All isn't as quiet as you might imagine on the local campaign front; in fact, money is starting to pour into local campaigns for elections as far off as 2009. Here's a quick summary of who's getting cash (and who isn't) and where they're getting it from.

First, let's look at who isn't raising money (yet): City council member Nick Licata, who's up for reelection next November. Licata is widely rumored to be among at least three council members who will step down next year (Jan Drago and Richard McIver have already confirmed as much). The fact that Licata hasn't raised any money (he does have $29,000 on hand) doesn't necessarily mean he's made up his mind to leave the council (this same time in 2004, one year before last time he was reelected, Licata had even less money, around $21,000, on hand); but it could be an indication that he doesn't plan to run for mayor against Greg Nickels, despite rumors to the contrary.

On to the 2008 campaigns: The Divest From War Campaign, behind this year's anti-war (and, arguably, anti-Israel) Initiative 97 (the initiative would bar the city of Seattle from investing in companies involved with the war in Iraq, and also would require the city to divest from companies that do business in occupied parts of Israel) has raised just over $10,500, $1,100 of it from the Palestinian Solidarity Committee. The opposition campaign, No on I-97, has not yet filed its August reports, but at the end of July had raised around $6,000.

Citizens for Pike Place Market, which is backing a proposed $73 million levy for improvements to the downtown market, had raised more than $280,000, with the vast majority of that ($166,970) coming from the Pike Place Market Foundation; other major contributors include Bruce Nordstrom ($25,000), the Safeco Corporation ($10,000), and developer William Justen ($10,000).

Stop the Bag Tax, which opposes the council-adopted 20-cent fee on disposable plastic and paper grocery bags, and Neighbors for Seattle Parks, which is backing a renewal of Seattle's Pro Parks Levy (which Mayor Greg Nickels opposes), have not yet reported any contributions to speak of.

Meanwhile, the candidates for state legislature in the 36th district, Reuven Carlyle and John Burbank, have raised $206,000 and $157,000, respectively; the candidates for state legislature from the 46th district, Scott White and Gerry Pollet, have raised $93,000 and $47,000, respectively; and the candidates for state Senate from the 11th district, Margarita Prentice and Juan Martinez, have raised $241,000 and $48,000, respectively.

Originally posted last night, but I moved it up.

A controversial plan to divert thousands of King County's felony drug cases to city courts has been scratched, says King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. Instead, the county may send approximately 2,300 cases from King County Superior Court down to the county's district court, which handles only misdemeanors, at a lower cost per case. Once in district court, Satterberg says, “in most cases the person will not get jail.”

The prosecutor’s office is shuffling cases in an attempt to slash its spending by $5 million to accommodate an estimated county shortfall of $86.5 million next year. Says Satterberg: “We have to focus our resources on serious violent crimes, sex offenses, domestic violence, car theft and major economic crimes, to name a few.”

Under the county's current proposal, the lower court would hear the cases of defendants found in possession of three grams or less of hard drugs (such as heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine), less than 100 grams of marijuana, or fewer than 12 marijuana plants. It would also hear an additional 300 more cases involving property crimes; meanwhile, about 1500 minor property crimes normally charged by the county, would be sent to city courts.

Barbara Linde, chief presiding judge for King County District Court, says charging cases in district court is less expensive. If defendants are jailed, sentences are shorter and incarceration and court costs are lower, she says.

Although prescribing prison terms for nonviolent drug offenders is a proven mistake, downscaling charges is an imperfect solution. Unlike the superior court, the district court lacks a drug court, which allows defendants to opt for treatment instead of a criminal record. In addition, the additional cases put pressure on an already burdened department. “We are tapped out,” says Linde, whose court is under orders from the King County Executive Ron Sims to slash 11 percent from its budget. “We’re talking about taking already strapped judicial resources and adding 2,300 more cases,” she says.

When Sims first instructed criminal justice agencies to cut their budgets in June, Satterberg’s office responded by suggesting the drug possession cases be sent to cities. But Satterberg says, “It was clear to me after meeting with numerous city officials from cities throughout King County that their municipal courts were not in a position to absorb large numbers of new cases."

This latest proposal, however, would put the cases in a legal gray area. The drug cases are felonies, but district court can only charge defendants with misdemeanors. So the lower court will charge defendants for “attempted” drug possession, which carries a lesser penalty. "I don’t think anyone is pretending that is the accurate label for the offense,” says Linde.

Sims will make his final budget recommendations to the county council next month, and the council is expected to modify or approve it in late November.

Pro Walk/ Pro Bike 2008--that would be the same bike/ped conference Seattle almost forfeited when it mysteriously demoted bike/ped manager Peter Lagerwey, one of the most respected bike planners in the nation, early last year--is happening this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at the Westin in downtown Seattle.

You can still register as a walk-in participant--I'm particularly interested in Thursday's panel on "How to Develop and Implement a Successful Bike Master Plan," headlined by Lagerwey, given the extent to which Seattle's own Bicycle Master Plan has been whittled away--but Friday afternoon's event, which will look at how biking and walking can impact climate change, is free and open to the public. According to the conference web site, it's an "interactive workshop" where participants will explore "(1) the value of trading a car trip for a bicycling or walking trip, (2) strategies to create buy-in from general public, businesses and elected officials, and (3) improving air quality through policies, programs and projects that promote bicycling and walking." Full details available here.

