The Southwest Airlines public-relations machine is at full volume concerning its proposed move from Sea-Tac International Airport to Boeing Field (King County International Airport). Unfortunately, Seattle residents are not matching the carrier's noise with hard questions and harder facts about the impact such a change will have on the region. Considering the number of people who live in the immediately affected areas of Georgetown, Beacon Hill and Magnolia, few have shown up at community meetings to voice their dissent over the proposed move with Southwest Airlines and King County representatives. While this citizen apathy continues, Southwest Airlines and King County Executive Ron Sims are running their own campaigns of vague promises of regional benefits, but very few people are listening closely to what they're saying.Sims called Southwest Airlines' "generous" with its $130 million relocation-investment proposal. However, Southwest Airlines wants to limit the spending to its new passenger terminal, parking garage and any "accommodations" it must make for increased airport traffic. This doesn't include improvements to the existing road system, for Ron Ricks, a Southwest Airlines senior vice president, deemed the roads feeding into the Boeing Field area "adequate." Ricks is citing an older traffic study done by the county, a study that didn't take into account the affect a major airline would have on the area if it set up shop at Boeing Field. With this in mind, Ricks also neglects to mention that each of the airline's projected 80 flights per day will drop off about 200 passengers and pick up about 200 more. These people will need to get to the airport somehow using cars, taxis or buses. Light rail is out of the question, for it's going to Sea-Tac Airport.
ough everyone agrees that eating organic isn't cheap, there's still good reason to spend a little more."We think of it as health insurance," said Diana Crane, community and public relations manager for PCC Natural Markets. If you make healthy-food choices, you'll spend less for medical care."I feel good buying the food that I'm buying and serving," said Don Wilson, owner and chef of the certified-organic Sterling Café in Ravenna. "I'm proud of what I'm doing. I don't consider cost." Someone who eats hot dogs would consider eating steak expensive, he said, but someone who eats steak would probably never consider eating a hot dog.And although you'll still spend more money on an organic meal than going through a local drive-through, as a result of organic food's popularity, increased competition and more mainstream distribution, Smith said he's actually seen prices go down. According to Crane, prices have fluctuated with supply and demand, much like anything else. But in general, she said, they've also seen prices go down slightly due to increased production.
The Rainier Beach volleball squad cruised their way past Cleveland's crew in three straight sets on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels exudes a solid presence the size of a quarterback fully suited up. With the ease of a seasoned politician, he offered me a seat beside him at a conference table, giving me his complete attention for my scheduled interview. Nickels began his political career at age 19 as legislative assistant to then Seattle City Council member, Norm Rice. In 1987 Nickels won a seat on the King County Council. He served there for 14 years before being elected mayor in 2001. With this in mind, I pulled out my half dozen big-picture questions and began:
Recently, Southwest Airlines approached King County about moving their operations from Sea-Tac Airport to Boeing Field, which is owned by King County. Federal law requires King County to give consideration to any airline's proposal to operate at Boeing Field. However, the law does not require the county to blindly accept any proposal offered.When and if King County Executive Ron Sims transmits a Boeing Field proposal from Southwest Airlines or any other carrier, I intend to continue asking the tough questions about noise, flight paths, traffic, infrastructure investments, neighborhood impacts and competitive advantages within the airline industry. Unless all of these areas of concern can be satisfactorily laid to rest, major commercial carrier passenger flights will not be landing at Boeing Field.
During our vacation in Maui last May, my wife Rita needed more assistance getting around than what's provided by an ordinary walking cane.We happened to be inside the cavernous KMart recently built for the islanders. The greeter at the front doors suggested she try the "mart carts" - electric go-carts - whose maximum speed is slower than strolling speed but safe for in-door shopping. The experiment was successful.During the past four months we've kept a close watch on the availability of electric shopping carts for handicapped persons who, for the most part, are senior citizens. This was not a scientifically designed survey, just an anecdotal experiment.Our shopping expeditions have taken us into Larry's Markets, several Costco stores, Sam's Club and a couple QFC grocery stores. Each location we shopped had at least one operational mart-cart available for disabled shoppers. The new mega-Costco has three working models. But I wonder why these shopping giants would not have the same number of electric carts inside their stores commensurate with the quantity of handicapped parking stalls. That would make sense to me because all permits for handicapped parking require a doctor's confirmation of the person's walking problems. Why not assume that anyone using a handicapped slot also could use assistance inside the store?
