The Seattle City Council has blocked the Port of Seattle's proposal to include housing in three of its five redevelopment alternatives for the North Bay area - at least for now. The idea was simply too controversial, but it could be revisited in the future, according to council president Jan Drago. "I'm not saying it should be, but it could be," she said.Mayor Greg Nickels welcomed the council vote, according to spokesman Marty McOmber. "We also don't want to see housing there," he said. "Our bottom line is, we're very concerned over having a healthy maritime-industrial sector in Seattle."
While overall movie attendance has been dropping in the last few years, major film festivals seem to be bucking the trend. The Seattle International Film Festival saw a significant rise in ticket sales between 2003 and 2004, up approximately 23 percent overall, according to SIFF Director Helen Loveridge in the fest's opening press conference.The jump in attendance came as something of a relief to festival staff, who did not know what to expect when charismatic founder Darryl Macdonald departed for sunnier climes. Macdonald left behind a festival with a glowing international reputation and Cinema Seattle (the festival's parent organization) with a reported approximately $100,000 in liabilities.
Mother's Day: a day to celebrate the nurturing and feminine presence of women who bring life into the world. A U.S. tradition as sacred as the American flag and apple pie, everyone has a mother, or a mother figure, for whom the day conjures warmth and a sense of gratitude.With all the problems facing the world, the ongoing war in Iraq, the assault on Medicaid funding for the disabled and poor women and children and the reckless re-opening of forests for logging despite continuing evidence of global warming, I wonder whether we might take some cues from the women in our homes, work places and leadership positions.
A friend of mine from another state recently asked me about community opinions regarding the Broadway Rezone proposal, saying, "Are people afraid of tall buildings because they think they'll fall on them in the next earthquake?" While this is not a concern I have heard voiced, it's true there are many opinions on all sides of the issue.The neighborhood planning process directly involved citizens in making tough choices about the growth that Seattle - and Capitol Hill - has had and will continue to experience. Using projections of how many more people, housing and jobs will exist in Capitol Hill, the community and city staff sat down and made decisions about where the buildings will be located to house those future Seattlelites. The result was included in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Plan, which was adopted as an official city planning document in 1999.However, the question of increasing height limits on Broadway was put on hold at that time because people felt they did not have enough information to make a thoughtful decision. A study was begun to get more information. The results of that study were released in late 2003, and the time has come for Capitol Hill to revisit this issue.
Local lovers of fresh produce who may have been disappointed when the Capitol Hill farmers market moved from 10th Avenue and East Pine Street for the more tony environs of Madison Park won't feel the pangs of withdrawal for long. Beginning this weekend, the Broadway Sunday Farmers Market officially opens for business. Sponsored by the Farmers Market Alliance, a different organization, the new market will be located in the parking lot behind the Bank of America on Broadway and East Thomas Street.The farmers' market was originally slated to open in 2004 on Harvard Avenue East, behind the Broadway Market, a location which required the street to be closed. While the idea of a farmers market was well received, during a planning stage that included city and community input, residents near that location felt the impacts would be too great.
If you say "height" you may be uttering a four-letter word. At least you might when discussing raising the allowable building height along Broadway. If not a negative word, height can certainly carry a controversial connotation. Last week's public forum by City Council's Urban Development and Planning Committee, chaired by councilmember Peter Steinbreuck at Seattle Central Community College, underscored the point. The issue at hand was a mayoral proposal to raise zoning on Broadway from its current 40 feet to a 65 foot ceiling. This would permit six-story buildings on Broadway; currently four are allowed, though most properties are greatly underdeveloped.
So the Seattle City Council can now give themselves all a pat on the back for "doing the right thing" in assuming that up to 20,000 "family wage" jobs could be created in Interbay over the next 25 years.The trouble is, these new workers undoubtedly will clog 15th Avenue (or hopefully some will hop the monorail) to go home, since the city council has denied the Port of Seattle's request to explore multifamily housing as part of the massive North Bay project.Crying over the loss of "family wage jobs" if any "dreaded" multifamily housing is considered, the Industrial Businesses (BINMIC) overlook the fact that affordable workforce housing is popping up all over Seattle, and it would have made perfect sense to be located in this area.Do they think that "family wage housing" will be found in adjacent Queen Anne or Magnolia, where current housing prices soar well over $500,000? Has anyone considered that 15th Avenue is already clogged during rush hour? What about the fact that Pier 91 has been vacant for five years?
