Stories

Healthcare reform has just passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a three vote margin, leaving only President Obama's signature before it becomes law.

Here's the speech given on the floor by our representative, Congressman McDermott, a few hours ago:

Mr. Speaker, there are times in history that action is demanded. In 1935 we needed social security and unemployment insurance. The Democrats answered. In 1965 we needed healthcare for senior citizens. The Democrats answered. In 2010 the country needs healthcare reform, and the Democrats will answer tonight.

It was never in doubt. Business wanted a change. The medical profession wanted a change, and labor wanted a change. And the Republicans brought an economic collapse to make it clear to everybody that we all are in danger if we don't change the healthcare system in this country.

Update: And now the Reconciliation Bill has passed too. The next step is for Obama to sign the original legislation, and then for the Senate to take up and pass the reconciliation...

Out in the suburbs, housing association rules would probably prevent something like this from happening. I'm glad we live in a neighborhood where people put interesting works of art along the sidewalk.

Seattle Public Schools announced the following honors for Garfield High School:

Garfield graduate Aaron Shimeles has been appointed to the Department of Education's 18-member National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. Shimeles was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to the new national committee on higher education accreditation issues. Shimeles underwent a competitive application and interview process prior to his appointment to the committee. Aaron is attending Occidental College, where he was able to gain entry with the assistance of College Access Now, the first generation college entrance program launched at Garfield and now at Franklin and West Seattle High Schools.

Garfield High Math Teacher Kelley Butler was selected as a "hero" in the Symetra Heroes in the Classroom program.  The teacher "Heroes" received several prizes, including two tickets to a Seahawks regular season game, classroom supplies and school visits and program sponsor recognition.

The story speaks for itself.  Ted Howard has been doing a fantastic job of leading Garfield High School and deserves the award for outstanding principal.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011353728_p

Ted Howard II, principal at Garfield High, is this year's winner of the Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence, given to a Seattle secondary school principal for outstanding leadership.

...

Howard has been Garfield's principal for six years, and is a Garfield graduate. Since he arrived in the fall of 2004, the achievement of black and Latino students has risen in reading, math and writing. In reading, for example, the passage rate for black students on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning has gone from 52 percent to 80 percent.

All the Friday excitement in Seattle's East Precinct:

Our friends at SeattleCrime.com are reporting that Tyrese Harrison has been arrested in Ohio. Harrison is accused of murdering Central District rapper Max Gasoi in November of last year.

From an SPD statement about the arrest:

Tyrese B. Harrison, 22, a suspect wanted in a November  2009 homicide , was arrested early this morning in Youngstown, Ohio by members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF).  The task force had received information from the Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force (PNWFAT) and Seattle homicide detectives that Harrison may be staying in an apartment complex in Youngstown.  Following the arrest of Harrison, a search warrant was served on the apartment and 2 9mm handguns were recovered.  It is unknown at this time whether those guns were used in the Seattle homicide.  Homicide detectives in Seattle will follow up on the investigation once suspect Harrison is returned to Seattle.

In 2013 there will be a new streetcar on First Hill, connecting the Capitol Hill light rail station to the International District light rail station. And it's looking more and more like that streetcar will be traveling on Broadway, and not on 12th Avenue to the east or further west on the First Hill.

We've learned that on Wednesday the mayor held a meeting that included all of the interested parties around the project, such as the hospitals, Seattle U, and community council representatives. In that meeting the mayor revealed that the city Department of Transportation has made a recommendation in support of the Broadway route, and attendees at the meeting report that the mayor indicated that he was leaning towards the Broadway route as well.

We've made an inquiry to the mayor's office to confirm this and get a better read of his position, but so far have not heard back.

As we reported last month, the Broadway route came out with the lowest overall cost and reasonably high ridership. Comparatively, the 12th...

Our community calendar is chock full of fun this weekend. Here's some things to get out and do:

• Central Cinema (a CDNews sponsor) is show Hitchcock's classics Psycho (7pm) and Vertigo (9:30pm) each night through next Thursday
• The kids at Lake Washington Girls Middle School have two more performances of Wizard of Oz, 7pm Friday and Saturday nights at MOHAI down in Montlake.
• There's a benefit concert at the Paramount tonight to raise money for Garfield High School's award-winning music programs.
• Neighborhood preschool King Street Co-op is holding a dinner/auction/concert fundraiser on Saturday evening 
• Want to get back on your bike? Check out The Bikery's Getting Back in the Saddle class, Sunday at noon
• Interested in urban gardening? Check out The Garden Project sunday night at Hiawatha Lofts.
• Bring your big brain to The BottleNeck Lounge's Trivia Night this Sunday at 7pm. The real smarties even win prizes

Want to see your event here? Add it for free to our community calendar.