The Southwest Airlines public-relations machine is at full volume concerning its proposed move from Sea-Tac International Airport to Boeing Field (King County International Airport).Unfortunately, Seattle residents are not matching the carrier's noise with hard questions and harder facts about the impact such a change will have on the region. Considering the number of people who live in the immediately affected areas of Magnolia, Georgetown and Beacon Hill, few have shown up at community meetings to voice their dissent over the proposed move with Southwest Airlines and King County representatives. While this citizen apathy continues, Southwest Airlines and King County Executive Ron Sims are running their own campaigns of vague promises of regional benefits, but very few people are listening closely to what they're saying.Sims called Southwest Airlines' "generous" with its $130 million relocation-investment proposal. However, Southwest Airlines wants to limit the spending to its new passenger terminal, parking garage and any "accommodations" it must make for increased airport traffic. This doesn't include improvements to the existing road system; Ron Ricks, a Southwest Airlines senior vice president, deemed the roads feeding into the Boeing Field area "adequate." Ricks is citing an older traffic study done by the county, a study that didn't take into account the effect a major airline would have on the area if it set up shop at Boeing Field. With this in mind, Ricks also neglects to mention that each of the airline's projected 80 flights per day will drop off about 200 passengers each and pick up about 200 more. These people will need to get to the airport somehow, whether in cars, taxis or buses. Light rail is out of the question. It's going to Sea-Tac Airport.
The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) has issued a Master Use Permit to the Seattle Country Day School (SCDS) allowing it to almost double in size to 78,250 square feet, but it's not completely a done deal yet.The Mayfair Neighbors Association - which has fought tooth and nail against the private Queen Anne school's expansion plans - has filed an appeal to a city Hearing Examiner seeking to overturn the permit, said Elliott Ohannes, chairman of the neighborhood group. The appeal to the Hearing Examiner is scheduled to take place on Nov. 2, 3 and 4, according to DPD spokesman Alan Justad. Ohannes wasn't sure exactly what the grounds were for the appeal. "It gets into technicalities that are kind of beyond me," he said. But Ohannes is adamant that an appeal is warranted. "It showed absolutely no willingness to deal with the community's needs," he said of the permit.Country Day School head Michael Murphy disagrees.
A proposal by local business and property owners to revitalize the Interbay area near West Dravus Street by turning it into a Hub Urban Village is dead in the water; the city said no. But the Interbay Neighborhood Association has come up with another approach that might achieve the same goal. It involves a zoning overlay that would increase density in the area by raising the heights of buildings, said association member Jeff Thompson.Speaking at a meeting last week of the Queen Anne Community Council, he said change is necessary because the area is marked by blight, leaving a neighborhood that is "in essence abandoned."While that may be, the city didn't agree that turning the area into a Hub Urban Village was a solution because it didn't qualify for the designation, said Bob Morgan, a central staff member for the Seattle City Council.
Paul Bergstrom, 62, longtime Magnolia resident and owner of Bergstrom Glass, and his two sons Beau, 26, and Aron, 25, recently won the 160 miles-per-hour class of the Silver State Classic in their highly modified 1986 Chevy Camaro race car. The race is a 90-mile, high-speed contest down Nevada's state Route 318, between the small towns of Lund and Hiko - a blocked-off asphalt two-lane with long straightaways and sweeping turns through the high desert canyons of eastern Nevada.The object of this automotive exercise is to average precisely the speed you have predicted you'll for run the entire 90-mile course. Hidden radar speed guns keep track of your progress and discourage you from speeding ahead and crossing the finish line at the exact time that your chosen speed would equal.