Concerned parties should proceed directly to Line Out.

I just received an email from Council Member Tom Rasmussen informing me that the city's getting numerous complaints about signature gatherers for the city's Referendum 1 campaign--the campaign to remove the 20-cent tax on disposable plastic and paper bags the city passed last month. Reportedly, petition gatherers are telling voters that the referendum would actually support a tax on plastic bags--that is, the tax that already exists--which is exactly the opposite of what the referendum would do.

If you were misled about the intent of Referendum 1 (not to be confused with Proposition 1, the Sound Transit ballot measure, also on the November ballot) and want to get your name removed from the petition, contact city clerk Judith Pippin. She can be reached by email, by fax at 206-386-9025 (if emailing or faxing, be sure to include a document, like a PDF, with an image of your actual signature) or by mail at PO Box 94728 Seattle, WA 98124-4728. Do it soon, because Pippin estimates the last day to withdraw a signature will be sometime early next week; the American Chemistry Council-funded campaign turned in 20,3000 signatures, or about 6,000 more than they needed.

These folks are.

We in the plastic bag industry are determined to improve the lives of the homeless, and cheap disposable bags are key to our approach. Before cheap disposable plastic bags derived from petroleum-based compounds were widely introduced in the 1970s, there was no weather-proof way for people of the street to carry their belongings—you try putting your stuff in a canvas tote through a rainy Seattle winter and see how that works out! By providing cheap disposable bags by the millions and millions and millions and millions every year, we make sure there’s an ample free supply of gently used & slightly-dirtied bags available for the less fortunate. It’s just something we do.

More at Plastic Bag Makers for More Plastic Bags.

Seattle Public Utilities is asking Beacon Hill residents to refrain from drinking their tap water until crews are able to repair a broken water main in the area.

SPU says 460 customers from Bennett and Graham Street, between 13th and 16th have been affected.

If you must drink your tap water, SPU wants you to know that:

SPU teams will be arranging to distribute water in the area. Area residents are advised that if they must use water from their taps, they should boil it first. Following are instructions on how to boil your water: * Strain the water through either a cheesecloth, coffee filter, or other clean, porous material to remove as many solid particles and dirt as possible; * Bring the water to a rolling boil for 1 minute; * Let the water cool. Pour into a container that has been boiled or sanitized with chlorine bleach; * To preserve the quality of the water, refrigerate the water until use.

Slog tipper Kristi writes:

There is a fairly large herd of actual GOATS hanging out in the I-5 greenway by Pine St. and Boren, below the new dog park (down about 1 block west from the Baltic Room). Seriously! I can see them from my office. There is a also a collie going nuts because I think they are inspiring his/her natural herding instinct. Do you know the back story on this??

I do not, but I love actual goats. If anyone has any info, please share.

...wet, sopping fucking wet.

It's August, right? Not complaining. Just asking.

One day I'm going to run for mayor of the city of Seattle on a "kill all the fucking geese" platform...

And I'll win.

Monica Guzman has the story at the Seattle P-I's Big Blog:

Pizzerias all over Seattle got some unusual—and somewhat offensive—postcards in the mail this week.

Addressed to "stupid competitor," the postcards appear to be from Pagliacci Pizza.

But they're not, said Pagliacci co-owner Matt Galvin. At least, the familiar Seattle pizza chain didn't send them. They're apparently part of some anonymous joke. And Pagliacci is left to do damage control.

Full story here. (And anyone with guesses re: the identity/motive of the postcard prankster, feel free to share 'em in the comments. I smell a disgruntled employee, but there's also a light performance-art scent wafting through...)

Postcard scan from the P-I/Suzuki + Chou Communimedia.

Traveling south through downtown this afternoon, I was surprised (and a little confused) to see what looked like a golf putting lane in the middle of the bike lane on Second Avenue. I didn't get a shot, but this is more or less what it looked like:

That photo was taken in Portland (and licensed, like all the photos in this post, under a Creative Commons license), and Seattle officials cite that city's success with green lanes to support their decision to install green lanes here. "The idea behind the green bike lanes is they're at intersections where we expect there to be conflict between motorists who are turning and cyclists who are going straight," says Rick Sheridan, spokesman for the Seattle Department of Transportation. ""It's a visual cue to motorists to expect to see a bicycle."

Biking through downtown, I could perceive absolutely no difference between riding on Second before the green lanes were installed and riding with them in place: Drivers still cut me off, turned left into my path, honked when I tried to move forward with the flow of traffic, and generally failed to acknowledge my existence. If they thought anything of the new lanes, they certainly didn't indicate it by acting differently; more likely, those drivers who even noticed them just thought they were a weird art installation.

But they work in Portland!, fans of green lanes insist. That may be true, but Portland has a whole network of cool, colorful bike facilities that work together to get drivers accustomed to watching out for bikes; so far, we just have a few small green strips of pavement. To make small steps like the green strips downtown effective, we'd need to install lots of new bike infrastructure everywhere. Infrastructure such as:

Bike boxes:

Continue reading "Green Bike Lanes" »

This just in from Slog tipper Mollie:

Smells like someone just toked up in the back room of Cafe [REDACTED]. Everyone that walks in says "it smells like something's burning." Maybe the building's on fire?

I love that Cafe Redacted.

