It's not as large as Cal Anderson Park, not as stately as Volunteer Park, but the recently named Plymouth Pillars Park is ready for its close-up.The park, previously referred to as the Boren-Pike-Pine Park or Four Columns Park, consists of two small parcels of land that straddle Boren Avenue between Pine and Pike streets. Following years of planning, design and delays, during which time proposed uses for the park evolved, Plymouth Pillars Park will officially open to the public following a Saturday, Jan. 14, grand opening.Improving the two park segments, which together comprise .6 acre, is a stated priority on the Pike-Pine neighborhood plan. In the past the park has been notable more for its illegal uses and neglect, including homeless loitering and drug use, than as a place where neighborhood residents might use. The updates to the park, which cost more than $1.2 million, aim to transform the open space into a valuable neighborhood asset.
Resolving to read and understand food labels this year will put you on the path to healthier eating, especially with a new food labeling law that took effect Jan. 1. The law requires trans fat to be disclosed on food labels."[It's] a very good thing," said Lola O'Rourke MS, RD and the Seattle-area spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Since 1906, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has overseen issues which include nutrition labeling. Choosing food wisely is paramount amidst the rising incidence of overweight, obesity and diabetes among Americans of all ages. According to the May-June 2004 edition of the FDA Consumer and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "about 2 out of 3 adults in the United States are overweight or obese."The article also states that since the typical American diet is "low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and high in saturated fat, salt and sugar... we are at increased risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain cancers" due to increased overweight and obesity.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day should be more than a time to celebrate diversity, which has always characterized the continent of North America. Millions of Native Americans in scores of tribes were here before the Europeans arrived from various countries. Instead, celebrating King's day should be about what he represented, especially if this is the reason he is the only American citizen for whom a national holiday has been named. King wanted America to be the dream of the founding fathers, minus the many exclusions they applied. What the Constitution and Bill of Rights provided to white male property owners, King wanted for everyone. Serious celebrants want the same, and serious celebrants know that they must work on King's dream every day, not merely on the Friday or Monday closest to January 15. Imagine what a difference we could make if we made a point of thinking critically before acting, made choices knowing that some of them can't be redone or erased. As a special tribute to King's dream, we can consider our actions more closely.
It's amazing how simple a world-altering opportunity can be, as simple as sitting down. With the October death of Rosa Parks at the age of 92, we were reminded how her refusal to adhere to the racist bus-seating rules of Montgomery, Al., in 1955 gave birth the Civil Rights Movement. This ordinary act also gave rise to one of our country's most powerful leaders, Martin Luther King Jr.The 27-year-old reverend emerged as a leader of the bus boycott that grew from Parks' civil disobedience. While he helped organize carpools for Montgomery's black population, King showed his community, and his country, how to walk the talk of protesting the right to live a peaceful and respected life.
At the heart of Book-It Repertory Theatre's latest production, "Bud, Not Buddy," is the idea of community. The play, which will be performed this month for the Seattle community at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, is an adaptation of Christopher Paul Curtis' award-winning children's fictional story of a motherless 10-year-old who, while searching for the father he never knew, finds the community he needs. The enduring relevance of the story, which unfolds during the Great Depression, became apparent to director Mark Zufelt as he watched disturbing news images following Hurricane Katrina. "The country's situation during the Depression was alarmingly similar to Katrina's aftermath: people not knowing whom to turn to, not being able to rely on government," observed Zufelt. "You have to know who your community is and how to define the people in your life."
United States Representative Jim McDermott (D-7th District) was one of several speakers who joined around 150 activists on Jan. 7 at the Seattle Labor Temple in Belltown to slam the Iraq war and call for the troops to come home.Billed as Operation Homecoming, the meeting was one 163 out-of-Iraq gatherings held nationwide last Saturday, said Judith Shattuck, an emcee at the meeting and a local representative of a campaign to create a so-called Department of Peace. "We are all upset by almost daily outrages ...," she said of the war and its ripple effects on the nation. "Together, we have helped put the Bush administration on the defensive," Shattuck added. "There is much to be done, but we will not be deterred," she said. "We will have peace."McDermott, who represents most of Seattle, agreed.
Cleo Wolfus is almost 6 feet tall. But in her street clothes, red hair pulled away from her pale, bespectacled face, she looks like just another nice Seattle woman trying not to drown on a typical windy, rainy January day in the urban Northwest.However, the 30-year-old performance artist currently living in the Fremont area, does have the ability to embrace a "look" that is bound to attract attention.Wolfus is the driving force behind Dead Awake, a protest organization struggling to be born.Wolfus said she is seeking to help "stop the zombiefication of Americans."Wolfus posted a call for fellow marchers, on the Internet and via flyers, to turn out for the Jan. 16 Martin Luther King March in the Central District.
