Mayor Greg Nickels and Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske are drumming up support for a new concept in the way crime is handled in Seattle. Called "Neighborhood Policing," it is a "faster, stronger and smarter" approach to public safety, according to the mayor. MORE OFFICERSThere are three elements to the proposal, and each faces its own challenges. The primary goal is to add an additional 105 officers to the force between 2008 and 2012. That's in addition to the 49 new officers added to the force since 2005, Nickels said. However, Seattle City Council member Richard McIver said, paying for the new officers will involve cuts in other programs since hope of getting $21 million in business-and-occupation (B&O;) taxes from the state is dead in the water for this session.
Nine acres of public land in Northeast Seattle delight local residents while serving a purpose for Seattle Public Utilities (SPU). Across from Meadowbrook Community Center is Meadowbrook Pond, a water-detention center adopted by the community, local artists, environmental specialists and local government. "The main reason that it's here is that it's a big hole in the ground to hold a lot of water and prevent downstream flooding. We are in the flood plain, the historic flood plain of Thornton Creek, which is the largest creek system in the city, stretches all the way up to the city of Shoreline," explained SPU's Bob Spencer.In addition to preventing downstream flooding and settling out sediment, the pond (completed in 1999) has been a great refuge for those in the know, with the constant humming of Thornton Creek, winding pathways, artwork and an increasing and varying population of wildlife and native plant life.
communities and businesses of Council District 4.District 4 is a diverse community encompassing the neighborhoods of Belltown, the Denny Triangle, South Lake Union, Eastlake, Uptown, Queen Anne, Interbay, Magnolia, Ballard, Crown Hill and the western portions of Fremont, Phinney Ridge, Greenwood, Broadview, First Hill and Capitol Hill. The people living in these neighborhoods - you - are active citizens with great ideas about how to make your community, city and county better.
When Seattle artist Jenny Heischman studied Ernst Park, she noticed "all these shapes and features reference water." Speaking at an April 4 public meeting at the adjacent Fremont Library, Heishman described how "the winding path spills you out into the circular area." Its "curved benches [are] like waves lapping at the shore" and "visitors flow through the park," as they pass through it.In an e-mail, Lori Patrick, public-relations manager for the Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, wrote "...the slope along one section of pathway is steep enough to make some park visitors uneasy; thus, the artwork railing project." Heishman entitled her proposed design "Water Mover" and intends "to create a connection between concrete and water." For practical purposes, "we refer to it as a sculptural safety railing," Patrick said.<
Who is casting the first stone?The public and market forces were enough to silence schlock-jock Don Imus after his racist and sexist remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team. So the federal regulatory attack proposed by the Seattle Times was not necessary, as ironic as it may have been.The Times advocated having the Federal Communications Commission deny license renewal for the radio station that was home of the Imus program, based on racist or sexist humor, while acknowledging that his vile, coarse (the writer's terms) remarks "likely pass legal muster because they didn't include profanity or explicit sexual content." The newspaper also noted a pattern of hate speech.Where is the irony in this? First of all, it is ironic that the editors propose using federal regulations to pull the plug on a competitor for the public's attention, when those regulations don't apply to the newspaper industry.
I would like to thank you for the excellent article "Celebrate 'We the People'" (Feb. 28). You were engaging in true citizen journalism with your piece about a group of neighbors in the Phinney EcoVillage coming together to read the Constitution out loud. It was a very successful event, and we each felt more like true citizens having been involved.Cecile Andrews Phinney Ridge
Men dominated the acting scene during Shakespeare's time, playing male and female roles. The reverse is now true at Seattle Public Theater (SPT) at the Bathhouse, where female students are often cast as male characters.Originally founded as a "socially conscious theater," SPT is a combination of professional productions and educational programming. It offers drama programs for both middle- and high school students, and its high school female students are calling for stronger female roles.