No to Proposition 1, the group that's opposed to this year's light rail expansion measure, has not yet filed as a political campaign with the Public Disclosure Commission despite the fact that they've begun campaigning against this year's ballot measure.

Mark Baerwaldt, spokesman for the No to Prop. 1 campaign, says the campaign hasn't filed any public-disclosure forms yet because it doesn't have to. "The minute there’s a penny raised, the minute there’s a penny spent, it’ll be reported," Baerwaldt says. "Are we going to be out there in full force with a massive campaign? Absolutely. ... [But] we are still in the process of planning" what that campaign will look like.

Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the PDC, says whether the campaign has spent money isn't the issue; the law says that what matters is whether they intend to do so. "They don’t have to actually do it; they just have to have the expectation," Anderson says.

"They've been told that they need to file."

Although Baerwaldt responds the campaign has no expectation yet of raising or spending money, Anderson says their web site suggests otherwise. The site—originally put up in opposition to last year's Prop. 1, the roads and transit ballot measure that was defeated in November—refers repeatedly to the 2008 ballot measure, includes the text of a radio ad clearly aimed at this year's measure, not last year's, and includes news stories from as recently as late July 2008--eight months after the 2007 ballot measure was defeated. The site also includes a form, left over from last year but still apparently active, for visitors to contribute to the campaign. "That says to me that they have the expectation of receiving contributions or making expenditures," Anderson says.

Nonetheless, Baerwaldt insists that "everything we're doing is completely in compliance with the law." He says that the campaign has been in contact with the PDC about filing as a political committee, which they plan to do in the next couple of weeks.
"Here we go again with all the piddly little nonsense," says Baerwaldt, who calls Sound Transit a "rogue agency."

"This is trivia. It's not really important," he adds.

The PDC, naturally, does not agree.

City Attorney Tom Carr and several members of his staff are seeking to avoid a deposition by lawyers for Venus Velazquez, a onetime city council candidate who was arrested and charged with DUI just weeks before the 2007 election.

In court documents, Velazquez claims Carr failed to recuse himself adequately from her case--a promise he made when Velazquez was arrested in late October 2007 because he had endorsed Velazquez's opponent, Bruce Harrell. (Harrell won the race). However, Velazquez points out that Carr's assistant Ruth Bowman sent an email from Carr's account responding to a Seattle P-I records request about the case three days after Carr said he would recuse himself; and that Carr sent an email to two assistant city attorneys on October 25 in response to an email about the Velazquez case. Velazquez is seeking to have the entire city attorney's office barred from prosecuting the DUI case against her--a move that would require a total change of venue.

It's defies belief that, eight months after being arrested for DUI, Velazquez is still trying to dodge the charge. Does she really believe Carr's employees won't give her a fair shake because their boss endorsed her opponent nearly a year ago? (Carr himself can make the case pretty convincingly that he actually did recuse himself; the October 23 email was sent by his assistant, and the October 25 email consists, in its entirety, of the statement, "I have asked to be walled off from the Velzaquez [sic] matter. Thanks for the info, but I really should not be involved.") Does Carr's alleged bias against her really justify a change of venue, after three continuations and eight months' delay?

If Velazquez has a case (and it sure doesn't sound like it--she was going 50 mph in a 30 mph zone, crossed the center line, and was drifting back and forth in the lane), she should make it. Instead, she's resorting to obfuscation and delay.

But can it be saved?

I was built in 1890 and, along with my wood siding, have stuck around all these years. There’s not many of us left from the old times here in the SLU. But being the oldest house in the neighborhood, you’d think I’d be turned into a small museum or a showpiece for the “roots of Cascade” to be polished up by Vulcan. But I’m going to be demolished sometime this week.

More at Vintage Seattle.

...a 24-year-old Seattle woman was living a nightmare at the Pike Place Market.

From Q13:

A North Seattle woman is recovering after being knocked unconscious and raped near a popular Seattle tourist attraction. Police say the 24-year-old was sexually assaulted in an alley near the Pike Place Market.

According to friends of the victim, she was on her way to job interview on a Saturday afternoon when she was savagely attacked.

"The guy knocked her out cold. Hit her in the temple, she was there for hours, knocked out while he raped her repeatedly."

After being beaten and sexually assaulted by the stranger, friends say the badly injured 24-year-old victim struggled to make it back to her North Seattle apartment.

Downtown neighbors like Paige McGehee are concerned about the sexually motivated attack, because, it happened in broad daylight with hundreds of people nearby.

"That surprises me actually, I think we have a very aware city," said McGehee.

Friends say the victim is doing better physically, but, it still very emotionally fragile from the attack. The victim was only able to provide a vague description of her attacker to police. Officers say he is an African American man.

Holy shit. Full story here.

Why is Sally Clark filling my "Savage Love" inbox with spam? If the city councilmember has got a question about, say, vaginal fisting, or if she's just discovered that her girlfriend's a furry and she has concerns (I knew Sally would be the last to know), then she should email me at "Savage Love." Otherwise, Sally Clark should leave my box alone.

UPDATE: Sally Clark—we think—responds in comments:

Hey! That newsletter has important information for YOU the Seattle resident. Sure, I don't have the readership of Savage Love and never will (probably due to the fact that no public policy issues have arisen regarding vaginal fisting), but admit it—you care about plastic bags, property tax levies, ugly townhomes, and cops. We just unsubscribed you, but you'll be back. Oh, yes, you'll beg to come back.

