The most comprehensive coverage of the Rainier Beach traffic circle murder is over at The Sable Verity, where a Seattle-based blogger who writes under that name has been following the story obsessively (and passionately). Her posts range from opinionated (she thinks not just the suspect but the two girls who taunted the victim, James Paroline, should face criminal charges) to factual (a recounting of comments and emails from the community about the murder). Even if you don't agree with her POV, it's well worth a read.

"Customer: It's not much of a cheese shop, is it?

Owner: Finest in the district!

Customer: (annoyed) Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.

Owner: Well, it's so clean, sir!

Customer: It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese...."

This just in from Slog tipper Scott:

Ok, so about an hour ago I'm at the corner where Madison, 16th and Pine all come together. I'm on my bicycle waiting for the light to change when I look down and see a huge, machete-esque KNIFE COVERED WITH BLOOD lying in the crosswalk. Whether this implement was last used to carve up some tasty steaks or to brutally murder someone, the butcher/murderer was careful enough to put it back in it's protective vinyl sleeve before depositing it in the busy intersection. File under macabre.

That's sure what it looks like, anyway, as Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, a longtime holdout on going forward with light-rail expansion in 2008 , has endorsed a new 15-year plan that would extend light rail to Lynnwood, Federal Way, and Redmond. Although the plan only needed 12 "yea" votes to pass, Reardon's support was considered crucial because without him, none of the board's Snohomish County members would be on board with the plan, a bad political situation for Sound Transit if it wants to win votes in Snohomish County. Now that Reardon has signed on, his fellow Snohomish County ST board member Deanna Dawson--who works for Reardon in her day job--will undoubtedly support the package, as will Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, who told me recently that he was just waiting for Reardon to say he backed the proposal before throwing his own support behind it. That gives the new, $9 billion 2008 ballot measure at least 14 and probably 15 votes, with only King County Executive Ron Sims, Everett City Council Member Paul Roberts, and state transportation secretary Paula Hammond expected to vote "no."

The board is expected to vote on July 24.

Why couldn't the Blue Angels have been sent away with the Sonics?

I await Your reply,

David Schmader

robin williams is at laff hole at the rebar!!!

South and North Seattle residents just lost three Zipcars, along with some residents of View Ridge/Wedgwood. According to Zipcar communications manager Kristina Kennedy, the cars that Zipcar will be removing permanently include these locations:

• 35th Ave NE/81st St.in Wedgewood/View Ridge
• S. Holly St/Rainier Ave / Sr Center/ Brighton in Rainier Valley
• New Holly Community Center in Rainier Valley

In an email, Kennedy told me, "Cars are frequently moved around based on usage, types of cars needed in certain areas, member requests, etc. These cars have been unable to consistently support car sharing. It is always a very difficult decision to end service at any location or community, but all three of these locations have been utilized by fewer than 25 members in the last month."

I also asked whether any cars were being added; Kennedy did not respond to that part of my question.

According to a source in the area, another bicyclist was hit at the intersection of Eastlake and Fuhrman this morning—the same intersection where 19-year-old Bryce Lewis was struck by a truck and killed last year. Seattle Fire Department 911 logs show an emergency response at that location at 9:37 this morning.

The source says the cyclist was heading northwest on Furhman Ave. East when a driver heading toward the University Bridge on Eastlake turned right in front of him, striking him with her car. An ambulance came and drove away with the cyclist, who was wearing a neck brace and appeared to be injured.

Last night, I attended the community forum held at the Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church to discuss the murder of Rainier Beach resident James Paroline, who was attacked last week while tending a traffic circle in front of his house. Before the frustrated residents sat a handful of elected officials—including Richard McIver, fresh from his court date—as well as Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and a sergeant with the South Precinct (didn't catch his name). City Councilmember Bruce Harrell even took a minute to vent in front of the crowd. “I am so angry,” he said. “What causes that kind of disregard for life? This is not our city.”

Early in the meeting, residents focused on the role the victim’s race might have played in the crime and emphasized the diversity of the neighborhood (Brian Keith Brown, the suspect in the crime, is a 28-year-old black male; Paroline was a 60-year-old white male). Jim Dermody, who heads Seattle’s homocide unit, said that race “will be a focus throughout the investigation.”

The meeting was an opportunity for some Rainier Beach residents to explain to their elected officials just how frustrated they are with the crime that plagues their neighborhood, and the new direction gave Chief Kerlikowske and the Councilmembers a chance to talk up their new contract with the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild. When one resident claimed that the neighborhood has “essentially been de-policed,” the officers said the South Precinct expected to see a jump from a total of 80 officers to 105 officers within the next year. For now, however, several residents made clear the point that, for the time being, there simply aren’t enough officers around to make them feel safe.

