Part acrobatics, part circus, part yoga. Circus Yoga is coming to town. Billed as fun for kids and adults, the touring yoga workshop and weekend immersion will take over Samarya Center at 18th and Yesler February 3-5. Early registration ends January 23.

More details from Circus Yoga:

Join us at The Samarya Center the first weekend in February. We are hosting our good friends again and their practice of CircusYoga! The Early Bird Discount is good through January 23rd. 

CircusYoga® Community Workshop – for adults & kids ages 7 to 107  

CircusYoga returns to The Samarya Center for a Friday night Community Workshop! Co-founder Erin Maile O’Keefe has been leading communities in a blend of interactive group yoga, circus arts, acrobatics and play for over 15 years. Deep rejuvenation comes with connection and joyful play. Bring your friends and family to experience this intentionally multigenerational practice. Whether you have kids or not, experience a village at play together. Be on the edge of your learning and surprise yourself by what you can do. Create the culture of a traveling circus and embody your part in it. Embrace the principle of inclusion by connecting to the full spectrum of your being!

 

CircusYoga® Ring One Immersion

Please join us for an unforgettable weekend of  multigenerational play and learning with expert facilitator, teacher, co-creator of CircusYoga Erin Maile O’Keefe. While this weekend is part of the CircusYoga Teacher Training journey and it also stands alone as a program for those wishing to explore their creativity, leadership skills, communication, play, and more. Whether you are a yogi, school  teacher, facilitator, manager, dancer, parent, or human being… come steep in the benefits of CircusYoga and infuse your practice with the principles of connection, community & play, during this can’t-be-missed fun-filled weekend. The weekend will kick off with a Community Workshop. Included in tuition is the CircusYoga® Ring One Manual. This is also the prerequisite for the CircusYoga® Ring Two Teacher Training.

 

FRI-SUN

Ring One Immersion  $240

($215 Early Registration until January 23rd)

 

FRI, February 3, 2012

6:30-8:30pm

Community Workshop Tuition:  $25/adult, $10/kid ages 7 and up

Remember, you can let the neighborhood know about your upcoming event by posting it on the CDNews events calendar.

Remember how the Liquor Board changed the rules for serving alcohol in a movie theater, endangering Central Cinema’s business model? Well, some Vancouver, WA legislators have proposed a bill that would ease the rules on theaters serving booze.

From Publicola:

However, they could get a reprieve from an unlikely ally: Vancouver Sen. Craig Pridemore (D-49), who’s proposing legislation that would allow minors into beer-serving theaters as long as those theaters adopt a “minor control plan” for keeping minors from drinking booze on the premises.

Central Cinema (a CDN sponsor) already has plans in place to keep minors from drinking. They don’t allow minors into late-night shows, the lights don’t go too dark so servers can keep an eye on patrons, and they card liberally. According to the bill text, a “minor control plan” would have to approved by the Liquor Board and posted at the establishment. It should show “where and when minors are permitted and the control measures used to prevent minors from obtaining alcohol, prohibit minors when drinking alcohol predominates, and minimize minors’ exposure to a drinking environment.” The Liquor Board would also be required to come up with rules that fit these requirements.

SB 6366 and its companion bill HB 2558 are being pushed by two Vancouver-area legislators to help Vancouver’s Kiggins Theater, but the bill would also seem to help Central Cinema. There’s no word yet if any Seattle-area legislators will jump on board to help the get the bill moving, but that would probably be a a very popular move among Central Cinema’s many fans (*wink*).

We’ve asked Central Cinama’s Kevin Spitzer for his opinion on the bill and will update when we hear back.

Text of SB 6366:

6366

Roads around the CD remain slick as we enter day six of being somewhat snowed in. Seattle Schools are closed for the third full day in a row, meaning kids only had a few hours of school this week (lucky!).

Many other shops and city departments are also closed, and buses remain on snow routes.

Here’s a live look around the neighborhood, via the city’s traffic monitoring cameras (refresh the page to see updated photos). You can see which streets have been cleared recently via the city’s winter weather response map.

So, neighbors, what’s open?

UPDATE: The city is urging residents and businesses to clear storm drains to prevent flooding from all the melting snow and predicted rainfall. Here’s the mayor showing you how:

The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle has sold its historic headquarters building at 14th and Yesler in hopes of pulling itself out of recent financial and legal troubles. A couple local business owners purchased the 101-year-old building for $2.7 million in a deal that closed Friday, the Seattle Times reports.

The ULMS has had a rough couple years as the recession and the 2011 Seattle Public Schools scandal led the organization to acquire debt and forced it to fire employees.

From the Times:

The league’s financial health was hurt by a drop in government funding and fallout from last year’s Seattle Public Schools scandal. State auditors found that the schools might have wasted money in trying to help minority firms get school-construction work. The biggest questionable expense, the audit concluded, was nearly $600,000 to the Urban League to pay for minority-business outreach and training.

Shortly after the audit, the league’s board closed its contractor center. It also laid off employees — as staff shrank from 40 employees to a handful — and acting CEO Tony Benjamin stepped down. Benjamin had blamed “negative publicity” from the schools scandal for damaging the league’s reputation and its ability to renew some contracts.

