Here's what's happening at The Seattle Public Library's Capitol Hill Branch in February.For preschoolers, we will offer story times filled with stories, songs and fun at 10:30 a.m., Wednesdays, Feb. 7, 14, 21 and 28. This month, the Capitol Hill Book Group is reading "The Unfastened Heart" by, Lane Von Herzen, which will be discussed Wednesday, March 7, at 6:30 p.m. Come on in or call the branch at 684-4715, or visit www.spl.org for more details on either program. And just in time to chase away the winter blues, here are a few books to enjoy by a warm fire.
For a couple of decades in Seattle, first downtown, then on the Hill, the Vogue was the club for the goth, glamgoth and other black-clad denizens of the night. Finally, rising rents closed down the Vogue in December and some people feared that they would have to put away their black eyeliner for good.Monny, the longtime ringmaster of the madness, even considered taking a "regular job" for about a week: "But a friend told me 'Monny, your genius is building nightclubs.'" So, walking about Capitol Hill Arts Center in his black fishnet stockings and platform shoes, Monny is busy on a Friday afternoon setting up for another Fetish Night. Along with Shawna, another former Vogue fixture and bartender, Monny has started a "true alternate scene" at CHAC under the title "Monny & Shawna's Blacklight."
It took 10 years, but the boys and girls in Washington, D.C. - specifically, the Department of Housing and Urban Development - tried to count the homeless in 2005. The recently issued report estimates that there were 744,000 homeless people in 2005 within our lovely national environs.According to the same report, Washington state had 23,970 homeless persons.The homeless, the report stated, are diversely composed. In addition to single adults, mostly men (60 percent), 40 percent of those without shelter were freezing, wet parts of fragmented families.Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said lack of affordable housing was the leading cause of the problem. Roman said further that, although many of the chronically homeless do have mental problems, many more simply cannot afford a decent place to live.
Condominiums are part of the mix in urban housing. They provide options for first-time homebuyers who can't afford a detached dwelling, empty nesters ready to downscale and busy single professionals with no time for home maintenance.However, when condos are created by converting existing apartment buildings into units for sale, tenants are displaced with 90 days notice and $500 in relocation assistance, hardly enough time or money to find a new home in Seattle's tight rental market.While condos can be a boon to people making 80 percent of the area median income or more (median income is $52,010 for a single person, $74,300 for a family of four), there is no shortage of condos available for them. It's those making less than 60 percent of median income who are most likely to lose their homes due to condo conversions.Here's s typical scenario: A developer buys an apartment building for $150,000 a unit, holds onto the building for a year or so while raising rents to cover loan payments, then makes some superficial improvements, kicks out the tenants (many of whom are longtime elderly residents on fixed incomes), and sells the units to buyers for over $250,000 (the median price of one-bedroom condos converted since 2004). The elderly are particularly vulnerable because they tend to be concentrated in the city center where most of the condo conversions are happening.Although the rate of condo conversions has slowed in other cities, in Seattle the tide is still rising: 430 in 2004; 1,551 in 2005 and 2,352 last year.When you combine these losses with about 1,000 units of low-income housing lost in the last two years to demolition and another 2,000 or so lost to speculative sale - where the new owner jacks prices above low-income levels - it translates directly into more homelessness and longer waiting lists for public housing and Section 8 vouchers. It also means more low-income people are forced to leave Seattle altogether.
The old Elite Tavern has closed.The new Elite Lounge, as of this writing, is not yet open.And there's no official word as to when, or even if, the new Elite will open. A stop-work order is in place, at least for now, delaying the move.The old Elite, as this paper's regular readers and anybody who's lived on the Hill know, was one of Seattle's oldest gay bars, a keystone in Capitol Hill's emergence as the heart of the local gay community.It was also one of the last beer-and-wine-only establishments to hold out against Washington state liquor laws that encouraged bars to convert to full liquor service.That retro status fit right in with the Elite's latter-day image as a hangout for older gay men who'd retired from (or never felt) any need to flaunt their fabulousness. It was simply a place for guys who liked to hang out with their fellow guys. In short, it was not the kind of place you'd expect to survive a forced relocation due to redevelopment at its old site.I think it's good that the Elite's owners intend to carry on, in new digs in the Olive Crest building at Olive Way near Denny.I also know people who don't like the idea. They wouldn't mind if the now-stalled remodeling of the Elite's new space stays stalled.
When Seattle resident Bradley Enghaus made arrangements to have his home checked out by a master home environmentalist, he had visions of receiving a white-coated scientific expert at the front door, armed with a Geiger counter-like instrument for measuring the levels of dust in his living room.What he got was Kerrie Carbary, a volunteer with the American Lung Association's Master Home Environmentalist (MHE) program, which sends its volunteers to make house calls and assist residents in assessing environmental health problems and making recommendations that help reduce exposure to indoor pollutants.Carbary, who arrived at Enghaus' home with no scientific instruments but several handouts, including a list of tips to improve indoor air quality, said many people who call her office expect their living areas to be subjected to a scientific inspection.She's not that kind of environmentalist, said Carbary, who jokingly refers to herself as the "cleaning police." Her job is to focus not on how much dust and mold there is in a place but educate people on how to get rid of it and make sure it doesn't come back.