Still, what seemed to bother residents who came to the meeting most was the way different demographics interact in Rainier Valley, and cited Paroline’s murder as an extreme example of a growing tension in the neighborhood. One neighbor pointed out—and it was clear to me just by looking around the room—that the distinguishing line between older group of neighbors, who’ve lived in the area for decades, and the younger generation is drawn thick. Another noted the tension created by stark economic diversity, and, most of all, residents seemed to fear that the death of Paroline is a sign of some kind of racial rift in the neighborhood.

Another woman, Amanda Williams, stood up to speak on behalf of Brown and the women who initiated the altercation with Paroline. "He's not a hateful person," she said. "He's not a racist."

Others at the meeting focused on getting kids off the streets and into other programs, which is getting harder to do, they say, as city money is siphoned elsewhere. A couple of neighbors asserted that new community centers and better oversight at schools could make a big difference in deterring juvenile crime.

Paroline’s sister, Kathleen Paroline Vernon, spoke at the end of the gathering, saying that, while it was unfortunate that the emotions expressed at the meeting were triggered by her brother’s death, it was the kind of community spirit he had always wanted to see. “James would have wanted to be a catalyst for something like this,” she said.

After Jobdango advertised on the streets of Portland using—the horror—sidewalk chalk, the city had to clean it up because sidewalk chalk, see, is apparently graffiti. Portland is now suing Jobdango.

The city is suing the online job classifieds company for $5,446, claiming that's what it cost to remove hundreds of chalk advertisements drawn on city streets one night last September….

Though one might expect the rain to wash the chalk away in this soggy city, the graffiti was applied in September, one of the few months in which Portland enjoys steady sunshine.

The cleanup crew spent several hours removing hundreds of chalk advertisements, which were 2 to 4 feet long. They had to be power washed, then scrubbed by hand.

"Chalk is not as easy to dispose of as people think," said Marsha Dennis, who directs the city's graffiti abatement department. "While you're waiting for it to rain, it looks messier and messier and messier."

Oh, it’s so much messier. Just think of the ROSES!

Meanwhile in Seattle, the county public health department appears to be spray-painting excellent go-get-tested-for-HIV ads on the sidewalk. I just tested one with water and rubbed it with my shoe, and the chalk didn't fade or run. But James Apa, spokesman for the county’s health department, says, “The material they use is regular chalk and on top of it they use an organic hairspray to make it last longer.” He says that the “Sidewalk Division” has given permission to spray the ads given that the “store owner is okay with it and it’s not permanent.”

But under city law, chalk and paint are both equally illegal on Seattle streets. So the moral of the story: if you want draw on the street, make it a good campaign and don't use plain chalk; use spray paint.

The Seattle Police Department—perhaps taking a cue from Wall-E—is preparing its officers for a world without walking.

SPD's parking enforcement team is testing a new, three-wheeled Segway-like scooter, which could be deployed for patrol use.

It looks like this.

And this.

And this.

In March, the city purchased six Segways for parking enforcement, for $5,000 each. These new three-wheeled scooters, made by T3 Motion, have a max speed of 18mph—the Segway only goes about 12.5mph—and cost $11,500.

SPD Spokesman Mark Jamieson says the department is only testing the units, but they could end up in the hands of patrol units on Broadway or the bomb/arson squads, who often lug around heavy equipment in the field. "It’s a case where we have an opportunity to demo them and see what the pros and the cons are," Jamieson says. "And if that is something we’ll want to explore later, we’ll tailor it to our needs."

Jamieson says the department trials of the T3 units will end the second week of August. Soon after, SPD's bike patrols are also expected to begin testing new equipment.

The city council's environment, emergency management, and utilities committee is expected to pass the much-discussed, much-reviled legislation imposing a 20-cent fee on disposable bags next Tuesday, July 22, and the full council is expected to pass the fee the following Monday. The legislation also includes a ban on Styrofoam food containers and meat trays. In a nod to the grocery industry, which opposed the ban and fee, the council will give grocery stores longer--between six months and a year--to find affordable replacements for Styrofoam meat trays; currently, recycled paper packaging and trays made from corn cost about ten times as much as foam.

The fee will go into effect January 1, 2009.

Even as some pundits predict doom for carsharing due to ever-increasing oil prices, the biggest carsharing company in the nation, Zipcar, is taking a smart series of steps to help it stay solvent. First and (to me) most important: Lowering prices on hybrids, which have until now been more expensive than regular sedans. Hybrids will now cost the same as regular cars, and some will be just $7 an hour. As I've said before: Charging more for hybrids (a step the company made, a company spokesman told me, to reflect the higher cost of the cars themselves) makes no sense if you're trying to get people to give up their cars (part of Zipcar's official mission); and may not even make financial sense as oil prices head higher.

