BILL WINKLER"This is our economy: you either grow or you die. Either growth or decay is inevitable, and our economic system is based on growth. I like the growth - it is unbelievable. Don't fight it, enjoy it and die."HANS"No. You can't avoid it. More and more people are coming to Seattle; Queen Anne is just accommodating. You can't put a fence around the Hill and say, 'Oh no, you cannot come in.' This is not a gated Hill."
Sticking to the contention that the People's Lodge is actually just the land, the United Indians of all Tribes Foundation unveiled at an April 13 press conference a new People's Lodge site plan that doesn't include any new buildings. A longtime dream of former United Indians director Bernie Whitebear, the penultimate plan for a People's Lodge called for a three-building $48 million complex in 2003.The site plan, by contrast, contains three areas for sweat lodges, one area for "Sacred Ceremonies for Mother Earth" and two rope courses on the 20 acres of land United Indians leases from Seattle Parks and Recreation. The site plan also calls for setting up "educational village teepees" in the Great Circle during the summers.
Sister Schools in Action (SSIA) is a non-profit organization aimed at bringing all seven schools in the Magnolia and Queen Anne neighborhoods together.Lisa Moore, executive director of SSIA, says that several new programs are in development and will be implemented when school resumes after spring break. Such programs include a new debate program in which fourth and fifth graders work alongside the debate society from the University of Washington. Children will have the opportunity to discuss relevant topics in the community and will participate as guest judges for UW students.Another program will allow children to "job-shadow" several businesses in the area. Similar to an internship, students at the eighth-grade level will be assigned to a company and will learn how the business is run."It will provide them with some real life experiences," Moore said. Some examples of participating businesses in the area include Home Street Bank, Queen Anne Helpline and Horowitz Training West.With impending budget cuts for schools, the possibility of cutting back new programs is a real threat. However, with SSIA, schools can work collectively to develop new programs on minimal funds.
The 13th annual Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure in Seattle is scheduled for June 17, and organizers are expecting around 15,000 people to take part in the 5K walk and run, according to race director Mindy Goforth. But there's been a name change from last year, when the fundraising event was called the Seattle Race for the Cure. This year, it's called the Puget Sound Race for the Cure because there are so many race participants who live on the Eastside, in Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties, and in outlying areas, Goforth said."It attracts both men and women," she said of the race, "and it's a disease that affects both men and women." Indeed, according to the Race for the Cure brochure, an estimated 211,240 women and 1,690 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year in America.
A bouncer and two customers were shot at closing early last Saturday morning in a crowded hallway near the front door of the Mr. Lucky club, police say.There were fights and arguments both inside and outside the nightspot across the street from KeyArena shortly before the April 15 shooting, said police spokesman Sean Whitcomb. One shooter had been in the club, but left and returned with another man, Whitcomb added. "And both he and his colleague stood in the doorway and fired into the crowd."The 38-year-old bouncer was hit in the chest, a man in his 20s was hit in the hip and an underage man who is in his mid-20s was hit in the leg, Whitcomb said.
Upon my first, yearly sighting of asparagus in the markets, I'm satisfied that winter has officially ended. Asparagus season runs right alongside spring, from April to June, and I try to take advantage of the short time it's available by serving it as often as possible during those months. Asparagus is low in calories, high in fiber, and each spear packs a nutritional punch: rich in folic acid and a good source of potassium, vitamin B6, vitamins A and C, and thiamin.There are so many ways to prepare this vegetable, but one of my favorites is grilling. When grilled with just a touch of balsamic vinegar, the exterior of the stalks caramelize and produce a delicious roasted flavor, while the insides stay green and retain the true, rich taste of asparagus. Just make sure that the asparagus you choose are all approximately the same diameter so that they cook consistently.
Despite the claims of the Jell-O Pudding ad, you really don't need a tutu to dance ballet. Pacific Northwest Ballet's artistic director Peter Boal has demonstrated all season long that ballet can be danced in styles both edgy and distinctly underdressed.It has become popular to pooh-pooh the tutu, to dismiss it as a relic of ballet's past. Yet, the torn pair of jeans, the bare (male) torso or the leotard in flesh tones doesn't inspire quite the same "ooh, aah" factor as a full complement of tutus swishing by the audience. PNB's current production of "Sleeping Beauty" comes with tutus galore as well as a host of other handsome costumes. It's gaudy enough to send every tutu fan spinning in joy through the lobby (as evidenced by the number of 10-year-old girls practicing their twirls during the intermissions).
Based on the 1997 bestselling memoir by syndicated sportswriter Mitch Albom, the theatrical adaptation by Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher shares the same heartfelt real-life story of Albom's relationship with his college mentor, Morrie Schwartz. Beautifully directed by Seattle Rep's artistic director David Esbjornson, the 90-minute, two-character play juxtaposes Albom's first-person narratives with vignettes of his various visits to Morrie. If you've read the book, you know the story. When Albom graduated from Brandeis University, he said his goodbyes to his favorite professor, Schwartz. And promised to keep in touch. But he didn't. It would be 16 years before he reunited with his mentor. Quite by chance, Mitch saw his beloved sociology prof being interviewed by Ted Koppel on "Nightline." Morrie was talking about what it was like to die from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a degenerative condition of the nervous system, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Soon after, Mitch called Morrie and flew to Boston. It was Tuesday, and what started as a simple visit with an old friend turned into a weekly pilgrimage and a final class in the meaning of life, love - and death.
