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Author Neal Stephenson defends utopian fiction; COVID-related staff shortages affect schools, bus service, and more; three more state senators test positive; two Cascade passes still closed.
Annex Theatre’s double-miracle of survival; who gets the Gates mansion?; the ranch land of the ‘phantom cows’ is up for auction; a pitcher has a career milestone at an Ms’ game (alas, not our pitcher).
The Viaduct’s end becomes a big cruisin’ scene; KIRO-FM ‘talk bros’ axed; the Legislature starts minus one embattled member; why the Bezos’ split was announced when it was; the Seattle music scene’s founding mother dies.
Partial election returns for a night of partial victories; are two Amazon HQ2s good for Seattle?; was an immigrant deported for talking about his detention conditions?
The original Shorty’s has held its last pinball tourney; Amazon may pick two ‘HQ2’s; the ‘Lid I-5’ drive gets some major support; one last (desperate) election plea.
How Sub Pop triumphed; some places we wish weren’t demolished; Matt Manweller rants against #MeToo and ‘liberals’; David Meinert’s business world shrinks some more.
We begin with three lists totaling 100 all-time Northwest indie-rock records. We continue from there with (alas) false state-income-tax allegations; anti-Muslim bigotry hitting home; what the costly homelessness consultant didn’t directly look into; a former “Drunk of the Week” (or was she?) suing; and the Mariners’ streak continuing.
Sooper Toosday finds us blathering about a racketeering suit against Mars Hill Church’s top brass; how to properly describe an alleged adult-woman/teenage-boy relationship; just how hard Russell Wilson’s “Good Man” clothes will be to find; and that ridiculously big container ship.
amidst-the-everyday.com
“Amidst the Everyday,” a project by photographers-artists Aaron Asis and Dan Hawkins, aims to reveal “elements of the unseen urban environment.” You go to places around town, scan QR codes (etched in wood!) at various buildings, and receive images of their hidden treasures. (Above, one of the unoccupied-for-decades upper floors of the Eitel Building at Second and Pike.)
'jseattle' at flickr, via capitohillseattle.com
Yes, it’s been nearly a week since I’ve posted any of these tender tidbits of randomosity. Since then, here’s some of what’s cropped up online and also in the allegedly “real” world:
from 'fantomaster' at flickr.com
The first Washington governor of my lifetime could also be considered the state’s first “modern era” leader.
At a time of postwar complacency, just after the fading of “red scare” smear campaigns (yes, there were McCarthy-esque witch hunters here too), Rosellini enacted a bold progressive agenda.
He backed the Seattle World’s Fair.
He helped organize the cleanup of Lake Washington, once a mightily polluted body. He boosted college funding.
He established a separate juvenile justice system, and improved horrendous conditions at adult prisons and mental hospitals.
He boosted economic development and infrastructure investment, including the SR 520 bridge that now bears his name.
And yeah, he also stayed lifelong allies with the likes of strip-club maven Frank Colacurcio Sr., which eventually led to the ex-governor’s last, less-than-positive headlines in the 1990s.
You can disapprove of the Colacurcio connection and still admire Rosellini’s steadfastness to longtime friendships.
And you can look at the whole of Rosellini’s works and see a man who did all he could for what he believed in, even if it cost him most of his political capital before his first gubernatorial term was up.
Would there were more like him today.
Music scene tie in: Gov. Rosellini’s press secretary was Calvin Johnson Sr., father of the K Records swami.
vintage 1940 trolley bus from seattletransitblog.com
Mayor Mike McGinn is one of the civic leaders who’ve submitted short essays to Dan Bertolet’s new CityTank.org, on the topic of celebrating urban life.
McGinn’s piece is a photo essay (merely excerpted below) that reads like a manifesto:
Sarah Palin and other figures on the right like to talk about “small town values†as being “the real America.†We know better. These are our values: We have great urban places, where people can live and shop in the same building. And we protect them. Seattleites create and use urban spaces – their way. From the bottom up. We take care of each other – and we feed each other. We’re not scared of new ideas. We think idealism is a virtue. We play like it matters, because it does. We stand up for each other. We share our cultures with each other. And the music, the art, the food…is astounding. We love race and social justice. We expect our youth to achieve. President Barack Obama called on America to win the future. Mr. President, the people of Seattle are ready.
Sarah Palin and other figures on the right like to talk about “small town values†as being “the real America.†We know better. These are our values:
President Barack Obama called on America to win the future. Mr. President, the people of Seattle are ready.
Since I believe one good manifesto deserves another, I hereby offer my own:
David Guterson and other figures on Bainbridge Island like to talk about the countryside as being the only real place to live. We know better. These are our values: We value diverse workplaces and gatherings. Upscale white men alongside upscale white women—and even upscale white gays. Yet we also admire African Americans; preferably if they are both musical and dead. We champion the institution of public education, as long as our own kids can get into a private school. We celebrate people’s expressions of sexuality, provided they’re not too, you know, sexual. We strive toward progressive, inclusive laws and policies except when they would inconvenience business. We take pride in our urban identity, as we build more huge edifices and monuments to desperately prove how world class we are. We support the arts, particularly when that support doesn’t stick us in the same room with unkempt artists. We value regional planning and cooperation, even with those mouth-breathing hicks out there. We protect and enhance the environment, particularly those environments we drive 40 miles or more to hike in. We love a strong, vital music scene that’s in someone else’s neighborhood. We appreciate our heritage. We moan about how everything in this town sucks; then, years later, we claim it was great back then but all sucks now. We value a strong, independent news media, regularly alerting us to the city’s 103 Best Podiatrists. We admire innovation and original ideas, especially if they’re just like something from New York or San Francisco. We support locally-based businesses until they get too big. President Barack Obama has advocated “the fierce urgency of now.” Mr. President, the people of Seattle will get around to it once they’ve finished playing Halo: Reach.
David Guterson and other figures on Bainbridge Island like to talk about the countryside as being the only real place to live. We know better. These are our values:
President Barack Obama has advocated “the fierce urgency of now.” Mr. President, the people of Seattle will get around to it once they’ve finished playing Halo: Reach.