Sarah Sze's installation at McCaw Hall, "An Equal and Opposite Re-action," engages every law of motion except inertia. The 30-foot-tall spiral is suspended from the ceiling of the five-story lobby. White-powder-coated aluminum parts - little ladders, rods, ramps, gridlike orbs - are welded into a fragile-looking scaf- folding. As if caught in an updraft, everyday objects are stuck in the framework. Heavy-duty orange extension cords lie coiled in grid baskets; 25-foot yellow Stanley tape measures extend rigidly. Blue, articulated Werner ladders fan out near the top. Horizontal yellow levels measure the orientation of different planes. Orange A-clamps hold plastic sword ferns and flowers in place. Blue plastic drinking cups and empty water bottles rim the tiers of the intricate structure.
In a nutshell, because:1. He's no genius, he's a piece of work.2. He left a mark on your parents' generation right up there with JFK and Muhammad Ali.3. He's smart, fun and has got fascinating rhythm.4. There's a great Dylan book, a Dylan movie and an ongoing exhibit at EMP."Democracy doesn't rule the world - violence does." Dylan said that. And: "I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours."Dylan was born in an American hideout the Swedes called Hib Bings, Min Ne Sota way back in 1941 when Hitler looked unstoppable. Hibbing was a mining town colder than Alaska. Robert Zimmerman wore his clothes to bed. His father peddled TVs. And his uncle owned the movie theater where he saw James Dean and Brigitte Bardot for free.He was a serious student. Wrote papers on John Steinbeck. Was in the Latin Club. Had good penmanship. When he started falling in love with girls - as only little guys can - it brought the poet out in him. And he got a guitar. Wrote first song for Brigitte Bardot. "Thought I might get to sing it to her someday."He was quite the dreamer.
The doomed princes of rock and roll, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain, emerged out of Seattle onto the world stage, captivated their respective generations and then dissolved. Each left his fans shocked and grieved. Why do they endure in the public imagination? How are their tragic lives valuable to us, as a culture?Those questions were on my mind as I prepared to talk with Charles Cross about "Room Full of Mirrors," his 2005 biography of Jimi Hendrix. Cross' 2001 Cobain biography "Heavier than Heaven" was a bestseller. But I brought sorrow as well as questions to this interview, an emotion I feel is part of this story. After Cobain committed suicide, I strenuously avoided everything to do with him. Cobain's sad-eyed face, features finely drawn, reminds me of one of my close friends who died from a combination of alcohol and sleeping pills. His suicide summons up my memory of the same shotgun act by another friend.And as a Pacific Northwesterner, I feel pride in natives who carry the high creative charge of this moody region into the world.
Zagi's Pizza Ristorante is a "joint" in almost every sense of the word. It's small, it's intimate, it feels urban but with a neighborhood vibe, and from the kitchen, at just the right volume, comes a constant soundtrack of music ranging from reggae to blues to rock. Best of all, Zagi's is turning out what is arguably some of the best pizza in Seattle, resulting in a significant following from locals to fans all over the city, who happily make the trek off the beaten path to this tiny Ballard eatery. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the restaurant is adjoined to Robertino's Italian Specialties, an espresso/gelato shop owned by Roberto Tucci and run primarily by his father, Alfonso. A "joint" in its own right, Robertino's has garnered a loyal following over its more-than-17 years. Serving Lavazza espresso drinks, pastries and gelato made on the premises and a variety of prepackaged Italian beverages and foods, Robertino's is a small treasure. Particularly wonderful are the homemade, sweet, biscuit-y scones, stuffed with raspberry jam, and the biscotti, heavy on the lemon zest, just a tad bitter and perfect for dunking into early-morning cappuccino.
Paul Bergstrom, 62, longtime Magnolia resident and owner of Bergstrom Glass, and his two sons Beau, 26, and Aron, 25, recently won the 160-miles-per-hour class of the Silver State Classic in their highly modified 1986 Chevy Camaro race car. The race is a 90-mile, high-speed contest down Nevada's state Route 318, between the small towns of Lund and Hiko - a blocked-off asphalt two-lane with long straights and long sweeping turns through the high desert canyons of eastern Nevada.The object of this automotive exercise is to average exactly the speed you have predicted that you'll run the entire 90-mile course. Hidden radar speed guns keep track of your prog-ress and prohibit you from speeding ahead and just crossing the finish line at the exact time that your chosen speed would equal.