With signage in hand stating "No Cell Towers," 59 concerned and frustrated Beacon Hill residents packed a small Beacon Hill Public library conference room on Nov. 8 to communicate their displeasure with T-Mobile's choice of location for their new cell phone tower.Jefferson Park, which graces the crest of Beacon Hill, was part of the original Olmstead park plan for Seattle. Developed in the early 1900s, it is a treasure to the neighborhood and well used by the richly diverse local population. Jefferson Park is in the process of revitalization, having received $8 million from the Pro Parks funding levy. T-Mobile, represented by Eric Johnson, RF engineer; Madeline Chaney, land use Specialist; and Liz Carrasquero, project manager; has proposed placing a cell phone tower in the northwest corner of the gateway to Jefferson Park to help improve coverage for an area of approximately eight city blocks; 15th Avenue South to the west, Hanford Avenue to the north, Spokane Street to the south and 24th Avenue South to the east. The section of the park where T-Mobile wants to place the tower is allocated for a lookout with views of the mountains, when the 10-year plan for the park is completed. The T-Mobile representatives said they have difficulties with coverage and issues with the terrain in the area. T-Mobile technicians did walk-around and balloon-transmitter tests in the problem area and found the location was the best option to place a tower. As proposed, the 45-foot tall tower is 24-inches in diameter, which is roughly the size of a 55-gallon oil drum. To put it in further perspective, at 45-feet tall it would be akin to approximately 16 55-gallon oil drums stacked on top of each other, all painted green to blend in with the surroundings.
The ING New York City Marathon draws more than 90,000 runners, making it one of the world's great road races. Fillies from the neighborhood were out in full force: Maria Cahoon, Alison Vogt, Patty Fleischmann, Claire Grinstein, Jeannie Ruckels-house and Stacie Feinstein. Husbands and well-wishers met at West 70th Street and First Avenue in Central Park to cheer on their buffed babes. Elios Restaurant, a favorite for carbo loading and celebrity sighting, was on the menu, as was a post-race Carnegie Reuben.Heigh-ho, SilverThe grand tradition of the children's Halloween parade went over the top this year when sisters Amy and Gigi Olsen went riding through the park on their ponies Merlin and Rusty, dressed entirely in U.S. Cavalry Civil War-era uniforms. Most children were happily dressed in their Halloween garb, collecting candy from generous merchants who looked forward to this day more than the children.
On Thanksgiving Day, Santosha Yoga in Madison Valley will offer two yoga classes as a way to raise money for local food organizations. Hosting a special class on Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to share in the holiday season and to feed people in need on a day when so many feast, said Rebekkah LaDyne, Santosha's studio director and owner. Giving backFor the last six years, Santosha has held two or three classes on Thanksgiving Day to benefit Northwest Harvest and Boomtown Café. In previous years, many regular and new students have attended with family members. It's a great way for families to enjoy the day together, LaDyne said.
Weren't you pleased to get your mail today, nothing but Christmas catalogues and pleas from one or two charities? Not a political message in the stack. My poor knuckles are down to the bone, scraped and torn in my efforts to remove much too much mail in much too small a box.I had letters from Bill Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barak Obama, urges from California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, and warm greetings from Maria Cantwell and Jim McDermott and John Kerry and 43rd District candidate Jamie Pedersen and several senators and representatives whose names I didn't even recognize, as well as hearing from a few of their mothers. There were days when I didn't have the strength to carry the mail upstairs.How many old forests were sacrificed for this election? What letter carriers have permanent back injuries from delivering the mail? What recycle bins have reached their capacity and overflowed? I think the day after election should be designated No Mail Day in honor of those who delivered and received the mountains of exhortations they have survived.
Former Leschi resident Aaron Dixon (right) celebrates Election Night with his Green Party campaign supporters on Nov. 7 at the Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave. Though Dixon ultimately received only 1.21 percent of the votes for U.S. senator, Dixon thanked the volunteers and his other supporters for a "good run."
A full house turned out to "hear things from the horse's mouth," as CASC interim director Cynthia Andrews put it, as leaders from Senior Services of King County and members of the Central Area Senior Center (CASC) in Leschi came together to discuss the center's future on Oct. 30. "I am amazed at the amount of people in this room. I expect everyone here for lunch tomorrow. We only have the place this full when it's catfish day," Andrews said with a laugh.When Denise Klein, Senior Services executive director, began speaking, the meeting quickly took a more serious turn."I realize I've made some pretty serious mistakes. I am very sorry for causing so many of you upset or anger or fear. I did not foresee this in setting regional goals for the Southeast [Seattle] and Central Area senior centers," she said.