Went for a bike ride, stopped at Gasworks to take a look at the city. There are cranes everywhere. I counted thirty of them before I gave up, took a picture, and rode off.

It's the civic saga that won't quit: The random attack of a blind passenger aboard a Metro bus, first reported in a May Last Days:

SUNDAY, MAY 18 The week ends with an extraordinary tale of "religion gone bad and valiant community spirit" from that inexhaustible forum for freakery known as King County Metro, reported by heroic Hot Tipper Oscar. "I was riding the 18 headed downtown, when out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement. When I turned to look, I saw a man repeatedly hitting a blind woman seated at the front of the bus. An older gentleman seated next to the woman jumped up and tried to intervene, but a quick punch to the head knocked him back down into his seat. Once I realized that what I was seeing was real, I rushed the assailant and grabbed him by the arms while he yelled at me to 'keep out of this. You got no idea what's really happening here' and the woman cowered and covered her head. He kept screaming about 'being filled with the power of God' and threatening to kill me for stopping him from doing God's work. Three other passengers helped me hold him while another rider called 911. Another passenger was assisting the assaulted woman, who'd been hit so hard she was bleeding. The police arrived and apprehended the attacker, then took all of our names. While one young lady was telling her story, I heard her say that when the assailant got on the bus he saw the blind woman and said, 'God says all sick people must die,' then started hitting her. [Confidential to the psychotic assailant: Blind people aren't sick, and all people must die. Back to Oscar:] The assaulted woman was checked by paramedics and declared physically okay, except for scratches and bruising, then got a ride home from a fire marshal. Thanks to all my fellow Metro riders who pitched in and stood up for someone unable to defend herself."

Next came news that the assailant was facing hate-crime charges, followed by input from the victim herself on June 27:

I was the blind woman assaulted aboard a Metro bus on Sunday morning, May 18. I want to add my thanks to the people who intervened on my behalf and looked after me when it was over. At first, I didn't even realize someone had deliberately struck me. After three blows I finally wised up enough to duck, but he managed to hit me a few more times anyway. Although I was dazed and amazed that someone would do such a thing, people were wonderful. It's one heck of a way to make friends, but WOW! What friends in need! The reaction of the other passengers on the bus this May has restored my faith in the decency of Seattleites and in the power of teamwork. God bless them all—especially those who also sustained injuries. All I can offer you is a song if we ever meet in Pike Place Market. (And in case you're interested, I've received concerned apologies from the King County Sheriff's Department [responsible for Metro security] and from Metro, along with an annual pass.)

Which brings us to the latest update: an email sent by one Tom Eisenhauer, AKA the old man who first stepped in to stop the attack, who calls bullshit on everything:

I am the "good Samaritan" AKA the "H" word. I heard this rag actually published a couple articles about the assault on that Sunday morning, May 18, 08. A friend showed me the articles from your website. I am happy Mr. Hughes is getting the mental help he should get, I hope. I think the victim should get a service dog. Is anyone volunteering with that good deed? Are you all just crediting yourselves with your own fantasies you know did not happen. Usually people keep their fantasies to themselves. Otherwise a bus full of good citizens AKA cowards did not lift a finger until this "good Samaritan" yelled out for help to keep Mr. Hughes subdued. I have medical issues and should not get involved in violent situations. When no one else in a bus full of people gets involved, and a healthy man is trying to beat a blind woman to death, I guess it takes another disabled man to defend her. I am just pleased I was there to help.

Me too, grumpy cripple. Everyone else: Stay tuned.

Just when it seems like the novelty of Hempfest has worn off—we do it every year, it’s always pretty much the same, perhaps a bit bigger than the year before—I was struck yesterday afternoon that, damn, 100,000 people are openly smoking pot in the middle of a huge American city. They're pretty much saying, "Come bust us," in the country that’s been pushing the most draconian, over-funded, violent drug war in history. But they don't get busted. Pot rallies of this size have never happened before. This is a revolution. It would seem more poignant if it weren't stigmatized by a bunch of dirty hippies, of course. But the interesting thing is, the crowd at Hempfest this year wasn’t all that hippied out. Mostly it was mainstream folks, freakishly hot guys without shirts, and perky little emo kids. But the folks putting on the event still hang tie dyes from the stage. Jesus, cut it out, guys. Hanging tie dyes from the stage (and all the honky Reggae and Jam Rock) makes folks who support the cause want to avoid Hempfest, or, if they do attend, pummel the hippies senseless with their new glass bongs.

He--for there could be no doubt of his sex, though certain of his proclivities did something (in the mind of the military wing of his family) to complicate it--was in the act of watching a slackliner on a slackline strung from opposing trees. It was hard not to think of Man on Wire (if you haven't seen it, go, go, go). The branches above the slackline, heavy with leaves, which the slackliner walked in and out of and occasionally ripped out of his way, made the whole sight kind of circus-y. Passersby stopped to watch. The stoner watched the slackliner (this guy) and then watched the sky, on his back, next to a girl he'd just met (bottle-orange hair, candy-striped top, also stoned). The leaves and the sky. A small airplane shot out of the leaves.

