Work actually began two months ago with the early arrival of parts for a new seawall, but an official groundbreaking ceremony for Lake Union Park took place amid much fanfare and during freezing weather last Wednesday, Feb. 28.The 12-acre park was a long time in planning, said Karen Daubert, executive director of the Seattle Parks Foundation, which spearheaded the $20-million project on the south shores of the lake.
An ad in the paper the other day caught my eye: "Hurry in..." it urged. "Just in time for Spring - Save $20! Now only $59.99!" The ad was trying to sell a skateboard that normally sold for $79.99.(Do they even make that kind of roller skates anymore?)
When things are moving too fast for us physically, if we are unable to slow our bodies down consciously, we will do the slowing unconsciously, up to and including breaking a body part.I learned this by continuing to play basketball, semi-competitively (work and league teams), against much younger people into my 40s. After 20 years of playing with only a broken rib or two - due to someone else's aggression - I began breaking fingers and toes as if they belonged to someone else
We enjoyed so much reading the article about Dr. Stephen Jones, Queen Anne veterinarian, in the Queen Anne News this week (Feb. 28). It was very informative and interesting, and we appreciate you doing a feature story along with photos of Dr. Jones.After my husband and I read it, we both thought it was a great article, but felt some of Dr. Jones' personal attributes were not mentioned and we hope could be added. He is truly a unique and remarkable person. I think if you asked any of his patients' owners, you would find this to be true
God is dead. Listen: I might not be speaking of your god. I'm certainly not talking about mine. The dead god of whom I speak is He of the Spanish Inquisition. The Aryan Nations. Our current president. And certainly the god of new Seattle SuperSonics co-owners Tom Ward and Aubrey McClendon, two members of Oklahoman Clay Bennett's purchasing group who were revealed last week to be heavyweight contributors to a national religious group dedicated to banning gay marriage.br>So when I say God is dead, what I really mean is: tolerance for this sort of hammerheaded idiocy is over. This isn't about accepting another's precious political views; it's about calling a duck a duck.
"The Second Time Around" is just the beginning of the Queen Anne Helpline's spring fundraising events. Lots of wonderful items will be making their "second time around" at the Annual Fundraising Sale on April 12 through 14 at the Queen Anne Masonic Temple. . Do your old wine glasses need a new home? Is that record collection still gathering dust in the basement? Picture frames, sports equipment, books, dishes, everything except clothing could find a new home in this sale!
Replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel makes perfect sense - in a perfect world. It would open up a prime stretch of waterfront and leave a lasting legacy for generations to come.But it's not a perfect world, and we feel that Seattle, with its popular tunnel scheme, is trying to live champagne dreams on a beer budget .No matter that Gov. Christine Gregoire has said no to using state money for a tunnel, even the late-breaking and cheaper four-lane version. No matter that the optimistic, but unvetted, $3.4-billion price tag falls in the midrange of cost estimates, and no matter that no provisions have been made for inevitable cost overruns.The mayor's office, the majority of the city council and anxious development interests are still plowing ahead as if the subterranean transportation fix is perfectly reasonable.We don't feel a tunnel is either reasonable or even realistic; it would simply cost too much. While it's true the majority of Americans are up to their eyeballs in debt, as is the federal government, that doesn't mean Seattle can't buck the trend and act financially prudent for a change.Sure, the tunnel is a glorious vision, but judging from other recent Seattle transportation plans (remember the monorail?), chances look good the tunnel is a boondoggle in the making.That leaves two options on the table: building a new viaduct or using slower surface streets. To be sure, using surface streets would open up the waterfront, and Seattleites have been assured that improved mass transit can take up the slack for surface streets' admitted lack of capacity to handle the 110,000 vehicles using the viaduct every day.However, a mass-transit fix smacks of social engineering, an inexact science that is questionable at best and totally unrealistic at worst. Furthermore, it would cost an estimated $500 million to bury all the utilities currently attached to the existing viaduct, according to the city, which hasn't announced how long that work would take.For all these reasons, we're calling on the city and the state to rebuild the viaduct. True, there are those with a wag-the-dog mentality who vow to fight a new viaduct, but that will take time and money for court challenges that will inevitably delay the project and make it more expensive almost by the day.It may not be pretty - highways rarely are - but a new viaduct would do the job. And isn't that what's really important?