Contrary to what was written by Greg Buck [in a Letter to the Editor, "Blow the whistle on sports subsidies," April 11], I am NOT supporting the Sonics Arena bill. My support had been erroneously reported in The Seattle Times on April 5. I'd told the reporter I was undecided. And, last Friday I did NOT vote for the bill in the Senate Ways & Means Committee when it received a "Do Pass" recommendation.While I would like to see the Sonics and, particularly, the Storm remain in the state, and to have a new sports/entertainment center constructed, I am not able to support the legislation at this time as it does not include any contribution by the Sonics/Storm nor any guarantee of funding cost overruns
Normally it's a good thing to be wary of germs, and I applaud all instances of microbial warfare in all its forms. Except when it happens to go wrong ... oh so very wrong. As it did the other day in the bathroom at our local YMCA.I swim every morning. I mean I try to swim every morning. OK, it's more of a water aerobics class than actual swimming, but it's still in the water and I'm flailing around, so let's call it swimming. After the swimming I'm pretty wet and tend to smell of chlorine, so I shower. Being the modest person that I am, I can't and won't walk around nekkid in the dressing room like some of the other gym patrons do. I've simply not got the ... whatever it is that passes for female cojones to do so. Not like my aerobics teacher, who held a conversation with me while I was fully clothed and she was not. Who was, in point of fact, as naked as the day she was born. I was trying very hard to keep looking her in the eye and wishing I could be as unembarrassed as she was. Plus she was standing barefoot on the wet floor without benefit of flip-flops, which gave me an attack of the icks. Who knows what germs live on that floor?
Recently, both of the Seattle daily newspapers carried articles stating that the Port of Seattle has pushed its timetable back a year on construction of its new cruise-ship terminal. As scheduled now, the cruise ships won't move until spring 2009 from south of downtown to the new facility planned at Smith Cove at Terminal 91, between Magnolia and Queen Anne.Every day I seem to make two or three trips past Piers 90-91, and all the activity going on there never fails to draw at least a glance. As a relative newcomer to the Northwest (I've only lived here 32 years), one of the first things to capture and hold my interest is the relative "newness" of this area's history.
Rachel Corrie took a reflexive, far left, anti-Israel position, and then in the middle of an ongoing military war expected to be treated as if she were protesting the WTO.One thing all parents worth their salt do a lot of, especially during their kids' teens, is worry. About the worst happening.So I am not able to censure the parents of Rachel Corrie, the Evergreen student who went to Palestine and got herself run over by an Israeli bulldozer. Whatever I think of the deceased Ms. Corrie's political savvy, or her lack of understanding of realpolitik, I cannot help but feel her parents' pain.
Contrary to what was written by Greg Buck (Letter to the Editor, April 11), I am not supporting the Sonics Arena bill. My support was erroneously reported in The Seattle Times on April 5. I told the reporter I was undecided. And last Friday I did not vote for the bill in the Senate Ways & Means Committee when it received a "do pass" recommendation.While I would like to see the Sonics and, particularly, the Storm, remain in the state and have a new sports/entertainment center constructed, I am not able to support the legislation at this time, as it does not include any contribution by the Sonics/Storm nor any guarantee of funding cost overruns. As such, I do not believe it would have an overall positive economic impact to make it worthwhile.
Seattle is a young city, and everywhere one brushes up against reminders that the pioneers who founded and developed her were here only yesterday.Recently, both of the Seattle daily newspapers carried articles stating that the Port of Seattle has pushed its timetable back a year on construction of its new cruise-ship terminal.As scheduled now, the cruise ships won't move until spring 2009 from south of downtown to the new facility planned at Smith Cove at Terminal 91, between Magnolia and Queen Anne.Every day I seem to make two or three trips past piers 90 and 91, and all the activity going on there never fails to draw at least a glance. As a relative newcomer to the Northwest (I've only lived here 32 years), one of the first things to capture and hold my interest is the relative "newness" of this area's history.
Magnolia Village, while quaint, is due for an upgrade-and no, it shouldn't become the next Belltown.I don't know if the Village Pub will open up in a new location across the street-and if it does, I'd just as soon it didn't have a rooftop garden. I'm not so old I can't remember slamming down a half-rack of beer when I was in my 20s, and I know that my youthful judgment was flawed because of it.The idea of a bunch of inebriated revelers carousing 15 feet over my head as I walk down the sidewalk leaves me more than a little nervous.On the other hand, I have no problem with the pub itself, and I'd like to see our Village grow a little
Looking for a fun way to learn the art of storytelling? Seattle Parks and Recreation, in partnership with the Urban Wilderness Project and Seattle poet, Jourdan Imani Keith, is offering a program mixing basketball and spoken word. Bounce promises to be both fun and fast-paced combining improvisation, theater games, tall tales and basketball to create entertaining stories. Meeting each Tuesday through May 22 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Bounce is for anyone over the age of 13, with a grand performance on May 19 at 2:30 p.m.