The Magnolia Community Club will hold its next general meeting on Thursday, May 11, 6 to 9 p.m. in the Catharine Blaine School cafeteria.The subject of the meeting will be "Bridge to Bridge," and will focus on the development along the 15th Avenue West corridor from the Ballard Bridge to the Magnolia Bridge.From 6 to 7 p.m. there will be an open house during which displays will be presented and folks can talk with staff from Seattle Department of Transportation, the Port of Seattle, the Interbay Neighborhood Association and Amgen.From 7 to 9 p.m. there will be formal presentations by each group as well as questions from the audience.
The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce has added it two cents to the argument about replacing the Metropolitan Market on Queen Anne Hill with a QFC under a second floor of parking and retail shops detractors refer to as a strip mall.Specifically, the chamber of commerce sided with the developer, Queen Anne Properties, and against the Queen Anne Community Council in a letter last month to the Seattle City Council.The community council in March requested that the city council enact legislation that would prevent upstairs strip-mall parking and the net loss of residential units in an area like upper Queen Anne Avenue, which is designated as an Urban Village under the city's Comprehensive Plan.But the Seattle Chamber of Commerce warned the city council that the legislation would set a bad precedent for council decisions on land-use issues. "Conducting spot zoning or spot project review is inconsistent with the fourteen goals of Washington State's Growth Management Act and could hurt the economic vitality of our city," stated the letter, which was signed by chamber president and CEO Steve Leahy.
I read with interest a few weeks ago about the Ashland, Ore., couple who made as much as $300 a day begging for change on the streets of the more and more upscale little resort town that hosts the Northwest's premier Shakespeare festival.But were most folks happy at the initiative this couple showed to stay off the public teat? Not on your life. Their fellow citizens called them tax evaders and worse. Since the story appeared in the local newspaper down there, folks have been screaming threats and imprecations at Jason Pancost and Elizabeth Johnson, who naïvely told a reporter they kept their family (three children) warmly dressed and well fed by politely seeking donations on Ashland street corners. As someone who made $40,000 four years ago but less than $20,000 last year (welcome to the vagaries of freelance writer world) and still always tosses a quarter to at least one homeless person a day (I only avoid or talk smack to the aggressive panhandlers), I am astounded that allegedly normal, hardworking folks are exercised by this industrious couple.
I watched for over two weeks as the demonstrations by immigrants filled the television set. "Where did they all come from?" I wondered. "Where will they all go when this is over?"The concern in the African American community was at first cautious: what do they want? Are the things they want good or bad, positive or negative for me and mine? Most never answered those questions to their satisfaction.The transformation of corporate America has been going on since the Reagan administration. It was here that the strings that bound corporate mergers were first snipped and finally cut away completely under Bush I and Bush II.Then came outsourcing jobs to low cost foreign workers, which shut down a lot of this nation's manufacturing capabilities. Finally a small trickle of immigrants in the 1970s and 1980s became a flood by the turn of the century as corporations helped facilitate the mass importation of low- cost wage earners from South of the Border.I don't see this as an issue of poor people from Mexico or Guatemala sneaking across the border for a better life. Those are real human dramas that do take place every day. However, there is a much larger picture of what kind of nation we want and the quality of life is directly determined by what you receive in wages and compensation.
Scents of incense, baked goods and fresh flowers commingle in the air while shoppers balance babies, bags, food and flowers as they maneuver from tent-to-tent. The pavement is scorching hot, but some go barefoot anyway, cradling their shoes and treats in their arms. A slight breeze blows over the crowd, whisking plates and flyers into the hot air. Excitement exudes from the customers just as the heat radiates off the ground. It is opening day at the Columbia City Farmers Market and the parking lot is filled with eager shoppers. Founded in 1998, the Columbia City Farmers Market is now open every Wednesday from 3-7p.m. until the end of October in the Columbia Plaza. The market averages around 42 vendors, market director Karen Kinney said, and usually brings in around 2,500 people a week. Kinney noted that some of the vendors are there for the complete season, while others come in just to sell special crops.