In early February, Nathan Hale High School's No. 1 tight end, Wyatt Taboh-Graziano, signed a letter of intent to play football at Western Oregon University (WOU).After helping to bring the Raiders to the playoffs last season for the school's first time since 1980, Taboh-Graziano is looking forward to continuing his football success.Taboh-Graziano also considered Western Washington University and Eastern Washington University. But after visiting the campus in Mon-mouth, Ore., in the Willamette Valley last year, he thought WOU was a good match for him.
The scenic Pacific Northwest attracts tourists from all over the globe with its snowy mountains, lush green forests and dramatic waterways. Yet with all of this natural beauty, designer Robin Worley can't stop looking at the trash."I can't go anywhere and look at anything without noticing it," she said. "I can't help seeing the possibility.", Worley is better known by her fans and peers as "Rayona Visqueen," the "queen" and one of the founding members of Haute Trash: An Artist's Collaborative.
In the North Seattle Herald-Outlook's Feb. 21 issue, Leah Stahlsmith's article "Don't Let Paper Pile Up on You" advocates readers to toss their paper into the trash. "The bigger the trash can, the better!" she says. Paper isn't garbage anymore! Per Seattle Municipal Code, recyclables, including paper, are prohibited from residential and commerical garbage. Homeowners' garbage cans filled with more than 10-percent recyclables will not have their garbage collected until the recyclables are removed.
The Tuesday, March 13, advi-sory ballot is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tear down a 50-year-old wall, reconnect downtown with its waterfront and show the next generation that we had the courage and foresight to make smart decisions about Seattle's future.>To do that, our votes must be clear and united: NO on a louder, uglier and noisier elevated viaduct.
A lot of people in Kirkland would like to do something special for Leo Milkin, who was serving in Iraq last July when his wife, sister-in-law and two young sons were allegedly murdered by Conner Schierman before he burned their house down to cover up the crime. hat includes Kirkland resident Cindi Wood, who came up with the idea of trying to get ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to rebuild Milkin's home.Wood and other supporters such as Kirkland Realtor Neal Christensen shifted gears. Taking the lead in the project, Christensen said he'd like to see the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) wetlands mitigation project on the east side of Forbes Lake expanded to include a blacktop road to the lake and a T-shaped fishing dock for children and the handicapped.
At first glance, nothing seems unusual. Inside the Terra Bite Lounge on Kirkland Avenue, people sip coffee, read magazines or newspapers, work on laptops - in short, they're doing the sorts of things people do in espresso cafés.On closer inspection, though, something highly unusual stands out. While you'll find the menu listing lattes and cappuccinos, you won't find any mention of prices. The Terra Bite, which opened in November, operates under a voluntary payment plan. You read correctly. No prices are listed and no money is requested. Nor is there any particular pressure to pay. A small metal box on the front counter unobtrusively informs customers that they can pay whatever they feel is appropriate.
>In the January issue of the Courier, you ran an article "District news: possible WASL postponement; making up snow days" where Lake Washington School District (LWSD) president Doug Eglington attributes poor performance on the math portion of the WASL to "inconsistent curriculum in schools throughout the state, student support, parental involvement and other reasons."I would like to suggest an alternative reason for poor math WASL performance: reform math curricula. Currently, many school districts in this state have adopted reform or constructivist math curricula in an attempt to have students learn "with understanding." LWSD is one of these districts.
I am appalled at your front page story in the February issue, "Junior high teacher alleges assault." Not only is this story biased but it is very incomplete, demeaning and unprofessional. Come on, this is a community paper! You do not realize the fight that has been fought for people with disabilities to receive justice, equality and equity in our society. You do not realize the long and dedicated hours parents of children with disabilities have worked to get their children included in everyday life with everyday experiences and everyday opportunities.