The stoner thought about all the people who'd given him a hard time about going to Hempfest: the friends going to Smoke Farm who blinked in disbelief when the stoner chose Hempfest (close to home, by the water) over the possibility of bad outdoor theater in a remote location; the actress/singer/Joni Mitchell fan who, when the stoner intimated that he was going to Hempfest by texting that he was "was being a hippie" today, texted back "the first step is admitting u have a problem"; Dan Savage, who declaimed over after-work drinks on Friday that every other weekend of the year is more ideal for getting stoned in Myrtle Edwards Park because there's no one else there; the stoner's young friend from New Orleans, another stoner, who nonetheless texted, "Hempfest is just a celebration of everything that's not fun about pot"; and so on and so forth). You get a lot of heat for going to Hempfest. It's easy to be intimidated by the disdain. By the unfashionable-ness of it. Dan Savage, of all people, is giving his friends a hard time for going to Hempfest?

Whatever with those people. Hempfest is fantastic. It helps to show up in the afternoon, around 2 or 3, and to go with friends, and to sit in the shade with a view the water and the sky and the barely clothed people in the ripeness of their youth walking by. It's true that you hear the stupidest shit from the people who are given microphones and access to a stage, but (satisfyingly) the people you are sitting with aren't falling for it either. "We are here and now!" an officially sanctioned Hempfest speaker was shouting into a microphone in the distance. The girl with the bottle-orange hair smiled and said, "Man, that's some motivational speaker. No wonder we can't band together. These are our motivational speakers."

Nevertheless, from those very unmotivational stages, or at least from the northernmost one, comes the most amazing sort of rain when the clock strikes 4:20 pm: free joints. Raining down. Hundreds (thousands?) of them. Onto the crowd. This year there was such a crush of people on the path in the minutes before 4:20 pm struck--perhaps the joints-raining-down-from-the-sky thing has been too well publicized--that the stoner and the slackliner and the girl with the bottle-orange hair couldn't get to the northernmost stage (does it happen at all the stages?) until about 4:22 pm, by which point the sea of bodies was already obscured in a haze, battlefield-like. The stoner asked a random girl for a hit of hers and she reached in her bag and gave him a fresh one, adding, "They handed them out."

This will happen again today, by the way.

If nothing else, the stoner thought, Hempfest is an answer to the dominant American culture--the suburban, generic, corporate-controlled mainstream. It's the embodiment of an alternative. That this alternative seems so drastic, that it causes so many of your friends to bristle, is only evidence of how well the conservative line has been sold to us. This alternative isn't drastic. It is not some lawless primal orgy. Hempfest is crawling with police officers and security personnel, watching everything: 100,000 people smoking pot outdoors on a nice day, laughing, relaxing, reading, buying stuff, listening to music, eating noodles, eating ice cream, walking on slacklines between trees, sitting on the rocks, watching the trains groan by, etc., etc.

The only hippie-riffic conversation the stoner got into occurred in one of the VIP areas, behind one of the stages, where a man in what looked like a utilikilt, except it was made out of black lace, sat down and smiled. This man in lace and leggings and some serious facial hair was walking with the assistance of a light-wood cane topped with a brass knob. The rest of the man's ensemble was more than dubious, but it was a handsome cane. The stoner complimented it. The man in lace replied, "It used to be Jefferson Airplane's manager's."

The stoner replied with an expression that must have looked like awe.

"Yeah, Jefferson Airplane's manager's cane. His son gave it to me."

The stoner was trying to think of a Jefferson Airplane song. He said, "What was one of their big songs?"

The man in lace shook his head and said he had no idea. Then he added, "If you ask me about psychedelic trance or something, I can probably tell you." Then there was a long silence.

The stoner went and got his bike and rode out to Elliott Avenue, and then up the west side of Queen Anne Hill to watch firemen march uphill into brush fire. He took a photo of the fire engines with his cell phone. Then he rode back down to Elliott Avenue and, hungry for ice cream, stopped into a Baskin Robbins. For there one was. He ate it outside on the sidewalk, next to his bike, staring into cars waiting at the light.

Right now there are several, totally hot, bikini-clad women standing in the middle of Pike Street (between 10th & 11th Ave). Seems they're holding a benefit carwash for Lifelong Aids Alliance. The thing goes only until 3 p.m., or maybe later if the sponges and soap see enough action. (Sorry for the crappy pic. I took it with my crappy phone.)

Do not let these efforts be wasted!

This just in...

After reading your political endorsements in a recent edition, I can say I will never touch another Stranger as long as I live. The totally one-sided, childish, demeaning comments have no place in my life and in no way make the author or your rag credible in any way. It only makes you look like kids. Please cancel my subscription. (Oh, it's free. No wonder.)

Eric

The Stranger Election Control Board's one-sided, childish, demeaning endorsements are here. Our election cheat sheet is here.

Just because I think Vanessa Ho should go check out Hempfest, that doesn't mean I'm going to Hempfest. If I were getting stoned today—and I'm not saying that I am (or that I'm not)—I would be getting stoned in West Seattle, on Alki beach, where there's some sort of beach volleyball tournament going on.

This picture doesn't do the day, West Seattle, or the beach volleyball players justice, of course, but trust me: there are a lot of gorgeous, lean, sweaty men and women all up and down Alki playing volleyball.

So if you're not getting stoned at Hempfest, where are you getting stoned today?