Second, they're retooling their pricing structure, making some cars more expensive and some less. The change is about a dollar an hour in either direction, and appears to only impact cars downtown; but assuming the company's optimism "that we get some relief at the pump" proves unfounded, I'm guessing this isn't the last price hike we'll see this year. Which is a drag, but hardly the company's fault.

Finally, the company is giving away free memberships, transit passes, drive time credit, and other amenities to people who agree to give up one vehicle for 30 days. Personally, I did prefer the old (if ungrammatical!) One Less Car Challenge, which provides big incentives to participants who agree to ditch their cars altogether. But the 30-day "low-car diet" (and, OK, why does everything with Zipcar have to be so goddamned cutesy?) is a step in a good direction.

Community councils take note: if you want people to show up to your meetings, make sure there's beer.

As the Stranger's neighborhoods reporter, I've been to my share of community council meetings in the last year or so, and they're about as much fun as a poke in the eye. However, there's one upcoming meeting I'm actually looking forward to.

I've just been informed that the Georgetown Community Council holds their monthly forum at a restaurant—rather than a community center or city office—which means: beer!

Georgetown's next meeting is at 7pm next Monday at the Coliman Restaurant.

I'll report back on whether or not beer actually makes agonizing and interminable debates about graffiti and "kids these days" tolerable.

It looks like the city's new contract with the Seattle Police Officers' Guild (SPOG) is making an impact on recruiting.

According to new data from the city, Seattle's managed to pick up about 50 recruits and new officers since the city came to an agreement with SPOG in May 2007. Prior to that, SPD's staffing had become, according to SPOG President Rich O'Neil, "very dangerous."

It looks like the city has only hired about 30 recruits/officers since the beginning of the year, so who knows if SPD will be able to make its recruitment goals for the year—I believe it's 80 officers—but it looks like the city's optimistic about the current hiring trends.

Dear Sub Pop, Happy Birthday! I almost sh*t my pants climbing to the top of the Space Needle with you, but now I love you even more. Yours, Kelly O

More photos after the jump...

Continue reading "Space Needle Captured: The Video" »

For those who are still mad at Roger Valdez, former head of King County's tobacco prevention program, for pushing for (and rigorously enforcing) Seattle's indoor-smoking ban, here's something to put on the plus side of the ledger: An op/ed he wrote in today's P-I, which makes the case that everybody just needs to calm down about the pace of change in Seattle. And he has some smart suggestions for keeping the things and places that make neighborhoods work, without opposing development as such.

Where will all the new people live? Where will they park? Are they going to be noisy? Are they going to make me late for work by slowing me down in traffic or in the latte line? Are we paving over all the great old places to accommodate condominiums? Are all the old crusty bars getting taken over by newcomers who don't like smoke, noisy bands and want fancy beers?

We love our permeable society but are conflicted by change, especially when it comes to our neighborhood in the form of housing construction. And people with Obama's "Change" bumper sticker on their car are just as likely these days to have one that says "Free Ballard."

Response to the demolition of the Ballard Denny's is a great example of this internal conflict.

One commenter on the P-I's blog summed it up this way: "People building the condos couldn't care less about the fact that current Ballard residents don't want more of them built .... It'd be nice if for once people could stop thinking with their wallets and do something that could make the community happy."

That is what many think in Greenwood, Belltown, Capitol Hill and all over Seattle's neighborhoods. How do we provide services, housing, open space and bus service for all the new people without demolishing everything we love about Seattle? Are we turning Seattle into a soulless Everyplace with no character?

Unless we ban new development and put up walls around our city (what would that do to our character?), the growth is coming and with it change. What can we do?

We could expand the existing transfer of development rights program for landmark buildings beyond downtown into other neighborhoods. The program allows an owner of a historic property to sell her development rights to the city. If that owner's property rights allow six stories of development, that capacity could then be sold by the city, later, to a different developer who wants to build higher somewhere else. In that way we can preserve low-rise historic buildings and their existing use while actually increasing the number of new housing units.

We could use our land-use code to create incentives for developers to preserve existing uses, such as community arts and cultural venues, in exchange for increasing the number of units they can build. Incentive zoning, which trades such public benefits as community use for more housing units, is an example of a way to create needed housing while preserving elements important to a neighborhood's character and community.

Finally, we need to radically rethink zoning. Zoning exists to protect the health and safety of the public, not regulate developer profit. But it is our code, and we should experiment with it, creating rules that focus on project outcomes rather than just height. [...] Too often our existing code forces developers to design and build conservatively and allows neighborhood involvement only in the form of protest and appeal.

Dig it.

It's cocktail o'clock! Some recommended places to drink outside from the Bar Exam archives:

The Terrace Garden on the fifth floor of the downtown Red Lion (with weird free taco bar!)

