July 31, 2009
By Josh Feit at 5:50 pm
The issue of race blew up the comments thread today on the post about Joe Mallahan where we reported that the T-Mobile executive who’s running for mayor questioned Nickels’ decision to focus on racial tensions in neighborhoods and criticized Nickels’ success at doing so. As happens in any back-and-forth on race, things got confusing and [...] read more →
By Erica C. Barnett at 5:26 pm
In our endorsement interview earlier this week, City Council member Jan Drago, who’s running for mayor, said it was patently untrue that Mayor Greg Nickels did not eliminate the gang squad during his first term as mayor. (The gang squad has become an issue in the mayor’s race. Nickels told us last week that he [...] read more →
By FilmNerd at 5:21 pm
Herb and Dorothy Vogel seem normal enough. In his late eighties, he is a retired postal worker, a tiny lifelong New Yorker who lives with his slightly taller, quieter wife, a retired city librarian. But at the opening of Megumi Sasaki’s new documentary Herb and Dorothy, these two mingle with the creme de la creme [...] read more →
By Erica C. Barnett at 4:04 pm
In our endorsement interview with mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan this morning, I asked him why so little of his money comes from inside Seattle. (Of the $118,780 he has raised, and not counting the $201,918 he’s donated to his own campaign, 76,095, or nearly two-thirds, is from out of town). Mallahan said it was because [...] read more →
By Josh Feit at 3:27 pm
Earlier today , mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan defined a bit of his T-Mobile corporate jargon for us ("ideate"). Later in the day, mayoral candidate Mike McGinn defined "woonerf "—a Dutch word for a street (like in Pike Place Market) where pedestrians and bicyclists share the street with motorists. At this, my transit wonk colleague Erica [...] read more →
By Josh Feit at 3:19 pm
[Editor's Note: This post has been updated.] Sorry for the lack of posts. We’ve been interviewing mayoral candidates all day. I must report that we asked T-Mobile exec Joe Mallahan to define "ideate"—a corporate-speaky word Erica noticed him using when she live-blogged a recent mayoral forum . Mallahan said it means: "The act of thinking [...] read more →
By Erica C. Barnett at 3:18 pm
Underwhelming : The Times endorses two candidates with the most money, both of whom are likely to go through. Both should advance to the general election and both have a pile of work to do. [...] Nickels is a competent leader with significant flaws seeking an unusual third term. He should tone down the aggressiveness [...] read more →
By BookNerd at 3:11 pm
The best readings this weekend are happening at the Arab Festival at Seattle Center. Rabih Alameddine At 4 p.m. on Saturday, featured novelist Rabih Alameddine reads from The Hakawati , the story of Osama al-Kharrat’s return to Beirut where he visits his dying father. It’s received numerous glowing reviews , including a starred review from [...] read more →
By Erica C. Barnett at 8:46 am
1. City hall was buzzing yesterday about what several staffers called “the worst political mailer ever”—council Position 8 candidate Robert Rosencrantz’s wordy, crowded one-pager (below). Conventional wisdom has it that a good mailer gets its point across in the two seconds between the mailbox and the recycling bin. Rosencrantz’s piece, in contrast, takes about five [...] read more →
July 30, 2009
By Josh Feit at 8:29 pm
Lots of great threads today (and totally wonky!), but it’s impossible to ignore the firestorm on Erica’s post about Danny Westneat’s column on the disposable grocery bag fee. 3. LeeLu says: I am constantly told by people with money how unfair this fee is (it’s not a tax) to people without money. However, I really [...] read more →
By ObamaNerd at 3:50 pm
Tonight, Black Professor Henry Gates, White Cop James Crowley and our Bi-Racial President Barack Obama, will be meeting to bury the hatchet (aka the Race Firestorm of 2009) over a pint. Various bars across Washington DC are offering beer specials (and useless opinions ) based on the likely top three beer choices: Obama likes Bud [...] read more →
By Erica C. Barnett at 3:40 pm
Miller (center) Dan Bertolet over at Hugeasscity has a great post up asking city council candidate David Miller some fundamental questions about density, development, and whether Miller (a neighborhood and tree activist from Maple Leaf) supports transit-oriented development in the neighborhoods. The questions themselves are smart (if a little looooooooooooong), but what makes the post [...] read more →