Traffic congestion is a quality-of-life issue that we all deal with on a daily basis. The central Puget Sound region is projected to grow by 1.2 million people in the next 25 years; if we want to improve present conditions and plan for the future, we need to act now. Fortunately, there are several actions Seattleites can take to improve our mobility options.First, voters made a smart choice on Nov. 7, taking a great step toward improving our transportation system by approving King County Proposition 2, known as Transit Now.At a modest annual cost of $25 per household, Transit Now will help Metro Transit keep pace with population and employment growth by increasing our bus service 20 percent over the next 10 years.Transit Now will also increase King County's fleet of environmentally friendly hybrid buses, increase Access service for elderly and disabled riders and allow for new partnerships with cities and employers.Seattle voters will benefit from new "RapidRide" Bus Rapid Transit corridors between Ballard and the south downtown stadium area, West Seattle and downtown Seattle, as well as Shoreline and downtown Seattle. We also will see increased frequency on bus routes serving Northgate, the University District, Capitol Hill, South Lake Union, Queen Anne and downtown Seattle, and better connections for routes serving Sound Transit's Link light rail stations at Mt. Baker, Othello and Rainier Beach.
Veteran's Day, as it's now known-although I prefer England's designation "Remembrance Day"-has come and gone, and with scant attention paid from this writer's point of view. That, and an encounter in Magnolia Village on Nov. 11, has made me stop to think a bit more about this day set aside to remember our military men and women.I was approached by a man-a local man I recognized but don't really know-while waiting for my morning mocha at the McGraw Street Café. He had two pages of decals with the United States Flag, along with other red, white and blue designs that he wanted to place in the windows of some of the stores in the Village.He was incensed or, as he put it, "pissed off" at the lack of flags and other commemorative decorations in the Village. He then changed his description to that of being saddened by the lack of support for our veterans, stating that he himself had served in the military. The staff at the Café said he would have to get approval from the owner to place his decals.I walked away thinking about what Veteran's Day means, or perhaps should mean. I suppose it varies from region to region in our country. In small town U.S.A., there may be a major display of flags and parades, as well as pancake breakfasts. In larger cities, the festivities are much more subdued or nonexistent.
If you live in the Northwest, especially west of the mountains, you're on pretty intimate terms with moss.Moss can be everywhere. On the side of the house, in the grass of the lawn, on the driveway and sidewalk, on ignored cars-there is even moss on the north side of the recycling bin.Those three-wheeled baby strollers that jogging parents run behind: even they aren't safe from acquiring a fine green patina if the parent stops for a latte and lingers a little too long. Careful attention must also be paid to dogs tied up outside; if they snooze in one position for any length of time, they're liable to begin taking on a verdant cast.Because cats are usually basking in the sun, they tend to be pretty immune from the mossy onslaught; besides, their constant grooming with those rough tongues would soon scrape away any lingering vegetation.Fall is the start of the moss season-that is, if there is one single season when it is more predominant than others. Our famous northwest rains have started, and there's less strong sunlight to completely dry out the many spots where moss likes to begin to spread its green or black presence.One of the first things you learn about establishing directions as a child, besides that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, is that moss grows on the north side of trees. In northern latitudes this is true, because it is assumed to be because of the lack of sufficient water for moss reproduction on the sun-facing south side of trees. Of course, south of the equator the reverse is true.And to further confuse you: in deep forests, where sunlight does not even penetrate, mosses grow equally well on all sides of the tree trunk. So don't depend on moss location to get you out of the forest and back to civilization. It's better to just carry a compass.Now we're going to get all botanical on you.
Studies, and when I say "studies" I mean my random observations, have shown that the teenage brain's ability to make good decisions is hampered because it's not fully developed and the area of teenage girls' gray matter responsible for such tasks won't be up to snuff until around the age of, oh, 26. With males, the age has yet to be determined. As with most impressive articles touting scientific findings, I will now back up my statements with two anecdotes showing the veracity of my in-depth study. First story:My son is insane. I say this with affection and love, but with the conviction borne of having known him these 15 years and 7 months.He almost didn't make it to 15 years and 8 months. Over Halloween he carved his pumpkin. It was a small pumpkin, a tiny one in fact. He did it quickly, and at one point was having difficulty getting the knife into the gourd, so he stuck it between his legs and took the knife down there to cut it!"STOP THAT!! I would like to have grandchildren by you at some point in time. You plus sharp knives close to your bits and pieces reduces that prospect considerably! Are you insane??"