Loretta's in South Park

The War Room on Capitol Hill

The Pink Door in the Market

Eastlake Bar & Grill (sometimes with bikers)

Six Seven at the Edgewater (may cause seasickness)

Victory Lounge (with a nice view of balls)

Sully's (née Q) on upper Queen Anne

King's Hardware in Ballard

The Red Door in Fremont

Ivar's Salmon House on Lake Union

In memoriam: The Jade Pagoda

The Door That Is Pink

Me, working for you!

Seen on the side of the 9: "Your weekend possibilities just expanded beyond a three-block radius. Zipcar."

Because people without cars are clueless shut-ins who could never figure out how to get more than three blocks from their house without driving a car. And because transit—as mentioned previously—does not exist.

Two local yokels have put their flag on the top of the Space Needle! I think they also defaced the top of it! Painted it to look like a record album!

^{photo by Steve Manning*}

Also, watch SLOG tomorrow for the video - the most terrifying How Was It? video interview I've ever done. That frickin' Needle is a lot higher than it looks. Especially when you're standing on tippy-tip-top of it.

Seth Kolleon reports that this month's Outside Magazine included Seattle on its list of the 20 Best Places to Live in America, a designation we won in part because we elected Greg Nickels:

Want a green planet? Elect Seattle’s mayor, Greg Nickels…Nickels has been at the forefront of fighting global warming…Not surprisingly, Nickels is just as devoted to his constituents, doing everything from installing hundreds of bike racks around the city to backing a $75 million renovation of Pike Place Market.

Constituents? Do you feel Nickels has been devoted to you?

More to the point, why do the media keep falling for Nickels's spin in spite of overwhelming evidence that his (great in concept) Climate Protection Agreement isn't working?

As I reported in this week's In the Hall, the latest iteration of Sound Transit's light-rail plan--tailored to appease Snohomish and Pierce County board members who felt the previous plan didn't do enough for their counties--is a 15-year plan that would extend light rail to Lynnwood, Federal Way and Bellevue--farther north and south than the previous 12-year, $6 billion plan.

Yesterday, Sound Transit sent me a more detailed version of the proposal. It would:

• Cost $10.4 billion in 2007 dollars.

• Get light rail to Northgate by 2020, with expansion to Lynnwood by 2023.

• Extend light rail through Bellevue to the Overlake Transit Center in Redmond by 2021.

• Extend light rail south to Highline Community College by 2020, with an extension to South 272nd Street (the border of Federal Way) by 2023.

• Expand express bus service.

• Expand Sounder commuter rail to 8-car trains and more trips between Lakewood and Seattle.

Twelve members of the 18-member Sound Transit board will have to vote for the plan in order for it to pass. Currently, the likely "No" votes include King County Executive Ron Sims and Everett City Council member Paul Roberts. Those who are reportedly on the fence include King County Council chair Julia Patterson, Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, and Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, for whom the most significant changes in the new package were made. Sound Transit staff will present the new plan at the July 17 meeting of the agency's finance committee, and the full board will vote July 24.

Meanwhile, even before the board signs off on the proposal, light rail opponents on the Eastside have already launched a preemptive strike. The Eastside Transportation Association, funded in part by Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman, is running radio ads saying Sound Transit's money should be spent on buses and roads.

Slog tipstress Stephanie alerted me to the breaking news and ongoing coverage at WestSeattleBlog:

We mentioned this earlier in the middle of a multi-topic post—and clearly we erred in not making it banner news: Blayne the barista, who’s worked at Hotwire Coffee for 2 1/2 years, made it to the popular cable-TV reality show Project Runway and is taping now for the season that starts next month.

It is not a lie to declare this super-exciting.

(Thanks to WSB and Hotwire boss/shooter of the above photograph Lora Lewis.)

I'm out of town on Friday—so can someone please run down to the Governor's Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation meeting tomorrow and nominate Art Skolnik's aging, sagging, increasingly decrepit ballsack for placement on the National Register of Historic Places? Like the 55 year-old Alaskan Way Viaduct, Art's 64 year-old ballsack was considered "unique and very clever" when it debuted. But Art's ballsack is sinking an eight of an inch per year and I'm concerned for the safety of anyone that might be under Art's ballsack should it collapse.

As there's "no prudent and feasible alternative" for replacing Art's ballsack, I'm hoping a successful drive to have Art's ballsack placed on the National Register of Historic Places will prompt the city and state to fund a retrofit.

So according to Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times, charging a fee for disposable grocery bags--and (horrors!) actually using some city employee time to make sure the fee gets charged--is aspiring to emulate South Africa or China. No, seriously: Because the mayor and city council want a small fee to motivate Seattle residents to do something they haven't been doing voluntarily (bringing their own bags to the store), Westneat thinks we're heading down the road to communism.

