceptable to withhold records from public scrutiny, as long as the records had anything to do with communications between a lawyer and a government agency or official.Prior to that case, Hangartner v. City of Seattle, attorney-client privilege applied only if the sought-after records concerned "completed, existing or reasonably anticipated litigation." The Supreme Court also ruled in the same case that public information was exempt from disclosure if the requests for it were over-broad.The ill-conceived ruling flies in the face of the Public Disclosure Act and related court cases that say the best government is a transparent government.
Three years ago, KBSG-FM midday deejay Mark Christopher received a complimentary Christmas album from the Ventures, the seminal '60s instrumental rock band whose twangy surf classics include "Walk, Don't Run" and the theme to "Hawaii 5-O."Christopher, 35, decided to send a Christmas card back at the Ventures, little suspecting that he was opening the door to an adventure that would include truckloads of beach sand, an ongoing petition to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an appearance before the Washington State Legislature and a crowning show by the Ventures on Saturday, March 12, at the Premiere Club Showroom in downtown Seattle.It was, as they say, the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Michael Maiava, the man charged with the murder of Seattle businessman Kevin Shaw, whom he met on a chat line, pleaded not guilty on Monday to the charges of murder in the first degree and use of a deadly weapon (specifically an ice pick or shank). Also, it's alleged there are aggravating circumstances that lead to Shaw's death. As of the press date, Maiava's case has been assigned to the associated council of the accused, but no specific attorney has been put on the case.Shaw's body was found in October 2004, curled up in the fetal position, wrapped in two sheets and a garbage bag, and lying in his red Porsche Boxster parked on Beacon Hill.
If it seems like only yesterday that we were reading about Rainier Beach's Nate Robinson-led charge to the 2002 Washington state 3A boy's basketball championship, maybe it's because all we saw was the blur. From dunking over Mercer Island, to intercepting passes for the Husky football team, to leading the Husky basketball team to the NCAAs, to declaring for the NBA draft, and then back to the Huskies for more success this season, we have to question how the kid avoids disintegrating from atmospheric friction. But then, isn't it only fitting that his life mirrors his play style? Fast, hard and determined, for Robinson it's the secret for getting from Point A to Point B.
"I don't like to talk," said Andrzej Kozyra, a Polish artist whose work is featured on the Hill this spring. "I like to paint." On Friday, March 11, from 6 to 9 p.m., the Friedrich Gallery at 14 Boston St., across from Queen Anne Barber shop, hosts an exhibition of paintings by Kozyra. "The central theme in all of my paintings is time and space," explained Kozyra during a translated phone interview from Poland. "I am interested in the time and atrophy that we all experience."
If you've never seen a theater piece by Mary Zimmerman, "The Secret in the Wings" should not be missed. Her latest production, now playing at Seattle Repertory Theatre, offers a "once upon a time" experience akin to Story Theater on acid.Like a pop-culture Goethe, Zimmerman guides you through a walk on the dark side of the Brothers Grimm and their fairy tale world where you encounter the foibles of the human dilemma. Lust, violence, obsession, revenge, terror, kidnapping, murder, bestiality, whimsy and Zimmerman's trademark taboo, incest. A far cry from Disney's "happily ever after" scenarios.You expect to be astonished at a Mary Zimmerman production. But with "The Secret in the Wings" you might also be confused, especially if you are an aficionado of logic. Zimmerman dissects and intersects these childhood stories like a scientist in search of a new species. Her signature style always dazzles the viewer with a shifting kaleidoscope while she digs beneath the surface to challenge the psyche.
Three years ago, KBSG-FM midmorning deejay Mark Christopher, a longtime Magnolia resident, received a complimentary Christmas album from The Ventures, the seminal '60s instrumental rock band whose twangy surf classics include "Walk, Don't Run" and the theme to "Hawaii 5-O."Christopher, 35, decided to send a Christmas card back at The Ventures, little suspecting that he was opening the door on an adventure that would include truckloads of beach sand, an ongoing petition to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an appearance before the Washington State Legislature and a crowning show by The Ventures on Saturday, March 12, at the Premiere Club Showroom in Downtown Seattle.It was, as they say, the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
It's not an utterance you'd normally expect to hear from your realtor, but Art Van der Wel said it anyway."I showed a couple a house in December," the long-time Magnolia real estate figure recalled. The pair was caught up in a bidding war. "They were offering way more money than the house was worth. I told them, 'I hope you don't get it.'"That's how it is some days in the hot Magnolia real estate market, where a cool $425,000 will get you a 1,000 square-feet starter home with two bedrooms, one bath and a toehold in one of Seattle's most sought-after neighborhoods.
Twice Sold Tales on Mercer Street is a used bookstore that has its own story to tell: one that includes cats among its characters, and one that reflects the often-precarious survival rates of independent bookstores. Twice Sold Tales last May replaced Title Wave Books, which closed in the same location after almost two decades in the neighborhood.
Citing a litany of neglect, incompetence and the untimely and painful death of one resident, the Department of Social and Health Services has revoked the license of an Adult Family Home at 2949 25th Ave. W.
We've become an entertainment-oriented culture. Our national discourse is dominated by show-business references. Our political debates are now formed by broad dramatic constructs - hence Red vs. Blue, or Conservative vs. Liberal, always capitalized by the folks trying to make some political point, instead of some reasoned arguments about policies or non-policies, based at least partially on facts.
While we all have been reveling in these warm March days, the piper will have to be paid. The Emerald City will have to take on a burnished hue this summer, and I hope our city leaders will truly lead the way.>Instead of glossing over the rigors of this drought that we will all be facing, I hope that our public officials will propose some strong, creative and educational approaches.