A University District center for homeless youths was burglarized in early February, and about $1,000 in donated gift cards was stolen.The burglar entered through a ground-floor window into the office of Tyler Bauer, drop-in coordinator and caseworker for Street Youth Ministries (SYM), a faith-based service provider. The burglar stole a bundle of gift cards to Target, Fred Meyer and Payless Shoe Source from a box in the bottom of a drawer in Bauer's desk, he said.
The rain is back. It's OK, again, to be inside.The neighborhood gallery scene is one of the Hill's worthier indoor sports and March appears to be a good month on that front. Baas Gallery & Framing: In case anyone's forgotten, an intense rendering of flowers, their whorls and folds and pistils, is much ado about sex - and yet the images really are flowers. That's the beauty of it. Portland artist's Barbara Eiswerth show, "Centering," opens Wednesday, March 2, with an artist reception running 5-8 p.m. Eiswerth gazes deeply into the sensuous floral universe and paints what she sees on panels in vivid colors. Through March 28. 2703 E. Madison St.
China is in a state of metamorphosis. Mao is gone. Western goods and ideas are flooding the marketplace. Consumerism reigns, and nowhere is change more evident than in the cities. Gone are the narrow-laned communities of low-lying residences. Gone are the traditional social networks that drew people together. Now towering skyscrapers dominate the landscape, and millions of displaced residents have been relocated from inner city to its outer ring. It's an environment that breeds alienation and encourages creativity. You can see evidence of both in "Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China," now at the Seattle Art Museum.
November 1971. Across an old oak table piled with print, the old librarian passed me the latest Rolling Stone. Below 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:
We can only imagine what would be the two-letter Postal Service abbreviation for the State of Eastern Washington: "EW." We already know that's what many political leaders in Olympia think of the idea. Their general consensus is somewhere between "improbable" and "laughable."A handful of Republican state legislators went public with the proposal in late January, following the ultra-narrow defeat of GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi. The apparent idea: If a Republican (even a moderate, sane Republican like Rossi) can't get elected governor in this state, why not just carve out a new state where Republicans would be bound to win?
The Seattle School District appears to have reversed its stance on unionized bus drivers. Three years ago, the district dumped longtime, unionized school-bus company Laidlaw in a contentious decision to go with cheaper, non-union providers. Non-union Durham School Services and First Student Inc. got the nod, and the school district saved $1.2 million a year, according to district spokeswoman Patti Spencer.That was then. Now the school board has decided in a unanimous vote to re-bid the five-year contracts two years ahead of schedule and to include a "Labor Peace/Labor Harmony" section that protects drivers' rights to unionize, she said. The decision to put the contracts out for bid early goes against thinking at the district staff level, Spencer added. Overall, the transportation manager has been pleased with the performance of both companies, she said. "Based on that, the recommendation was to continue with the contracts."
Walk along the east side of Broadway toward the end of the afternoon on Fridays and you'll likely find a man sitting by a table outside Steve's Broadway News. Upon closer inspection you might notice a stash of leather-bound books lined with velvet. If you stop and chat you'll probably get handed a short poem on the back of a business card.The man behind the table is local writer Brett McGibbon. The books are his, both in content and production And he has a lofty goal:"I seek liberty from the corporate publisher," he said. "And I can't be stopped. The corporate idea that keeps us from our works, our product, is unnecessary. There don't need to be these barriers, and this is a very good thing for writers."
Sojourner Truth Ministries, a multi-denominational church with a black Baptist bent, celebrated its 10th Anniversary Feb. 20 with a gathering of people diverse in ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. The church aspires to eradicate all forms of oppression and serve as a spiritual home for all those who need one."Everyone's entitled to a spiritual life, everyone's a son of God," said Deacon Paul Green.The worshipers comprise a fluctuating population of comers and goers, and many of the regulars discovered the church after hearing about the message it projects into Seattle's diverse community pockets.