In China you can lose your business license if you're caught doling out plastic bags. In South Africa, you can be jailed for up to 10 years.

Still, those two are hardly models to aspire to.

Westneat suggests that Seattle "reduce its bag usage without inspectors" or a fee by "having stores do this voluntarily."

The trouble with that plan is, stores have had the ability to voluntarily reduce waste forever. And despite city encouragement, they haven't done it. "Having" someone do something "voluntarily" is oxymoronic. And it doesn't work. What does work? Bans on throwaway bags like those proposed or passed in places like San Francisco, Malibu, Santa Monica, L.A. and Portland work. Compared to the total bans other cities are passing right here in the democratic USA, a completely voluntary 20-cent fee is a very small price to pay.

The SPU workers who'll check stores for compliance with the bag fee are not "bag police," any more than the workers who peek into your recycling, garbage and yard waste before they cart them away are recycling, garbage, or yard waste police. Bag-fee opponents may indeed grumble about having to remember to bring their own; it's hard at first. But they shouldn't get their boxers in a bunch over the news that the city may actually enforce a law it passes.

I'll be live-Slogging the public-comment meeting on the proposed 20-cent fee for disposable plastic and paper bags (and proposed ban on Styrofoam food containers). Read along with me as enraged citizens yell at the council about their God-given right to free plastic bags, and environmentalists dressed up in silly costumes wave their hands and sing songs out in favor of the measure.

So far, the testimony has all been in favor of the fee and ban. First up: Shoreline City Council member Janet Way, who was accompanied by someone dressed up in an uncomfortable-looking costume made of plastic bags—the "Bag Monster." The council member and her monster were followed by the (also pro-fee) Raging Grannies, about a dozen senior citizens in funny hats who waved canvas bags in the air while singing a version of "This Land is Your Land" repurposed as a pro-recycling anthem. (Sample lyrics: "This can is your can/ this can is my can/ we use it once and we’ll use it again/ it might come back as a bicycle handlebar/ this can was made for you and me").

The grocery industry is speaking now. Jim Fenton, a representative for the QFC grocery chain, and Joe Gilliam, a spokesman for the Northwest Grocery Association, argued that a bag tax represents an undue burden on low-income people, and would consume too much time at the checkstand. A one-time transaction fee at checkout, Fenton argued, would "avoid delay at our checkstands so that our customers have time to get home to their families." Gilliam added, "We’re concerned about our customers who can’t afford [the fee], who are low income. There’s no one at our checkstand who should be singled out because of their income. … our concern for the fixed and low-income folks who can’t afford the per-bag tax." The first "concern" is absurd (if they're that worried about slow lines, why not get rid of cigarette sales and ID checks?), and the second is just disingenuous, particularly the second. As I've said before, anyone who can afford groceries--in other words, just about everyone--can afford to buy a 73-cent reusable bag.

Ooh, two disingenuous claims I haven't heard before. First, Mark Johnson, the vice president of government affairs for the Washington Retail Association, argued that his organizations had "health concerns" about "bags that are not being cleaned or washed and are being used over and over again." Because no one knows that you're supposed to wash produce (or put it in the plastic produce bags that won't be subject to the tax) before you shove it in your mouth.

On to disingenuous objection Two, also from Johnson: Canvas bags will encourage shoplifting! Let those raging grannies have a canvas shopping bag, and the next thing you know, away walks your whole inventory.

Steve Williamson, organizer for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21, made many of these same arguments a few minutes ago, adding that "inconvenient" reusable bags would cause workers physical harm. Encouraging reusable bags, Williamson said, would "be a burden on our members" because of the "additional work hefting overfilled and heavy bags." But aren't the UFCW's members the ones who'd be filling up the bags?

Several moms just testified. One (sorry, didn't get her name), her four-year-old at her side, told the council, "It is so so easy to get a bag. They give them away at a lot of places. I haven’t paid for one of mine. People are lazy— I’m an American, I'm lazy … but I am committed to change. I’ve never been all that political but my children have made me so. Our kids are going to be left wit the mess we created." Another said that "as the mother of three-year-old, I believe we are not likely to change our behavior without a slight amount of punitiveness. If this is what it takes to get us off our butts and do something proactive I think we ought to do it."

Cherie Myers, director of government affairs for Safeway, just made the case all the other grocery retailers (with the notable exception of Madison Market and PCC, whose representatives have both argued ) have made: That asking poor people to pay for bags (or remember to bring their own) is an onerous financial burden. She also argued that charging for bags would lead people to ration bags--in other words, to (horrors!) use less.

Several speakers in a row have argued for a voluntary approach--encouraging people to bring their own bags and recycle plastic bags (which, as another speaker pointed out, is total greenwashing) instead of requiring them. The problem is, the city already encourages reuse and recycling, and has for years. People don't change unless they're given an incentive to do so. The fact that this issue has kicked up such a shitstorm shows that 20 cents a bag may be a sufficient incentive to make them bring their own damn bags to the store.