If you live in the Northwest, especially west of the mountains, you're on pretty intimate terms with moss.Moss can be everywhere. On the side of the house, in the grass of the lawn, on the driveway and sidewalk, on ignored cars-there is even moss on the north side of the recycling bin.Those three-wheeled baby strollers that jogging parents run behind: even they aren't safe from acquiring a fine green patina if the parent stops for a latte and lingers a little too long. Careful attention must also be paid to dogs tied up outside; if they snooze in one position for any length of time, they're liable to begin taking on a verdant cast.Because cats are usually basking in the sun, they tend to be pretty immune from the mossy onslaught; besides, their constant grooming with those rough tongues would soon scrape away any lingering vegetation.Fall is the start of the moss season-that is, if there is one single season when it is more predominant than others. Our famous northwest rains have started, and there's less strong sunlight to completely dry out the many spots where moss likes to begin to spread its green or black presence.One of the first things you learn about establishing directions as a child, besides that the sun rises in the East and set in the West, is that moss grows on the north side of trees. In northern latitudes this is true, because it is assumed to be because of the lack of sufficient water for moss reproduction on the sun-facing south side of trees. Of course, south of the equator the reverse is true.And to further confuse you: in deep forests, where sunlight does not even penetrate, mosses grow equally well on all sides of the tree trunk. So don't depend on moss location to get you out of the forest and back to civilization. It's better to just carry a compass.Now we're going to get all botanical on you.
Traffic congestion is a quality-of-life issue that we all deal with on a daily basis. The central Puget Sound region is projected to grow by 1.2 million people in the next 25 years; if we want to improve present conditions and plan for the future, we need to act now. Fortunately, there are several actions Seattleites can take to improve our mobility options.First, voters made a smart choice on Nov. 7, taking a great step toward improving our transportation system by approving King County Proposition 2, known as Transit Now.At a modest annual cost of $25 per household, Transit Now will help Metro Transit keep pace with population and employment growth by increasing our bus service 20 percent over the next 10 years.Transit Now will also increase King County's fleet of environmentally friendly hybrid buses, increase Access service for elderly and disabled riders and allow for new partnerships with cities and employers.Seattle voters will benefit from new "RapidRide" Bus Rapid Transit corridors between Ballard and the south downtown stadium area, West Seattle and downtown Seattle, as well as Shoreline and downtown Seattle. We also will see increased frequency on bus routes serving Northgate, the University District, Capitol Hill, South Lake Union, Queen Anne and downtown Seattle, and better connections for routes serving Sound Transit's Link light rail stations at Mt. Baker, Othello and Rainier Beach.Thanks to voters' passage of Transit Now, we'll start seeing more buses on the streets in February 2007.
Well, it's been a long time, six years and change, since I felt I could look my fellow citizens (most of them anyway) in the eye and not wonder just how simpleminded they might be.Of course I am talking about the election results, locally and nationally, from last week.I have mainstream friends, less cynical than I, who say, "We've got our country back."I wouldn't go that far. The current Democratic Party is not my dad's Roosevelt Democrats; in fact, these centrists in liberal glad rags are not even LBJ's Democratic Party.And across the country, people irritated at an unending war and an economic rape of the lower and middle classes are more than irritated that gay people want to be married. Numerous states banned gay marriage or refused at least to support it last Tuesday.This is backward thinking in a country where the conjugally joined are outnumbered by the solitaries for the first time in recorded American history.But who in their right mind (an important qualification) can feel too bad seven days after Rummy is forced to resign and eight days after the voters of Washington state have overwhelmingly told Mike McGavick to go back to economically disenfranchising workers and their families for his own benefit - lay off 1,200 SAFECO workers, give self $4-million bonus and then claim you "care" about the average citizen - and leave the public coffers alone?
Many artists have tried, unsuccessfully, to capture "The Great Gatsby" on stage or film. But F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic work remains as elusive as Gatsby's dreams of love.
Everyone is aware that there are different stages in the progression of an illness and that the person living with that illness will go through a range of emotions. However, we rarely reflect that caregivers, too, go through different stages of development, emotion and need while performing their role. Taking care of yourselfCaring for someone with Alz-heimer's or dementia in particular is associated with a higher level of stress than caring for someone with functional impairment from another type of illness. One survey on caregivers revealed that persons with Alzheimer's disease required an average of 70 hours of care per week, with 62 of those hours provided by the primary caregiver.Since caregivers have a tendency to focus so much attention on their "job," they often overlook their own personal needs, telling themselves that their needs pale in comparison with those of their family member or loved one who is ill. Just as the caregiver wants to keep his or her loved one as fit, healthy, strong and emotionally well-balanced as possible, it is even more important for caregivers to treat themselves with the same level of care to stay healthy and effective. Taking care of yourself is one of the best things you can do for your loved ones, and it will enable you to keep giving the very best care.