University of Washington's Greek Row is known for its loud parties, college students wandering around in the wee hours and numerous stereotypes associated with fraternities and sororities. The Newman Center-Prince of Peace Chapel, on the corner of Northeast 45th Street and 20th Avenue Northeast, offers a different dynamic to the area.A Catholic place of worship, the Newman Center welcomes diverse individuals into its community. "People are always welcoming. I was there for half an hour on Sunday just chatting with people after Mass," said Jacob Struiksma, a local community member.
Maya Lin is a heavy-hitter in the contemporary art world, and her current exhibit at the University of Washington's Henry Art Gallery, Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes, knocks the ball right over the fence.The exhibit includes three large installations, an explanatory video, a multimedia description of her work on the "Confluence Project" - a tribute to Lewis and Clark on the Columbia River - and several small works. All of it is breathtaking.Unlike a more traditional art show where the view interprets the composition, technique and skill of the artist, this exhibition provokes the view to contemplate Lin's vision of the planet, wonder how her mind works and marvel at the result.
In 1989, on a trip to Washington, D.C., I decided - with some reluctance - to go see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. I had read about it and seen pictures of it, but even though I had read about the effect that it had on many veterans, I did not know what to expect for myself.I had seen memorials before. They have bronze or marble statues and polished stone bases.The Vietnam War memorial has a V-shaped path that descends gently into the ground, flanked on both sides with highly polished granite walls carved with the names of the dead. Just a few steps down the path, I stopped - weeping uncontrollably, unstoppably and unashamedly.
Income-tax filing day has come and gone for another year. This year, it is estimated that Americans will cough up $2.8 trillion dollars in taxes to Uncle Sam, yet it is still not enough to cover the federal govern-ment's bills.The national debt is $8.2 trillion and growing. Our federal budget shortfall, after Congress and the president are through wrangling, grows between $200 billion and $500 billion each year. To pay for all the spending, the federal government has to borrow. In the past, we'd primarily borrow from ourselves, selling U.S. savings bonds. Selling bonds to win World War II was one thing, but borrowing worldwide to pay for our spending spree is quite another matter. We are mortgaging ourselves to our competitors and foreign governments - some of which are not so friendly to the United States.
Last year we wrote a column about our city and county's 10-year plan to end homelessness. That plan was heavily weighted toward tracking the area's 6,000-8,000 homeless, identifying who they were and their respective needs, and then delivering a more finely tuned set of services to help them move off the streets.While we lauded the energy of dozens of people from service providers, corporations and government participating in the 10-year plan, we expressed concern that it largely ignored the structural roots of the problem - the continuing loss of low-cost housing in the region due to demolition, condominium conversion, increased rent and abandonment. No solutions to that continued loss were offered nor did the 10-year plan identify sufficient sources of new revenue: the tens-of-millions of additional dollars needed to provide new subsidized housing to offset that loss.Today, one year into the 10-year plan, the effort remains fraught with the same shortcomings. If anything, there are more homeless people on our streets, and local and county government has yet to respond in any meaningful way to the consequences of gentrification and displacement.
It's common now for baseball writers, and sports writers in general, to say that any record obtained by Barry Bonds should have an asterisk by it.Really?I am not interested in arguing whether Bonds did or did not use steroids. I am sure that time will reveal everything, but I am interested in exploring how a person who has never been caught or tested using steroids can be so maligned.Mark McGuire nearly admitted to using steroids, and there is still no asterisk next to his name. But there is a greater issue to look at for asterisk sake. African Americans can, and many have in personal conversations, make the case that any records in baseball, football or basketball that happen before full integration are also a candidate for the asterisk.What would have happened to Babe Ruth's or Joe DiMaggio's records if they had to contend with African American pitchers like Satchel Page, or swift infielders or outfielders who would have stolen some of those home runs or base hits?
Recently the students of Lake Washington Girls Middle School were treated to a visit from Nancy Rawles, noted playwright and author. Her books "Love Like Gumbo," "Crawfish Dreams" and "My Jim" all draw upon a lifetime of involvement with civil rights, race, poverty and gender issues. She was, therefore, the ideal speaker to conclude the school's quarter dedicated to understanding the causes and devastation of genocides throughout the world. Prior to the visit, each student had wrestled with Elie Wiesel's holocaust testimony "Night," George Orwell's "Animal Farm'" and presented an in-depth group project on either Rwanda, Guatemala, Cambodia or Nazi Germany: all meaty subjects for 12-year-olds. However, their maturity and ability to put things into perspective was surprising. Together with Rawles, the students mulled the philosophic issues of how and why humankind repeats such bestial acts throughout history. Much was jammed into the morning lecture, including a short creative writing session with students standing up to proudly read their works. But the chapter read aloud from the book entitled "Slave" by Mende Nazer, a personal tale of being stolen from her native Sudan and transported against her will to modern day London, particularly hit a note with the group.