From the sunny streets of Seattle's East Precinct:

Last week a reader commented on seeing a woman at a table at 23rd & Union, handing our information and cookies. That woman is Laurie Hanowell, program coordinator for the Get Off The Streets or GOTS program, which has been doing weekly outreach to addicts in the Central District since 2006.

As we reported in our story last fall, a study found that they can take drug users off the street, get them stable housing, put them in treatment, and turn their lives around for an average cost $2,845. But yearly budget issues limited the potential of the program and created a long waiting list for people who wanted to get help.

But according to Kay Godefroy, Executive Director of the Seattle Neighborhood Group (SNG) which runs the GOTS program, an additional $70,000 in the 2010 budget and a promise of more budget stability in the future has made a big difference. There are now 39 clients in the program, up from 19 at the end of 2009. Each of them is getting set up with a place to live, drug treatment services, group...

Complaining solves nothing! Join the Seattle Youth Commission at the Garfield Teen Life Center today, 3-5 p.m., to discuss issues between Seattle youth and police and start working on good solutions. This meeting is completely planned and run by teen members of the Seattle Youth Commission and includes the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Parks & Recreation, and the Seattle Police.

Oh, and also: FREE PIZZA.

Thursday, March 18, 3-5 p.m.

Garfield Community Center

2323 East Cherry Street

It's nice having our city-wide friends at The SunBreak around to satisfy our curiosity about things visible from the neighborhood. They dug into the recent appearance of the big crane on top of the building formerly known as Key Tower:

It's a 52-ton crane, and it's there to hoist a "building maintenance unit" to the rooftop of theSeattle Municipal Tower. The BMU, as we're calling it now, sounds like something you might be able to charge admission to.

It sits in a well on the roof, and gives maintenance workers access to all sides of the tower, from floor 62 to the first floor. Most excitingly, it comes with a crane itself, a telescoping arm with a reach of 112 feet, that holds a personnel basket (16 feet wide, 2-3 people, up to 750 pounds).

I think you can count me out of any rides on a 112 foot arm 60 floors above street level.

I watched two officers handing out a second round of DMI surveys this afternoon, at first glace they appear to be the same as the original, I imagine as a comparison/follow-up to the original one: http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2009/06/25/dmi-survey

They were left on doorsteps, and I'm near 26th/Alder

It's now 2010. In just ten or eleven years the south end of the neighborhood will have a shiny new light rail station that will give them a less than five minute ride to downtown and back (or a longer ride over to the east side if you're into that kind of thing).

Sound Transit is continuing with the preliminary design of the station that will sit in the I-90 right-of-way between 23rd Avenue and Rainier Avenue, right at the entrance to the Mt. Baker Tunnel. The latest drawing shows a center-platform station with overhead protection from the rain.

Due to space restrictions, the station will be sited closest to 23rd, with elevators, escalators, and stairs to get down to the level of the station. On the west side, it will connect with Rainier via a 600 foot long ramp to get down to street level, providing access to the #7 bus route. Sound Transit is actively exploring ways to brighten up the area below the underpass there to make it more inviting for pedestrians.

Space is being made on both ends of the station...

We just saw that the gas pumps at the 23rd & Cherry AM/PM are taped off, and the cashier tells us its due to a flaky new computer system.

They got the new computer installed last week, and it's been giving them a weeks-worth of problems, including today's total shutdown. A technician was being called but they weren't sure when it would be fixed.

Your alternatives:

• Metro
• The Shell station at 12th & Cherry
• The '76 station at 23rd & Union

Justice Is No Game: A Briefing on Washington's 3-Strikes Law from FIX 3 STRIKES on Vimeo.

Since the early 1990s, Paul Rivers, Stonney Rivers, and David Conyers have been serving sentences of 777 years, 77 months, and 77 days With No Possibility of Release for crimes classified in the lowest quarter of criminal seriousness under Washington law.

All are members of the same family.  David was sentenced at 21.

Not one of these men has any conviction for a crime classified under state law as a Serious Violent Offense.  In fact, the state's Sentencing Guidelines Commission recommended that the legislature remove Robbery 2 - and consider removing Assault 2 -- from the list of 3-Strikes crimes in 2001. These are the crimes these men's 3-Strikes sentences rest on.   King County Prosecutors no longer ask for the 3-Strikes sentence in cases like these. 

In this film, these three men and several other current and former 3-Strikers and their family members speak on what led them to where they are today...