To the surprise of nobody, the city auditor’s office announced this week that many construction projects are blocking sidewalks.

Under current rules, most developers only provide signs that say, "Sidewalk Closed," which is another way of saying, “Jaywalk Here.” And some sites create perilous detour channels into the trajectory of oncoming traffic.

Requested by city councilmember Nick Licata, the report, titled “City Should Take Steps to Enhance Pedestrian and Cyclist Mobility Through and Around Construction Sites,” makes four no-brainer recommendations: "Making pedestrian and cyclist mobility a priority, coordinating multiple projects located in the same area, improving inspection and enforcement, and communicating with the public."

“If New York is doing this, why cant we?” asks Licata. Good question—and good on ya, Nick, for getting this ball rolling. Almost every construction site in New York City either provides a walkway on the sidewalk that's covered, or a walkway on the street protected by a wall of barricades. The report (.pdf) advises that we adopt those and other alternatives, using a model from Washington, D.C. If we do, Licata says, “Anyone who wants a permit [to block the sidewalk] has to give a written explanation on why they can’t do one of the alternatives.”

Continue reading "Pedestrians in Peril!" »

The "No on Prop. 1" campaign opposing this November's Sound Transit expansion measure is continuing to list the Sierra Club prominently among supporters of the "No" campaign, despite agreeing, according to a story in the Seattle P-I, to take down the deceptive claim.

The Sierra Club opposed last year's Prop. 1, because it was too roads-heavy and didn't do enough to address global warming--as the 2007 No on Prop. 1 web site makes abundantly clear. This year's Prop. 1, so (confusingly) named because it's the only item on the ballot in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, consists entirely of transit and transit-supporting improvements, including 36 new miles of light rail and expanded bus service. So it's a no-brainer that the Sierra Club--one of two or three prominent environmental groups that endorses in local elections--would support the new Prop. 1 after opposing the old one.

But you certainly wouldn't think that after reading the campaign's web site, which mentions the Sierra Club's support twice on its front page and makes the measure sound as if it's the same one that failed last year. Claiming that "not much has changed" about the measure, the site goes so far as to quote the 2007 voter guide statement opposing the measure (a statement the Sierra Club actually did not sign off on, because it was all about taxes, not transit). "This is not a balanced plan. Only 10% funds roads," the voter statement complains. "That's why leading Democrats, Republicans, and the Sierra Club all oppose Proposition 1. Don't be fooled -- AGAIN.

James Irwin, the Sierra Club's local conservation program coordinator, calls the use of the group's 2007 opposition to Prop. 1 "dodgy" and "disingenuous" but says there may not be much the group can do. "Technically, what they're saying is accurate--we did oppose 2007's Proposition 1--but they're definitely trying to use our name and influence to get people to vote against this." Irwin says the Sierra Club is "committed" to getting Prop. 1 passed this year.

This year's anti-Prop. 1 campaign is backed, like last year's, by Bellevue mall developer Kemper Freeman--a frequent Republican donor whose biggest campaign contributions have been to the International Council of Shopping Centers--a mall PAC--Rob McKenna, Dino Rossi, John Carlson, and Mike McGavick.

So why won't you read anything about Freeman's involvement on No to Prop. 1's web site? Because they lost last time based on support for transit, not a desire to build 182 new miles of roads. Polls after the election showed that voters opposed last year's Prop. 1 because it had too many roads and not enough transit, not the other way around. Freeman and his road-loving friends at No to Prop. 1 know this. Now they're trying to deceptively hang an anti-transit victory on the Sierra Club's environmental coattails.

Who is this man? Who took this picture? And just how much is that Botox in the window? The complete hilarious story is here.

Right now on Broadway, a petitioner is at a table gathering signatures. Whenever someone walks by, he says, “Sign the petition to get the 20-cent bag tax on the ballot.”

When I asked what the measure would do, he repeats that this is “just to get it on the ballot.” That’s a little misleading for people who support the idea--the city council already passed the bag tax. What he should say is, “This would give voters a chance to repeal it.”

Sponsored by the Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag Tax, the petition needs 14,374 signatures to reach voters in 2009. “Signatures are pouring in,” we’re told. Hmm, perhaps "signatures are pouring in" because tactics like these—appealing to people who would oppose the initiative if they realized what it was—or they could be "pouring in" because the Seattle PI is providing blow-by-blow updates about how, when, and where people can sign the petition. When it makes the ballot, the grocers behind the measure (which happen to buy an awful lot of insert advertisements from the PI) are sure to spend a glut of cash to smear the bag-tax. If you see the petition, don't sign it. We've already had this debate.

James Kunstler's contribution to a conversation at the NYT's Freakonomics blog about the future of suburbia:

The suburbs have three destinies, none of them exclusive: as materials salvage, as slums, and as ruins. In any case, the suburbs will lose value dramatically, both in terms of usefulness and financial investment. Most of the fabric of suburbia will not be “fixed” or retrofitted, in particular the residential subdivisions. They were built badly in the wrong places. We will have to return to traditional modes of inhabiting the landscape — villages, towns, and cities, composed of walkable neighborhoods and business districts

These days, an awful lot of people—the production builders, the realtors—are waiting for the “bottom” in the real-estate industry with hopes that the suburban house-building orgy will resume. They are waiting in vain. The project of suburbia is over. We will build no more of it. Now we’re stuck with what’s there. Sometimes whole societies make unfortunate decisions or go down tragic pathways. Suburbia was ours.