Here's an argument I haven't heard before: Food banks, apparently, get their bags through donations, and many of them are disposable grocery bags. Kelsey Beck, of the hunger-relief organization Food Lifeline, said that "while we're excited that the city is giving out bags" to low-income people and seniors [as well as one free bag for every Seattle citizen], the group worries that "with the reduction of bags from the bag fee, there will probably be [fewer] bags for food banks." Perhaps, in addition to giving away multiple free bags to low-income citizens, the city should provide bags to food banks--or food banks should encourage citizens to donate reusable bags, instead of just disposable ones.

A spokeswoman from Washington Conservation voters also addressed concerns about low-income people, noting that people with lower incomes suffer disproportionately from the impacts of pollution--and added that the city's free-bag program "ensures that the fee is used as a disincentive, not a regressive burden."

A commenter just asked me why we can't just recycle plastic bags. To start with, fewer than one percent of all plastic bags used in the United States are recycled. Why? In part, because bags can only be recycled if they're made purely of one kind of plastic and have never been contaminated by coming into contact with any foreign materials (one reason even most of the plastic bags you chuck into the recycling bin end up in landfills). In addition, and perhaps more importantly, the vast majority of plastic bag "recycling" is really just downcycling--because it's more expensive to recycle plastic bags than to just make new plastic bags, the bags are almost always turned into other plastic products that themselves can't be recycled.

The Plastic Monster is speaking now. Who'd have guessed that plastic monsters talk like Trekkies?

Unrelated point: I'm actually impressed that Richard McIver--a lame-duck city council member whose final term ends next year--has stuck around for the duration of this extremely looooong hearing. Given that McIver generally prefers to talk than listen (not a slam--like his policies or loathe them, the man has a talent for the unexpected, perceptive offhand remark), and given that his political aspirations at this point are presumably nonexistent, his stamina at tonight's hearing is surprising.

Regarding the complaints coming up now at the hearing and in the comments that charging 20 cents for plastic bags makes it impossible for people to dispose of their garbage in any way other, as one woman put it, than "taking my garbage in my hands"--let me introduce Slog readers to biodegradable, compostable plastic bags, of which there are many, many options.

And with that, I'm out. Thanks for reading (even those commenters who whinged that this was "boring" while avidly hanging on every word) and see you in the morning.

Why is Alki's Statue of Liberteeny surrounded by a chain-link fence?

If only our city council had the guts to act like duly elected representatives operating under a republican form of government.

Or something.

Our duly elected representatives clearly want to build a few more streetcar lines to compliment the under-patronized, go-nowhere, sawed-off-runt of a streetcar line currently ferrying a half a dozen or more commuters per week up Paul Allen's ass—excuse me, through South Lake Union. Streetcar lines out to Ballard and up to Capitol Hill and over to the U-District might actually attract riders because, you see, they would actually go places where large numbers of people live, work, dine out, etc. So you wanna build more streetcar lines, guys? Take a motherfucking vote. And if the votes are there, then fund more streetcar lines and build the damn things. Or not. Whatever you do, though, please don't subject us to a two- or three-year-long "process" that involves endless public hearings and that merely serve to empower every batshit "stakeholder" in the city.

"I can't conceive that you are even thinking about this on First Avenue," said a woman speaking at a public meeting at City Hall last Wednesday. She manages several buildings along the proposed Central Line, which stretches from Seattle Center to King Street Station, mainly along First Avenue.

We went through this with the Monorail—remember hearing from property owners up and down Second Avenue who couldn't conceive of a monorail line running past their properties? And remember hearing how the Monorail was going to spoil the quiet tranquility of the Memorial Garden under Benaroya Hall? (That would be the same Memorial Garden whose "quiet tranquility" somehow isn't spoiled by a Starbucks or a bustling entrance to the bus tunnel.) And remember hearing how a monorail line from Ballard to West Seattle through the downtown core wasn't the best possible place to put the line for a long overdue start on a city-wide mass transit system?

The Monorail—despite winning three public votes (or was it four?)—was ultimately talked to death. By the time the Monorail hit what would have been a typical-for-a-major-project financial crisis (Sound Transit, anyone?) that an agency with some backing from the powers-that-be could weather (Sound Transit, anyone?), the yack-yack-yack process had delayed and dragged out the Monorail project for so long that voters had lost confidence in it—they lost confidence in themselves, in their own judgement—and the bleeding project was axed.