Memorial Day is right around the corner, and that means it's time to start preparing for some outdoor decorating. The onset of the warm weather provides an easy, casual feeling for our day-to-day activities and gives us the desire to be outside as much as we can. And what better place is there to enjoy the afternoon sunshine than in your own outdoor haven? You don't need to have a waterfront home or a home in the mountains to enjoy a tranquil outdoor setting. Finding your spaceStart by selecting the summer space you'd like to be your focus. Is it your entire back yard or just a specific area of the yard? Is it your deck or an enclosed portion of your patio? Next, think about a theme or overall feeling that you want to create in your space. Is it a simple, elegant, "beachy" or a fun and festive feeling you want? Minimize your color palette to three to five colors. This will help you maintain continuity and flow within your space. Magazine photos can help stimulate ideas and keep you focused.
Anything but subtle, the façade of La Casa del Mojito boasts bright-yellow paint, with a few short palms and a patio hugging its angular frame. While a noticeable feature to area residents off Lake City Way Northeast, it remains difficult to find and reach, blocked by the Interstate 5 on-ramp tunnel. Still, customers often seek it out, and it's become a home away from home for many neighbors. "This place was just empty. It used to be a coffee shop, Happy Go Latte, and we put in everything," said co-owner Luam Wersom. Wersom, along with partner Luigi Valenciano, installed the heating, the water and the kitchen equipment to create a familial and intimate atmosphere for those who appreciate Latin American food.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has awarded Farah Nousheen, a North Seattle Community College (NSCC) graduate, activist and documentarian, its prestigious transfer-student scholarship. Nousheen will garner as much as $30,000 annually for up to three years to continue her education at the University of Washington this fall. Nousheen was one of 38 chosen by the foundation's national panel of experts. The recipients were selected from 676 candidates representing community colleges all over the country. "We hope these scholarships will allow the students the opportunity to fulfill their educational goals and become the individuals they aspire to be," said Matthew J. Quinn, the foundation's executive director, in a recent press release. Scholars were selected based upon their leadership roles, impact on the community, academic accomplishment and involvement in the arts.
Summer is coming up fast, and that means garage sales - one of my favorite shopping experiences. Why do I adore garage sales? Well, for one thing, you are not trapped in a building. You are outside, going around the neighborhoods, seeing people, walking down sidewalks. I get to see other people's gardens and plant choices. But best of all, I get to save money because garage sales are about bargains - if you can use what you buy.
On Monday, May 22, Phase II of the Fremont Bridge approach-replacement project begins. During Phase I, construction crews roamed across Fremont, adjusting intersections and sidewalks. Another crew, out of sight, worked below the bridge structure, building new supports for the new approaches.Phase III also will happen out of sight as workers replace electrical and mechanical systems within the bridge. For us everyday folk, Phase II is when construction gets up-close and personal as the old approaches are "knocked apart, torn down, crunched up and hauled off [to be recycled]," according to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Fremont's Frequent Flyer.
To experience Hawaii, one has to smell the gardenias, feel the rhythm of the ocean and hear the beat of ancient drums. Nonetheless, Gloria Fujii has found a way to fool the senses and transport Seattleites to an island oasis - in Wedgwood. The local hula instructor leads "tours" of the islands every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at Concordia Lutheran Church, 7040 36th Ave. N.E. Fujii's school, Halau Hula O' Napualani, offers classes in hula, Tahitian and Maori dancing, but she teaches more than just the steps. "We take them to the islands, to a waterfall, to a mountain peak," Fujii said. "I want my students to feel all of that. I bring in the flowers of Hawaii. I bring in the music of Hawaii."