Kunstler's predictions for the future of big cities—like Chicago and New York, Slog's favorite big cities—are equally bleak, however:

We face an epochal demographic shift, but not the one that is commonly expected: from suburbs to big cities. Rather, we are in for a reversal of the 200-year-long trend of people moving from the farms and small towns to the big cities. People will be moving to the smaller towns and smaller cities because they are more appropriately scaled to the limited energy diet of the future. I believe our big cities will contract substantially — even if they densify back around their old cores and waterfronts. They are products, largely, of the 20th-century cheap energy fiesta and they will be starved in the decades ahead.

Kunstler is the author of The Geography of Nowhere, a fascinating book about how we got into this mess—how we saddled ourselves with all those identical suburbs, big-box stores, six lane "roads" lined with fast-food outlets—in the first place.

OK, in preparation for Slog Happy tomorrow, some contentious observations:

Biking in Seattle is fucking easy. I used to walk instead of riding due to my fear of the alien topography, but now have come to see the light and the method. These hills? Get in low gear and stand up and fucking pedal. OK, you end up at the top of the hill covered in sweat, but that's just an excuse to drink some beer (ie, "carbo-load") for the rest of your ride. And if it's raining, as I hear it sometimes does here, well, then, you're wet either way, so why worry?

I noted something interesting: every ride I have taken, all round trips from Capitol Hill to Sodo and the Pike Market area are. . .half down-hill. This was actually more frightening to this flatlander, as I was going way too fast for my own chicken-shittedness, and may actually have worn out the brake pads on this borrowed bike (sorry, Tim!).

And as for those hills: cross-step and you're fine. I was scouting the Madison-Boren intersection for tomorrow, and noted that Madison runs, oh, straight up into the air like a drawbridge at one point, so I cut over a block to a gentler slope, then went east again. Ditto heading up to 15th--don't head straight up Pike or Pine, cut over on 12th or Broadway for a few blocks, get that heart rate down under 120, breathe.

Also, the DH sucks, the American League is evil incarnate, the Monorail was a bad idea, pine trees contribute to global warming, tattoos are stupid, piercings are stupider, pan-fry pit bulls, Ichiro is over-rated, no cripples on the bus.

The Viaduct. . . .

There, this oughta fire up the crowd. See ya

Don't just toss names around on Slog. Let the folks at the city with the power to actually close 'em down know how you feel. This was in the comments thread attached to the post I wrote yesterday about the riots—excuse me, joy—that New Yorkers greeted the closure of certain city streets on Saturday mornings this summer. I wanted to move it up so folks would be sure to see it:

FYI - if you have a great idea for where [street closures] could be next year? Share it with the city by emailing: Dawn.Schellenberg@Seattle.gov.

This year is a pilot program and the City hopes to make next year bigger and better. Personally, I think it's also a great idea to champion permanent closures of streets like Pike Place (the street by the market) and a couple of blocks of Ballard Ave NW (in old Ballard). Let them know what you think is worth trying/considering—don't just bitch about it on the blogs.

For us to do the rough equivalent of the NYC did we could close down Madison from the waterfront to Lake Washington Blvd, Lake Washington Blvd to Montlake Blvd NE, Montlake to 25th Ave NE, 25th Ave NE to NE 55th. So from downtown, past Seattle U, through the Arboretum, across the Ship Canal, through the UW, and up to Ravenna Park. Not saying this is an ideal route but it could be a possibility. Or we could close down Lake Washington Blvd from 520 to Seward Park. There are lots and lots of possibilities! Share your ideas!

I like to stay on top of the crazy propaganda promulgated by all branches of the Discovery Institute. (By the way, Chicago Fan, it's a commonplace that propaganda is officially a product of governments, but that's not really true. Here are the applicable OED definitions: "2) An organization, scheme, or movement for the propagation of a particular doctrine, practice, etc.; 3) The systematic dissemination of information, esp. in a biased or misleading way, in order to promote a political cause or point of view. Also: information disseminated in this way; the means or media by which such ideas are disseminated." Surely Northwestern gives you free access to the OED?)

For those of you still convinced that the Discovery Institute only has a "Real Russia Project" as a means of injecting intelligent design into Russian schools, you need only look at the collective response of the Russia Blog to the conflict in Georgia. There are some impressive Putin apologetics going on there:

I'm not commenting on the conflict itself, since I am not even remotely qualified to evaluate the competing claims, but this post is clearly quite a bit outside the mainstream of American opinion. How did the Discovery Institute come to represent this bizarre mishmash of interests? I am flummoxed.

Nicole Brodeur—typically so mild-mannered, thoughtful, concerned, and reflective—wrote in a recent column that Seattle was "really getting on her nerves," and that "some of us are red with rage," after the mayor proposed closing Alki in West Seattle and Rainier Ave. in Columbia City for three consecutive Sunday mornings. Rage! If that's how passive-aggressive Seattleites reacted to the mayor closing a few streets, you can only imagine the rage—the fury! the rioting!—that New Yorkers greeted the closure of seven miles of city streets on three consecutive Saturdays mornings.