"What do we do in the spring?Play softball, of course."This phrase hung in the classroom of Walla Wall High School varsity softball coach Bud Bowman all these many years ago. Although Bowman has long since retired, and Walla Walla is 280 miles east of Magnolia, that phrase still applies to softball fields all across Seattle and the state of Washington.With the long-departed 2005 season as well as the rapidly approaching 2006 season, Magnolia Little League (MLL) is examining its own softball program, gazing back at its history and looking forward to the future.
Cleo Wolfus is almost 6 feet tall. But in her street clothes, red hair pulled away from her pale, bespectacled face, she looks like just another nice Seattle woman trying not to drown on a typical windy, rainy January day in the urban Northwest.But the 30-year-old performance artist currently living in the Fremont area does have the ability to embrace a "look" that is bound to attract attention.Wolfus is the driving force behind Dead Awake, a protest organization struggling to be born.Wolfus said she is seeking help to "Stop the Zombiefication of Americans!"
Selflessness is so rare that I feel compelled to mention a tiny news item you may have missed last week in The Seattle Times.James Knox, 47, of Renton, died of an apparent heart attack after the fuel truck he was driving turned over on Interstate 405.State Patrol officials say Knox evidently took the truck where it ended up as he was suffering his fatal attack, evidently so that others wouldn't be hurt.While he was dying, this man was evidently thinking of others. Strangers. I don't know who he was. I don't know why he did what he did. But my hat is off to him. Some days we seem surrounded by jerks. Thoughtless, heedless people driving through crosswalks against the walk light-that sort of thing. So to read about a guy thinking of others as he is passing from this world amazes me. My hat goes off to the late Mr. Knox.
One of the issues we wrestle with in this country, and all over the world, is how to reduce the level of poverty and crime. The two issues are linked in a cause-and-effect equation.To my knowledge, no society in history has succeeded in eradicating poverty, but I do think there are high-level goals we can set and pursue that will help reduce the misery. We need to do this at all levels of society-national, metropolitan and even in neighborhoods like Magnolia. We can't wait for our political leaders to find the solution. First, we need to look at what sows the seeds of misery. I would say that it is the loss-or the nonexistence-of hope. To illustrate my point, I'll try to summarize a movie we watched the other night titled Born Into Brothels.
United States Representative Jim McDermott (D-7th District) was one of several speakers who joined around 150 activists on Jan. 7 at the Seattle Labor Temple in Belltown to slam the Iraq war and call for the troops to come home.Billed as Operation Homecoming, the meeting was one of 163 out-of-Iraq gatherings held nationwide last Saturday, said Judith Shattuck, an MC at the meeting and a local representative of a campaign to create a so-called Department of Peace. "We are all upset by almost daily outrages," she said of the war and its ripple effects on the nation."Together, we have helped put the Bush administration on the defensive," Shattuck added. "There is much to be done, but we will not be deterred. We will have peace."McDermott-who is based in Queen Anne and represents most of Seattle including Magnolia-agreed.
If you take young children to the wading pool on Warren Avenue North in the summer, perhaps you know Deborah Artis. From June 15 through Labor Day, she sells ice cream from her yellow electric car all over Queen Anne, and the wading pool is the hub of her route.A Queen Anne resident since 1975, in November she started another business with her daughter Alexis in Ballard: Pretty Pretty Princess Parties. Alexis came up with the name. "One 'pretty' just wasn't enough," she says. Despite the name, boys are as welcome as girls.PPPP, as we'll call it here, puts on fairytale dress-up parties for children 4 and older, usually birthday parties. Par-ties are held on company premises, not the customers' homes. Every detail is customized, including the theme, color, personalized invitations and games. The child's wish is PPPP's command.
JOHN DE GRAAF"Better late than never. For the sake of the country we can only hope that some other Republicans do the same thing."JUSTIN SORENSEN"It is ridiculous. How can you just change sides like that - all of a sudden?
There is hardly a dish that equals roasted chicken for its simplicity, elegance and comfort. This is especially true when it's combined with roast potatoes that are cooked in the same pan, beautifully caramelized and just the right texture. The cooking temperature for this recipe is higher than you might expect, but is essential to crisp the skin of the chicken, which in turn releases its fat, leaving you with moist meat and deliciously flavored potatoes. I prefer free-range breasts (which are generally larger than garden-variety) both for health reasons and because it really does make a difference in taste. For the potatoes I use red, which roast nicer than the starchier yellow and hold their shape better than baking potatoes.Because you're roasting chicken breasts as opposed to a whole bird, it takes less than an hour from start to finish. Fresh rosemary is tossed with the potatoes, and the chicken is dressed with nothing more than a little lemon and fresh sage - the sage leaves are delectable in their own right when cooked under the chicken skin.