I knew what the guy was going to do before he did it.The cloverleaf near the south end of the Ballard Bridge, where Nickerson, Emerson and Elliott Way come more or less together, is a tricky spot. If you're coming up Nickerson and bending right with the intention of heading north across the bridge, you have no stop sign, but you do have to watch yourself, and others. Somebody coming down around the mini-skyway from the direction of Fishermen's Terminal/Magnolia could plow into you on the left.And straight ahead - well, there is no "straight ahead" when you have something like a 180-degree turn to execute; but there's that transit stop on the bus lane that parallels the main Elliott Way traffic lanes.Last Saturday - bright, sunny afternoon, clear as a bell - I had no motorist on my left, and no bus lurking at the bridge-end pickup area. But I did spot a bicyclist headed north on Elliott. He was in the bus lane, almost invisible thanks to the transit rain shelter, but I saw him.
Briauna Hulse now has three shiny medals to hang on her wall to remind her of her recent athletic achievements - one gold and two bronze. And she hopes to add more.On April 23, Hulse, a 13-year-old Magnolia resident, competed in the Special Olympics Washington Region Athletics Tournament at Shoreline stadium.Living with autism and diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) as well, Hulse had the opportunity to participate in the local Special Olympics competition. She successfully competed in three different track-and-field events: the 25 meter and 50 meter assisted walks, and the softball throw.
The Seattle City Council has blocked the Port of Seattle's proposal to include housing in three of its five redevelopment alternatives for the North Bay area - at least for now. The idea was simply too controversial, but it could be revisited in the future, according to council president Jan Drago. "I'm not saying it should be, but it could be," she said of the possibility of reconsidering including housing in future North Bay development.Mayor Greg Nickels welcomed the council vote, according to spokesman Marty McOmber. "We also don't want to see housing there," he said. "Our bottom line is we're very concerned over having a healthy maritime-industrial sector in Seattle."North Bay project manager Mark Griffin did not seem overly concerned with the development at a public hearing last week over the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for North Bay. "It's always been a supporting use," he said of housing.
If you love the sheer, sensuous richness of color, texture and motion that defines movies at their most primal, Ridley Scott's the director for you. As early as "The Duellists" (1977), his first feature film after a long career making TV commercials, Scott seemed able to reach out into cinematic space to manually shade and shape heroic action, epic weather and fall of light."Kingdom of Heaven," his first effort in this vein since "Gladiator" (2000), focuses on the Crusades, Europe's religiously inspired pillaging of the Middle East (1100-1300), a period of historical excess that offers ample room for Scott's visual opulence.
The Rev. Leroy Hedman knows that small changes add up fast. He has seen, for instance, how his church's utility bill dropped significantly over the course of a year because of energy-efficient lightbulbs. He can tell you the percentage saved here and there because of some simple awareness. But frugality is not the true motivation of this pastor. His goal is stewardship of God's creation, and he believes every church can do its part. "We believe that we are here to replenish the earth," said Hedman of his small congregation at Georgetown Gospel Chapel in Southeast Seattle. He refers to a passage in Collosians 1:16 and 1:20 of the Bible that says we are "to reconcile all things to Christ."
King County announces grant funding to support local environmental projectsThe King County Water and Land Resources Division is offering grant money to support eligible local projects involving watershed protection, habitat restoration, reforestation, salmon conservation, natural resource stewardship and related education efforts.The grants are available for projects located in King County or south Snohomish County watersheds that flow into Lake Washington or Sammamish River.
We live in a society that encourages and thrives on competition. For some, competing is a source of personal growth that often results in accomplishing noble feats. On the other hand, for others competition can cause them to be delusional and unprincipled in their unrelenting quest to win. A recent example occurred at a youth sporting event when a middle-aged parent's competitive spirit ran amok at the expense of those around him.It started as a typical Friday night kids' basketball game at the Jefferson Community Center. The players were happy, the coaches and parents were supportive and there were no incidents before, during or after the game. At the contest's conclusion, the participants exchanged handshakes, the coaches and some parents thanked the referees and, except for a few malcontent players, everyone left satisfied. In contrast, the evening's second game was like watching a humorless "Bad News Bears" movie. One team arrived early with 10 players and was organized, disciplined, and skilled. The second team arrived late, with only five players and was comparably unorganized, undisciplined and unskilled. Not surprisingly, the latter team was out-matched. To " save face" and account for the score disparity, the losing team's coach and a few fans resorted to blaming the referees.
This summer there is a different pitch from the mound for women's baseball in Western Washington and the Seattle area: women's overhand baseball has returned.The new league, the Washington Women's Baseball Association (WWBA) is an alternative to what its founders termed the less authentic forms of the sport - softball and underhand fast pitch. However, unlike these successful hybrids, women's overhand baseball has long struggled for legitimacy across the nation.