Actually, you don't have to imagine the rage of New Yorkers at the closure of their beloved streets. The first closure was last Saturday and you can watch furious, angry, pissed-off New Yorkers riot here:

Wait a minute! They're not rioting. They're dancing, biking, blading, strolling, and walking. Wow. It sure looks like they're having fun, doesn't it?

It might have helped if Greg Nickels had presented the street-closure plan as a way for Seattle residents—and suburbanites willing to abandon their cars for a few hours—to get out in the city and the enjoy themselves and not as another goo-goo green measure so hard on the heels of the UNJUST and TOTALLY TYRANNICAL bag-fee. But still: closing some streets to auto traffic in the summer is a nice idea and people really seem to enjoy it in cities where it's already been tried.

And Nicole? Don't you live in Bellevue anyway? Maybe you should STFU about what we wanna do with our streets here in Seattle.

UPDATE: Nicole Brodeur does not live in Bellevue, she apparently moved to Seattle sometime ago and I missed the news stories about it. Still, she should STFU—but only because she's wrong (about this), not because she lives in Bellevue.

On the eleventh day of this month, around the sixth hour of the afternoon, somewhere near thirteenth and John, a new pleasure seizes my body. The pleasure is triggered by a sudden break in Jaylib's track "The Red," which is playing on my little music machine. Thirty seconds after the track's first minute, the beat breaks down and there's a split second of silence/emptiness. In that split second, the ghost of a beat appears. It is the phantom of the track. The phantom vanishes the moment the banging beat resumes. Realizing I've just heard the ghost of a beat--the sonic equivalent of a pretty face faintly reflected on a winter window--my throat expresses my pleasure with this sound: "uuuuummmmmm."

A moment later, I notice someone is looking up at me. I look down at this person who is looking up at me. I see it is a young woman in booty shorts. Her back is turned to me. She is rising from her knees. I'm not sure if she was gardening or looking for something on the ground. I do, however, know what she's thinking at that very moment: My expression of pleasure (my “uuuuummmmmm”) was triggered by the sight of her ass in short shorts. She gives me the look of accusation. I've done something bad. It's totally rude and unacceptable. Because I do not feel like challenging and correcting her hard reading of the situation, and because men should not look spineless in moments like this, I proudly plead guilty and give her this smile: "Yes, I enjoyed the sight of your ass. It's the blessing of the cosmos. Thank you, thank you, and have a good evening."

Anyway, the incident recalled an old rap lyric:

the man- Can I get up all up in it?
the woman- Boy, you nasty.
the man- Girl, I'm talking about the track, now where you at?

But not for you zombie drivers—they get it between the eyes.

OK, so, on the way into town on the 194 bus this afternoon, I was lucky enough to witness both of the forms of urban assholery which most piss me off. It was a bit after 3 pm, and there was a large and diverse crowd boarding the long, articulated bus: lots of families, lots of luggage. As I lugged my bags back along the aisle, about one third of the way down the rows of seats facing forward, there sat in the aisle seat a young woman of color. Next to her in the window seat was a large pit-bull mutt of some kind. She coolly looked at each person walking down the aisle, making eye contact (with me at least), just waiting for someone to call her on her bullshit. This was no service dog, just her dog, taking up a seat that some human might have used. This kind of aggressive fuck-you-I-matter-and-you-don't bullshit in a public place is urban assholery method #1: aggressively take more than is rightly yours.

I got a seat facing the back exit and didn't look up from my book (more on this later) till we got to the International District. There I had to notice the clueless middle-aged white woman standing and blocking half of the exit doors. She was reading New York Magazine--yes, New York, not the New Yorker. She never deigned to look up as a dozen passengers laden down with baggage and children had to dance around her to disembark the damn bus. After that stop, there were a dozen empty seats within five feet of her: but she never looked up, just kept blocking the exit all the way downtown, slowing everyone down. Form of urban assholery #2: instead of aggressively fucking with people, passive-aggressively ignore the existence of the rest of the world.

The demographic distinctions between the young woman of color and the old white woman struck me, but there is unity in both forms of urban assholery: inconveniencing your fellow citizens by pretending that they don't matter or that they don't exist. A seat that a human could have had was occupied by a damn dog. Fast exits and a faster ride for everyone was prevented because some story in New York Magazine was so engrossing.

And urban assholery form #3: putting up with #1 and #2. Everyone on the bus went along with it. No one, including me, said "boo" to the woman blocking the exit, and when I got off at Pioneer Square, the dog still had a nice window view of the tunnel.

This morning, booming from a police car: "You in the green Honda! Pay attention to what you are doing. If you're going to make a right turn, make a right turn. Get your act together and stay focused."

Through the PA system, the booming voice of the state. It filled the street below my window. The state called a subject out of the order of the ordinary morning. It made an exception of him/her. "You in the green Honda!" It was not me being called (I was in bed). The state did not say: "You in the big bed." My place in the ordinary was undisturbed. The wanted (disrupted, ruptured) person was in the green Honda. He/she heard the state and said: "Wait! It's really me the state is calling. Me! The state really, really wants me. And I happen to be me! I'm a me! I'm the me the state is hailing."

This call of the state not only disrupts the subject but also reinforces their situation in the state formation. Not to recognize the call (Hey! You there!) is not to be a subject of the state. You must be from somewhere else; from another social assemblage that can call you out of itself, its order, its constitutive parts and rhythms, for the purpose of stating and reinforcing your place in that order.