Now, of course, as we yack-yack-yack about tearing down the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and yack-yack-yack about capacity and moving the same number of people, not the same number of cars, through the downtown core, we could really use a mass-transit line that ran from West Seattle to Ballard through the downtown core. But nevermind. The Monorail is dead. Elevated transit is dead. Long live fixed-rail, street-grade, likely-to-get-stuck-in-traffic mass transit. But let's not talk it to death this time, huh? Let's build it—more light rail lines serving the region and more streetcar lines serving the city's neighborhoods.

And let's be honest about something as we push to build the kind of mass transit infrastructure—light rail, streetcars, buses that feed into those rail lines—that will lower our carbon emissions, make it possible for more people to live in the city without owning cars, allow developers to build dense housing without parking requirements, etc. It's an issue raised by another empowered ranter/stakeholder at last Wednesday's meeting:

"Do streetcars do anything more than buses?" asked a man at the same meeting. "It seems like a transportation plan driven by cuteness."

Buses are always and everywhere the mass transit solution most favored by people that don't ride mass transit. Buses are slow and unpleasant and... let's be honest, shall we? Buses are unlovely. They're unlovely to ride and they're unlovely to look at.

When it comes to constructing something as large and unavoidable as a mass-transit system, "cuteness" should count for something. Why shouldn't we take aesthetics into account? Why not invest more money in a transit system that provides, as an incentive to riders, a lovelier riding experience? Wouldn't people that don't ride mass transit themselves still prefer to see swift, sleek, comparatively quiet streetcars gliding past their offices and homes than loud, lumbering, noisy, exhaust-spewing buses?

Cities invest in "cuteness" all the time. We spend money maintaining parks—we don't just leave some acres aside here and there, let the weeds grow, and call it "open space." We blew up the Kingdome because it was ugly and replaced it with the much cuter—and way, way more expensive—Safeco Field. We tore down our ugly city hall and replaced it with that far lovelier terrarium. We tore down our ugly but perfectly functional old main library and replaced it with a much lovelier homeless shelter.

You can play baseball games more cheaply in an empty lot. You can lend books more cheaply from the back of a van. But we've got a cute baseball stadium and a cute downtown library because aesthetics matter. Cuteness matters—even to something as utilitarian as a mass-transit system.

I took this picture—these two pictures, actually, slapped together into one image—after we arrived at Imperial Lanes off Rainier on Saturday afternoon. That's our car there in the otherwise empty parking lot. It was the day after the July 4th holiday, kinda chilly and overcast outside, and we left the house worried that Imperial Lanes might be packed—seeing, again, as it was Saturday afternoon, overcast, chilly, etc. But we had the place—inside and out—pretty much all to ourselves.

You know, Seattle, it's not enough to mourn the passing of our allegedly beloved bowling alleys. We actually have to patronize the few we've got left if we want them to survive.

I bowled a 165. Not great, but not bad for me.

This just in to I, Anonymous:

How do you know you dig someone? You just know. It’s a feeling. Actually it’s like 28 feelings. I mean, you know when you are connected in seven of 28 ways with a chick you’ll end up fucking for three months, because those seven things were all parts of her body. And when you dig a chick for 14 of 28 reasons, you hang out for like six months because those same seven things mentioned previously are so fucking good that you give them double credit. And then there is the chick with 21 of 28 things and you last about a year, cuz it takes about a year for you to raise your hands in the air and say ‘Did you really just fucking say what you just fucking said?’, and she says you don’t understand her and someone moves out the next day. But when you get 28 out of 28, you fucking know it. And you know what you do? You just say to the other person, ‘There is no way in which I don’t love the fuck out of you’. It’s that simple.

Please, please, people. Don't ride fixies in the city. I just called 911 for a guy who was at the bottom of a hill trying to slow down for a light. He flew over his handlebars and did a face plant (wearing a helmet, which is great, but also glasses, which shattered and embedded near his eye) and completely tore up his cheek. I hope his eye is OK. He's on his way to the hospital.

I'm kind of freaked out. Fixies are for tracks, not streets, all right?

It looks like Metro fares are going up again.

With Metro Transit ridership and diesel fuel prices at record levels, King County Executive Ron Sims today announced he will preserve current service and continue delivering new service by proposing a 25-cent fare increase. Sims opted for the proposed increase rather than cut service to pay for fuel costs that have skyrocketed over 60 percent this year alone.

If approved by the county council, one-zone peak transit fares would increase 25 cents beginning Oct. 1 to $2 for adults from the current $1.75 fare. One zone non-peak would increase to $1.75 from the current $1.50. Senior fares will remain at 50 cents and youth fares will stay at 75 cents. Increases are also proposed for Access fares, vanpools and FlexPasses.

Sims said the proposal is intended to keep transit an affordable alternative for residents, and allow Metro to continue expanding service while paying record high fuel costs.