The controversy around the plans for the old Chubby & Tubby site on Rainier Avenue reveals the outlines of a struggle for the soul of Rainier Valley. At first glance, it would seem that CASA Latina, a non-profit with the mission of "empowering Latino immigrants by providing educational and economic opportunities," would fit nicely into the loudly praised diversity of the Valley. The organization must soon leave its Belltown location at Western and Battery where it has leased space from the city since 1998. With the aid of a city grant, CASA Latina would purchase the Chubby & Tubby site and consolidate its programs into a permanent home. Currently CASA Latina dispatches between 25 and 100 people each day into temporary jobs. But it is much more than a job referral agency. CASA Latina also has placed over 400 homeless people into permanent well-paying work and helped countless others recover back wages.
"We haven't had any rain since Thursday, and parts of the yard are still squishy," my stepmother told me over the phone in a tone of amused amazement this past Saturday. Pools of standing water prevented my dad from working in the garden, and the dogs churned up patches of mud, which they happily dragged through my parent's house in El Cajon, Calif. a medium-sized city sitting in a desert valley on San Diego's eastern border. Eleven year's worth of rain in just over a month, said my dad while I looked outside at a Seattle sky that seemed more like late summer with its unclouded expanse of blue than late winter.A few days later this atmospheric role reversal between the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Southwest flooded back into my brain after learning the Kyoto Protocol officially went into effect on Feb. 15. An increasing, and impressive, body of scientific work suggests that the atypical weather we've been experiencing is inexorably linked to the staggering rise of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
State Rep. Eric Pettigrew is prime-sponsoring legislation providing more discretion for Washington courts in prohibiting domestic abusers from having contact with their victims after the abusers are released from custody.The court would retain discretion in issuing no-contact orders. An order might not be issued, for example, if the court determines that good reason exists not to issue it.
Brendan Dougherty is a strapping six-foot-three one-hundred-eighty pound 16-year old. With his gifted physique and drive for excellence, Brendan is an accomplished swimmer and water polo player. His self motivation extends to school, where he attends 5 a.m. swim practices, maintains a 3.5 g.p.a. and has already completed his required high school volunteer service work. In addition, he is employed with the Bellevue School District, pays for his own car insurance and is responsible for driving his twelve year old sister to middle school. As intelligent, responsible and well rounded as Brendan is, he may not be qualified to graduate from high school. How can this be?Welcome to the harsh reality of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).
Longtime Seattle residents know that the city is one of many surprises- a nondescript street yields amazing architectural gems, for example, or an industrial area sprouts businesses never found at the local mall. Such is the case with Design 500 Racewear, the company that created the spacesuits for SpaceShipOne, and designs racing wear for hydroplane, auto, and karting events. The company prides itself on using the very latest in protective fabrics and the most up-to-date construction techniques along with complete embroidery and design services. Both racers and their crews can be entirely outfitted by the firm.
The Seattle Center welcome Sign on Mercer Street announced the annual event a week before the Feb. 11th conference. Every year for the last ten, there has been a gathering of Latino high school youth brought together by a youth leadership project headed by members of the Mañana Coalition, located in the Rainer Valley. The Mañana Coalition is a counseling and referral service for the Latino community called CONSEJO. They offer a variety of services including a place where Latino youth can voice their own concerns about preventative health measures. Some examples include substance abuse, drop out rates, loss of identity and loss of educational opportunity.
So long as there has been a city called "Seattle," prostitutes have haunted its streets. Every spring, neighbors confront the crime others embrace. Women and men, boys and girls, perform sex acts for money, lots of money, in parks, cars, and rented rooms. Sometimes, one gets popped by a cop, but is soon back on the same corner, flagging down a date.This year, the South End may change this pattern.A SOAP ordinance-"Stay Out of Area of Prostitution"-may come to Georgetown and Beacon Hill. On Feb. 24, Assistant City Attorney Tuere Sala, the City Attorney's liaison to the Southwest and South Police Precincts, led a workshop on SOAP designations at the Beacon Hill Lutheran Church.