• CD Sponsor Bottleneck offers up Guinness-braised corned beef, served on marbled rye accompanied by the requisite cabbage and Smithwick's Irish Ale
• If you want to celebrate St. Paddy's Day with your little ones, head over to Madrona Eatery & Ale House and split the Green Pizza
• Another family friendly place to take your kids is CD Sponsor All Purpose Pizza - where Guinness is available by the bottle
• Twilight Exit (also a CD Sponsor) offers Guinness on tap and $6 Jameson's shots
• Have you tried the Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Pig in a Blanket at CD Sponsor Central Cinema?  If not, try one tonight even if you're not vegan (5 stars out of 5 from this former sweet breads fan).  For an offbeat evening, try the improv from Blood Squad tonight - as a preview to the so-horribly-bad-it's-good Leprechaun ($7 tickets)
• For a splurgy evening, head to Licorous - where $40 will buy you five green wines (i.e. organic and biodynamic wines) and accompanying bites
• If you're looking for a more low-key way...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's the news big and small from Seattle's East Precinct:

The city planning department has posted a land use application that asks for a rezone of the parking lot that sits midblock in the 150 block of 20th Avenue. The property is owned by First Place School, which operates their programs in the old synagogue building to the north. The lot was purchased from the city for $1.9 million in 2001.

The requested change from L1 to L3 would allow increased height and density on the block:

• L1 is designed for townhouses and cottages, where as L3 allows low-rise apartment buildings
• L3 allows 16 units on the lot, vs 8 units in L1
• 3 full stories with 5' pitched roof, vs. 2 full stories with a 10' roof
• Reduced rear setback of 15% of lot depth, vs 20% currently
• Max building width of 75', vs 60' currently

The application notes that the use would stay as a parking lot for now.

We placed a call to First Place to get details on their reason for the rezone, but have not yet heard back. We'll update this story if we do.

Lions, tigers, and sustainability, oh my!

Follow the yellow brick road to the Lake Washington Girls Middle School 6th and 7th grade production of The Wizard of Oz, this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Student-designed and -crafted set...
Community-made recycled- and re purposed-materials costumes, complete with converse of many colors...
Familiar songs and (a very iconic!) dance sure to get you on your feet...

Bring the whole family. Tell your friends. All residents of the great Emerald City are welcome!

MOHAI, 2700 24th Ave E
Thursday, March 18, 7pm
Friday, March 19, 7pm
Saturday, March 20, 1pm

$10 suggested donation.

Here's all the excitement from the streets of Seattle's East Precinct:

March 25 Community Forum: Contract with City & Broadstripe Hurts South Seattle Neighborhoods

The advocacy group Upgrade Technology for Underserved Neighbors (UTUN) announces a forum Thurs. March 25, 2010 5:30 – 7 PM at the Central Area Senior Center, regarding a contract between internet and cable provider Broadstripe and the City of Seattle. UTUN includes multiple south Seattle neighborhoods who advocate for immediate improvement to substandard cable and internet services in certain areas. If you live in the Beacon Hill, Leschi, Judkins Park or Central District neighborhoods, please join us when City of Seattle and Broadstripe officials report on the 2010 Work Plan that is designed to monitor and document improvements for local cable and internet services.  The forum is at the Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Ave. South 98144,  5:30 - 7 pm. Refreshments are provided by a key sponsor Central Area Development Association (CADA).

 Speakers include Broadstripe’s recently appointed Northwest General...

Construction work is underway inside the old Cherry St. Cleaners building, preparing it for new tenants. According to Shira, the lovely and charming and inquisitive bartender at the Twilight Exit (a CDNews sponsor), the building is being partitioned into a sort of mini-mall where access to each business will be from a shared hallway.

The prospective tenants are:

• Burger joint
• Consignment shop
• Men's and women's hair salon
• A check-cashing outlet

Exact opening dates weren't available, but construction is expected to finish by early summer.

HONK! Fest West hopes to see the whole community on Saturday April 10. Starting 10AM you may not be able to go outside without hearing a marching band somewhere in the distance as we entertain and engage our neighbors at community meetings, sports fields, businesses, social service agencies and street corners.

Then in the afternoon, follow the music to 14th & Yesler where 30 bands from around the US and Canada will join other entertainers at the HONK! street fair between Gatzert Elementary School and historic Washington Hall (13th and 14th Avenues from S Washington to East Spruce Street). Local groups Bakra Bata, the Seattle Fandango Project, la Banda Gozona and others will join the HONK! bands from 2-4PM.

Want to pick up your horn or drum and join the fun? We will be organizing a pick-up band playing easy charts and led by Dick Valentine of Cornish Institute.

www.HONKFESTWEST.com has info about venues, neighborhoods, times, line up, etc...

If you, your friends, or family members would like to help support HONK!...

I bought a piece of stone  for a project and leaned it against a telephone pole saturday morning until I had time and help to move it.  Seeing as how it was 34"x15"x2" and weighed close to two hundred pounds, I assumed it would be fine there.  But it was gone when I got home Saturday evening. 

I believe that someone took it thinking it was free, but it wasn't and I would appreciate it's return.   The stone is black marble with no vains or other irregularities.  It has been polished to a shine on one side and has a natural edge (not cut).

I have designed a table specifically for this piece of stone. If you notice this slab of stone in someones yard please call me.   206-325-0139