Viva La Cola!

Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

x close
The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Seen On My Train This Morning

News   March 12, 2010 at 11:53 am Erica C. Barnett

This guy caused a lot of excitement on my train this morning:

A cameraman who was filming the Mariner Moose (official name, apparently) told me they were doing a promo film for the Mariners, “to show how easy it is to get to the stadium on light rail.” Can’t say if I’ll ever go to a Seattle baseball game myself, but it’s great to see the Mariners encouraging people to take the train instead of driving to games. Seahawks? Sounders?




  • http://www.dougunderground.com/ DOUG.

    Sound Transit has run special Sounder trains to and from Seahawks games for several seasons now. And they are PACKED!

  • joshuadf

    You should really go to a game at least once, though probably in the summer–the view the top of the stadium is amazing, and people watching is great. The actual sport is a sideshow.

  • rprins

    I know that season ticket holders for the Seahawks get an e-mail the week of a home game to let them know their transportation alternatives (bus, train, etc..). I prefer to take the bus as I live in the city and paying $20+ to park a car just doesn't make sense to me when I can ride the bus a 1/10 the cost.

  • patricklagreid

    Agreed — light rail to the game is great. I just moved to Phoenix, and they have light rail that takes you to both Chase Field and US Airways Center, among other places.

    Luckily though, I'm close enough where I can just walk to the ballpark — but you should definitely find a way to get to a ballgame. Despite what joshuadf said, the sport is not a sideshow for many of us. The ballpark is gorgeous and offers some very nice views as well.

  • Donolectic

    Exactly! The hassle of fighting traffic, dealing with everyone else… it's much easier to let somebody else handle the stress and just be able to relax after a game.

  • http://spifflines.blogspot.com/ John Bailo

    I had an amazing ride on LINK this morning — no body odors or bathroom smells — keep it up ST!

  • http://www.olympianews.org/ Trevor

    Only problem is that the train gets stuck in SODO traffic before and after big sporting events…

  • http://twitter.com/fattailed fattailed

    Is that Tim Burgess commenting under a fake name?

  • Good_Grief

    Wouldn't your time be better spent out begging for money to support your super duper in-depth socially-conscious coverage?

    I've taken the train to and from many Mariners, Sounders and Seahawks games since it opened — never experienced getting “stuck” in SODO traffic, so as usual I have no idea what Trevor is talking about.

  • http://LightRailNetwork.com/ Randy

    Seattle.LightRailNetwork.com shows over 350 Locations near the Seattle Light Rail Network…

  • nwbedbuilder

    Yeah I thought train/link got ROW and priority so long as there wasn't another too close in front of it?

    http://seattletransitblog.com/2010/03/09/signal…

    And anyway, where is there a stop light for link before you get to the Ranier Valley?

  • http://www.olympianews.org/ Trevor

    Oh Good Grief I've missed you and your anonymous argumentation by character assassination. And I love this disqus function! Now I can click on your icon and see that your personal attacks are your stock in trade. If only you had the courage to out yourself, maybe you could get as good as you give.

    In the meantime, perhaps it's been fixed by now. But I know a few people who got stuck in SODO traffic when Mariners games let out during the first couple weeks that light rail was running.

  • Joe

    This is a good idea. A padded costume will protect riders when they're beaten up in the bus tunnel. And if they're the one doing the beating up, it will make it much harder to identify them in the video.

    I suppose this is the prelude to elaborately costumed gains riding mass transit, as we were warned to expect in “The Warriors”