In addition to fare increases, Metro is proposing additional steps to offset rising fuel costs. It’s asking the King County Council to reconsider its prohibition of wrapped advertising on Metro buses and is taking steps to develop a fuel-hedging program aimed at reducing fuel price volatility.

I understand that Metro's got to pay for rising fuel costs somehow, and of course I'd rather pay a quarter more than lose transit service in Seattle. But this is a systemic, long-term problem--one that's not going to be solved by bringing back those godawful bus wraps (great idea--pay for bus service by making it even LESS pleasant to ride the bus), nor by raising fares a quarter here, a quarter there. Ultimately, Metro's going to have to make some radical changes--ditching the diesel fleet, investing in new electric or hybrid buses, or getting rid of the insane 40/40/20 funding split (under which Seattle, which has the most transit riders, gets just 20 percent of new Metro funding, with the rest going to the suburbs) and reducing frequency on underutilized suburban routes. Raising fares repeatedly, as the county seems poised to do, takes its biggest toll on the working poor—the very group that's most likely to depend on transit service.

Downtown's French/Asian fusion lounge Qube is conducting its last day of business today.

Owners Fu-Shen Chang and Kerry Huang are sad to announce the closure of Qube. The last day of operation is today, July 3, 2008. Qube opened in December of 2006. “We’ve really enjoyed the challenge of having our own restaurant and seeing the pleasure people have had from tasting the seasonal menus,” says Fu-Shen. Qube brought something new to Seattle, a sophisticated, urban look and feel with matching modern food. Guests loved the Qube Sets and innovative a la carte plates. Qube was also known for its cocktails using infused alcohol, herbs and fruit. With the economic downturn, people have reduced their fine dining budget and Qube has felt the impact. Realtor Laura Miller, 206-726-3451, is handling the sale of the restaurant.

RIP, Qube, and condolences, lovers of French/Asian fusion cuisine.

The city repeatedly argued two points during last month's Sonics trial that were completely upended by yesterday's settlement.

1. They argued that it's impossible to place a monetary value on the Sonics. This supported their stance that the judge should issue a specific performance ruling—meaning the Sonics had to play, not pay. By accepting the settlement, the city actually did put a monetary value on them—$45 million.

2. They argued—in response to the claim by lawyers for Sonics owner Clay Bennett that keeping a "lame duck team" in Seattle for two years would actually crumple local morale and simply lead to more financial losses for the city—that two years was a long time (look at the Boston Celtics—who were terrible just last year and won the NBA championship this year)! they argued in court—and would provide a window for the city (with the willing local ownership group in place) to come up with a new solution, probably the KeyArena solution that the NBA had already signed off on.

Asked about this second point yesterday, the mayor's office told me: "Bennett was never going to sell."

So, what was the point of the trial? (I've put in a records request to find out how much the city spent arguing all this stuff it apparently didn't believe.)

The only reason you make a deal that contradicts the central arguments you made in court is when the other side has the upper hand. The only time the other side has the upper hand is if the judge agrees with them.

As for the convoluted $30 million incentive that I scratched my head over after yesterday's press conference, it goes like this:

If the legislature doesn't approve a funding plan, the city doesn't get the $30 million.

The point of the funding plan is to lure a team to Seattle.

If the city lures a team to Seattle, the city don't get the $30 million.

I'm still scratching my head. Isn't this just a screwball way of saying: "No funding plan, no team".... which is exactly what the city told the legislature last year?

P.s. I saw a movie last night, and as fate would have it, I got mixed up about where it was showing. It was playing on Capitol Hill, but I thought it was playing at Seattle Center. So, the Gods of Mixed Up Movies conveniently sent me biking through desolate Seattle Center and right by KeyArena, with that red key glowing in the gloaming and nobody around, just a few hours after the city's sad announcement.

P.P.S. I'll be on KUOW at 1pm talking about the Sonics settlement.

City Attorney Tom Carr categorically denies rumors that he does not plan to run for reelection in 2009. "Who would want this job?" Carr joked this evening, just hours after participating in a grim press conference announcing that the Sonics would leave Seattle. Carr—who many in the music and nightlife community, in particular, would like to see replaced by someone less keen on busting bars and clubs—has not reported any campaign contributions since 2006.

Here's her brief ruling.

Have you seen this "opinion blog" with but one delightful entry over at the NYT?

This illustrated entry is about the author's sons, who are (were? they now live in Berlin) obsessed with the New York subway system. A portion:

Aww.

Nuclear off-the-record—or as the NYT likes to say these days, "according to a source in the government that wanted to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak"—someone put it to me this way: "How 'bout those Mariners and Sounders and SeaHawks, aren't they great?"

To which I said: "So we're still a world class city, even without the Sonics?"

Answer: "Thank you for understanding."

There you have it. Sounds like a settlement is coming this afternoon.

Here's their story.

I've got a call in to the city to see what's up.