All politics is local, observed legendary Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill.True, and so is everything else.The World Series, compared to the Little League game down the street, is a televised abstraction. Stan Stapp, who reported on life where people lived it, knew this.He was a hands-on, community-newspaper guy who worked out of his basement and, from 1954 to 1974, served as the sole publisher of The North Central Outlook, the direct ancestor of the newspaper you hold in your hands.Mr. Stapp died May 5, 2006. He was 88 years old.Stan's spiritThe Seattle Times and P-I ran respectful obituaries that caught the spirit of his life.Stan's 19-year-old brother, Milton, started The North Central Outlook out of the family home on Woodlawn Avenue North in 1922, when Stan was 4. The effort eventually involved the entire Stapp family. Stan took over the business in 1954 and sold it to the short-lived Today group in 1974. Along the way, the low-key, plain-speaking man in his trademark Scottish cap made his mark as a publisher and columnist who spoke his mind.
That the box office opened last Sunday means it's getting closer. Even though the Seattle International Film Festival does not start until May 25, SIFF knows that its audience wants time to mull over the hundreds of offerings, planning their strategic assault on the theaters on Capitol Hill, downtown Seattle and even Bellevue.Bellevue?For the first time, SIFF officially crosses the water to hold a series of regular screenings in the new Lincoln Square cinemas. The addition of a Bellevue theater has been a long-cherished dream of SIFF's Eastside supporters. But Capitol Hill fans need not worry about a long drive across the bridge.
"It was an unfortunate goofball statement for him to make. All it has really done is make the city look just a little bit more ridiculous." - Civil rights attorney Tracie Washington on New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin's statement that New Orleans would be rebuilt as a chocolate city. It has been less than five months since Mayor Nagin made, and then retracted, his political faux pas du chocolat, so the recent context for the term makes me question the motivation behind Darnell Parker's renaming of Deano's Lounge to Club Chocolate City. Although Parker publicly claims to have received a positive response to the name from the white folks he's met, the more universal response from the neighborhood (of a variety of flavors) seems to be more in line with Washington's take on the term - a rolling of the eyes, shaking of the head and (once again) dismissing the sincerity of any commitments to change coming from 2030 East Madison Street. Incredibly, Parker told The Stranger that his intention is to attract more white patrons and have a more diverse crowd. By changing the name to refer to a single race? By using a term that's already been proven to be objectionable in public dialogue? I don't think so. The much more likely motivation is that Parker is attempting to bring issues of race and gentrification to the forefront in preparation for his upcoming appeal with the state liquor board. He makes this even more obvious in another statement to aimed directly at the nearby residents: "This business means as much to me as your house does to you." With the established history of Parker's business already documented, I don't think the liquor board will actually fall for such a ruse; I am more concerned that the black community might.
The neighborhood is one of the very nicest in the city. Think of the leafy stretch east of Volunteer Park and west of Holy Names Academy. Go north until the streets and the wonderful old houses, most of them in terrific shape, abut Interlaken Park. If property values reflect understated elegance and a soothing atmosphere, this must be the place.Such characteristics no doubt appealed to Barney Ebsworth, a seriously wealthy man who lives in Hunts Point. As reported in a column a few weeks back by The Seattle Times' Danny Westneat, Ebsworth wants to build a chapel on the vast property at 1700 17th Avenue East, the former home of the late James Widener Ray. Ebsworth evidently views it as his contribution to a region he now calls home, a non-denominational place of worship and contemplation. He views the chapel as a community asset.The chapel is supposed to quite the architectural stunner, and on one level is notable simply because new, large chapels just don't get built anymore in the heart of the city. Church growth is typically found in the suburbs where the megachurch phenomenon plays out through the country. In cities, though, large churches have lost members, get sold and often get torn down.But on this side of the lake, or at least the side near the nearly 4-acre parcel of land where the chapel would be, such a seemingly magnanimous donation has not been well received. And Ebsworth, who chooses to keep a low profile, faced enough opposition to a similar idea in Bellevue that he stopped pursuing the idea there and shifted his efforts to our neck of the woods.