Over the last two weeks, both Seattle dailies reported on a canine development in Olympia, one that could alter current laws governing health and safety in public bars and dining establishments that have a liquor license. If Washington state Senator Ken Jacobsen and other canine-loving legislators succeed, a state law - the first of its kind in the nation - might soon allow well-behaved, leashed dogs to pony up to the neighborhood bar with their masters. The proposed measure received a public hearing before the Senate Labor, Commerce, and Research Development Committee in late January.Reflecting the local mood regarding the proposed legislation, managers of one pub and several coffee shops reacted positively, yet cautiously, to the news. Both at the Six Arms Pub, on East Pine Street, and at Victrola, on 15th Avenue East, proprieters indicated they have a policy prohibiting pets from coming indoors. But both welcome customers to tie up their furry friends outside while ordering a coffee or sitting down for a meal or a quick nightcap."Some people bring lap dogs and secretly tuck them inside their coats," said Josh Dawson at Six Arms. "But if we see a dog, we must direct them outside."Danae DeBree, manager of Victrola, agreed. "Now and then customers will arrive at the counter to place an order with their dog scooped in their arms. If they plan to stay, we let them know only service animals are allowed," she said.Last fall a minor furor emerged when a columnist for this paper expressed disappointment when a local coffee shop was forced to post a "no dogs allowed" sign after a disgruntled patron called the health department reporting lax enforcement by the café's owner. The columnist, while not a dog owner, enjoyed the social opportunity to visit with neighbors and their pets each time he dropped by for his morning joe.
Who knew that the 6,000some voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would emerge as the collective voice of sanity in the run-up to the 79th Oscars?
Valentine's Day is coming up - next Wednesday, to be precise. This is a holiday reputed to be dreaded by singles forced to listen to the gushing of the happy, or at least the temporarily entwined.Tough times for the unloved and the unofficially loved. But another Valentine's Day problem, which can spill over into that significant other's birthday or anniversary, is most often suffered by men involved romantically, or maritally, with a woman, or a romantically inclined male partner.What to get a person who has everything? Including, dare we say, a person who even has you!That's where the Seattle Sea-Chordsmen come in.The SeaChordsmen are an active Seattle chapter of the national Barbershop Harmony Society. And have been since 1949.
As of June 1, many Washington state families have an unprecedented opportunity to improve the health of their children through the Children's Health Program - yet it's likely that many of them do not know of the opportunity or how to take advantage of it. Earlier this year, advocates for children's health celebrated when Gov. Chris Gregoire signed historic bipartisan legislation that brought Washington one giant step closer to the goal of covering all children by 2010.
Part of Pacific Northwest's 125th birthday celebration for Igor Stravinsky is a segment called "Circus Polka," and these six Magnolia young ladies are in turn part of that. From back to front, they are: Ashley Ochsner, Our Lady of Fatima, grade 6; Katharine Grimm, Our Lady of Fatima, grade 6; Eileen Kelly, St. Anne, grade 6; Lauren English, TOPS, grade 4; Mary Luken Raz, Pacific Crest, grade 3; and Lindey English, TOPS, grade 4.
The Little League report is compiled from submissions by volunteer field reporters. The News cannot verify the accuracy of the individual reports. Reports will be published on a space-available basis.Ken's Market lays pipe to top Best Plumbing5 Spot zeroes out Video Isle QA Mall rallies over Eileen Burke
The sixth-grade Fatima baseball team won the CYO Championship game last Thursday against University Prep in extra innings. Tied 2-2 in regulation, the game went to an extra inning - and Fatima scored 10 runs to win. Pictured are coaches Bob Santucci and Matt Murphy, along with the team: Jack Peterson, Pat Smith, Karl Robinson, Sam Robertson, Sam Deane, Trevor Hansen, Will Schmidt, Dylan Wade, James Donaldson, Taylor Bisett, Alex Osborn and Tom Paulsen
Queen Anne Clean-Up Day took place Sunday, June 3, with community businesses and residents starting at Counterbalance Park and fanning out across the neighborhood, picking up garbage and even old furniture, cleaning the streets and beautifying the local park. Sponsored by the Greater Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce and spearheaded by Chris Bihary of Queen Anne Office Supply, many local groups participated, including the Church of Scientology, Seattle Jaycees, Uptown Alliance and others. Starbucks, Safeway and QFC, among other merchants, donated food and beverages for the volunteers.
Road trip?" was all Pop had to ask a few months ago and now the always switched-ON city of Las Vegas was fast disappearing in the rearview mirror. The sun hadn't yet peeked over the mountain, but we were already rolling down the highway.