SEWARD PARK - Kristin Tan, a Seward Park resident and participant in The First Tee of Greater Seattle since 2003 when local programming began, will be the chapter's first representative at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open. The 14-year-old is one of only 60 young people - and one of only 20 girls - from across The First Tee network who qualified for the opportunity to compete at Pebble Beach, Calif., during the Labor Day weekend. Since its inception in 1997, The First Tee has introduced the game of golf to more than 1.5 million participants and students in 46 states and five countries including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore.<br
Tenisha Childress, left, catches up with longtime friend Natalie Eltahir and her son Hassan, 2, during the Rainier Beach Merchants Summerfest and Back2School Bash on Aug. 25 at Rainier and Henderson and Beer Shiva Park. Childress is holding a free school backpack that was handed out to local children at the community event. Turn to Photo Gallery for more images.
OTHELLO - My family and I just moved from the Mount Baker neighborhood to Rainier and Othello and all our friends assume that we must have made a killing with what they politely avoid referring to as the "negative lifestyle exchange." And if we owned the Mount Baker residence we've called "home" for the last two and a half years, they might be right.But my husband and I moved here from out-of-state during the height of Seattle's real estate insanity and have always been the types to eschew trends, so we rented instead.
It was a non-event that dominated our local papers every day for two weeks. Something that didn't happen this month strongly solidified the case for an at-grade waterfront boulevard to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Namely, during its recent two weeks of construction, northbound I-5 south of downtown was supposed to be a parking lot. And it wasn't. It never happened.You got the sense that our local dailies were disappointed by this.
A leaded glass door window at the Joe Bar café was smashed during an Aug. 21 break-in. A prowler entered the establishment early in the morning through a transom window. He smashed through the leaded glass door window to make his escape from the historic Loveless Building at Broadway East and East Roy Street.The shop's pastry deliveryman appeared on the scene while the perpetrator was inside. The doors of the shop lock inside and out, and there is no easy way to exit the space after hours without a key.
If you give up more than 10 years of your life trying to improve your neighborhood and finally get what you wish for, is it enough?Kay Rood, who spearheaded the community efforts that resulted in Cal Anderson Park can speak to that. She has worked tirelessly and watched as the old Lincoln Reservoir park transformed into Cal Anderson Park directly across the street from her home of 19 years. "She said she is literally thrilled with what has come out of the work the community put into the project. Cal Anderson Park, on the site of the Lincoln Reservoir (the reservoir is still there, just smaller and underground), was dedicated two years ago. And fears that the new park would fall into ill use or disrepair have proved unfounded.
In his column "Coming to a Neighborhood near you: the great price-out," (Capitol Hill Times, Aug. 22), Jafar Siddiqui expresses three things that I take issue with. First, he claims that "property tax relief for fixed income people...does not come close to helping them." However, King County has a very generous program for lower income seniors and disabled people. For those with incomes up to $35,000, the deduction is up to 50 percent of the total property tax bill, a significant savings which does indeed help them a lot, and allows many to stay in their homes instead of having to move elsewhere.
It was a non-event that dominated our local papers every day for two weeks. Something that didn't happen this month strongly solidified the case for an at-grade waterfront boulevard to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Namely, during its recent two weeks of construction, northbound I-5 south of downtown was supposed to be a parking lot. And it wasn't. The long-predicted catastrophe never happened.You got the sense that our local dailies were disappointed by this. In the days leading up to the initial lane closures, they were filled with stories on the nightmare to come. Traffic would be backed up to Tacoma if not Oregon. I-5 would become the world's longest parking lot. And during construction, they kept running stories on how bad the backup, um, wasn't< /i> on the given day.
Mark Schreiber makes a most penetrating observation in his essay in the Kyoto Journal 66: "Jiko-chuu behavior manifests itself in many forms, but essentially involves the transference of behavior once confined to one's place of residence into the public domain." He goes on to explain: "The word is derived from jiko chuushin, meaning self-centered or self-absorbed, but the kanji chuu, meaning center, is replaced by a homonym, meaning insect."This fascinating article touches on many Jiko-chuu behaviors we all rail about these days, whether it is women putting on their makeup in their cars or on the bus, or people "eating on the run," or the ubiquitous cup of coffee being clutched by the masses. I particularly liked his reference to the controversy sparked by Masataka Nobuo's book "Monkeys with Cell Phones." The author is a professor of primatology at Kyoto University. He argues that the Jiko-chuu behavior of constantly exchanging messages is analogous to the way monkeys constantly chatter in order to confirm that others are nearby.
The days are getting shorter, but don't give up on summer yet! The 16th annual Bike the Bluff cycling event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 8 - rain or shine. This popular neighborhood fundraiser gives participants the option to walk or ride a 4- or 6.5-mile loop around Magnolia, then enjoy a neighborhood picnic and a dip in Pop Mounger Pool.The open-course ride will begin and end at the Mounger Pool parking lot on 32nd Avenue West. Same-day registration begins at 10 a.m., at which time the course is open. Participants may register and begin their ride any time after 10; the course officially closes at 2 p.m.
A faithful reader stopped me on the street the other day and said: "You are the neighborhood and national scold, and you haven't written about what's rotten in the state of the Uniteds, or even Seattle, for quite awhile."And it's true, I have to admit. Except for glancing blows, I haven't gone after America's worst president to serve in my lifetime, his shoot-first, ask-questions-later fascist vice president or our corpulent mayor for quite awhile. Sorry.It's not as if things haven't continued going to hell in a handbasket while I wrote about aging, favorite places and my not-so-recent past.So, in honor of Jean Godden, Seattle's Most Popular (former) Bad Columnist, here are a few briefs, assured to make you wonder.
It was a non-event that dominated our local papers every day for two weeks. Something that didn't happen this month strongly solidified the case for an at-grade waterfront boulevard to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Namely, during its recent two weeks of construction, northbound I-5 south of downtown was supposed to be a parking lot. And it wasn't. It never happened.You got the sense that our local dailies were disappointed by this. In the days leading up to the initial lane closures, they were filled with stories on the nightmare to come. Traffic would be backed up to Tacoma. If not Oregon. I-5 would become the world's longest parking lot. And during construction, they kept running stories on how bad the backup, um, wasn't on the given day.
Kathy Biever and plein-air artist Kelly Lyles. Left: Brom Wikstrom took FirstSee story in Magnolia Life for details.
Joe Virzi reads with daughter Maya, almost 3, in the children's section of the refurbished Queen Anne Library. See more library coverage by clicking Photo Gallery
AVINASH KOHLI "In India they say that if you get your hair trimmed during the full moon, your hair grows more and you never go bald. They say that in Mexico, too; I have a lot of clients from Mexico who come in and get their hair trimmed during the full moon."