The ULMS maintains that it did nothing wrong during the scandal, which led to the arrest of Silas Potter. But regardless of guilt, the organization has been diminished by the events.

The new owners are Craig Dawson and Walt Townes, local business partners. Dawson owns business document management company Retail Lockbox, which is moving from South Lake Union to their new larger space in the 14th and Yesler building. Dawson told the Times that, while he likes to help the League out, purchasing the building is mostly a business decision.

The sale included a three-year lease to the ULMS to continue operating out of the building.

The ULMS is putting the money raised from the building’s sale to reinvigorate their search for a new CEO and reform its bruised reputation. The national Urban League has stated it is committed to rebuilding the Seattle chapter, and Interim ULMS Chairman Walle Ralkowsi told the Seattle Medium they are determined to return to fighting for equality.

From the Seattle Medium:

According to ULMS, The sale the building is expected to bring about a resolution of the financial obligations which were left after many of the Urban League’s programs were downsized last year due to the poor economy.

“There are so many people who are waiting for us to re-emerge as the Urban League they want to see thriving here, that many people have offered us a chance to build a financial base we will need to make us one of the key local agencies fighting for equality and finding opportunities in education, housing, employment and health,” said Walle Ralkowski, Interim ULMS Chairman.

UPDATE: SNOW!!!!!

There’s a couple inches of powdery snow covering the neighborhood, and it’s still falling fast. A quick stroll around the neighborhood suggests that things are not too slippery yet. The #2 bus was running (though on snow routing). Few people were out and about, suggesting that most people played it smart and stayed home.

Meanwhile, a man was shot and killed near Seattle Central Community College on Capitol Hill early this morning. The snowy homicide crime scene brings back eerie memories of a homicide at 15th and Union just before a fall 2010 snow storm. Police are looking for a suspect in this morning’s shooting. Stay tuned to CHS for more.

Today’s the perfect day to sit inside and read Wikipedia. Oh wait, Wikipedia is blacked out due to a SOPA/PIPA protest. I guess you’ll have to go outside and have a snowball fight instead.

Treat this post as an open thread. What’s open? What’s the best sledding hill in the CD?

Original story:

Beheaded snowman on 21st Ave.

Congratulations, kids, you had a late start and early dismissal only to come home to a sunny CD. And it gets even better: All Seattle Public Schools will be closed Wednesday:

Due to concerns about hazardous road conditions, all Seattle Public Schools will be closed Wednesday, January 18. All before- and after-school activities are cancelled and there will be no preschool or Head Start.

Your snowmen are melting and disfigured, but hopefully your parents or a friendly neighbor can spin that into a zen lesson about the balance of creation and destruction. And maybe the weather tomorrow will let you build them again.

Weather wizard Cliff Mass promises a 9 p.m. update on tomorrow morning’s predicted winter storm. In the meantime, icy neighborhood streets and sidewalks are melting (UPDATE: That melted snow turned to ice as evening temperatures dropped. Be careful out there!). Buses are still on snow routes, so be sure to check your route online if you are heading out. And it’s cold! Please check on your vulnerable neighbors to make sure they have what they need.

Speaking of being neighborly, here’s my favorite comment from Sunday’s snow day post:

2:00PM – Reader Phil M sent us this video from near Judkins Park. An Auto Zone employee decided to try to help tow this stuck Metro bus (it didn’t work, but it was a nice gesture!):

Jeep towing Seattle Metro bus up snowy MLK Ave from Phil McGilton on Vimeo.

Kids made a snowman in the Garfield High parking lot before the annual march to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Monday. Despite the icy roads and freezing temperatures, thousands of people showed up to fill the streets for a march to downtown.

The theme of the day was “Recapturing MLK Jr’s Revolutionary Spirit,” and there was a fairly large Occupy Seattle contingent in the crowd.

The march went south on 23rd to Union and eventually Madison. We tweeted the as the march went through the neighborhood:

[View the story “MLK March 2012” on Storify]

In other MLK news, the King Center just released a bunch of letters and other papers. Check them out online if you have a couple hours.

We followed Saturday’s protest against police brutality from the 23rd and Union rallying point to the East Precinct headquarters and, eventually, Seattle Central Community College.

Things got a little wild at points, with some protestors carrying torches and chanting, “We carry torches for our dead. This revolt will never end.”

There was disagreement within the group as some black-clad members started throwing trash cans, car tires and sidewalk signs into the roadway. Other members of the group picked up the thrown items and put them back, prompting some arguments.

In the end, there did not appear to be any injuries or arrests. Police barricaded 12th Ave and Pine for several hours, snarling traffic in the area, especially on Pike.

We live-blogged it on Twitter (if you want some actually good photos, check out Joshua Trujillo’s shots at the P.I.):

Snow Day!

There are scores of snow men popping up in parks and front yards all across the Central District today. If you’re trying to get anywhere, you might be in for a headache. But if you’re headed to play, it’s paradise.

No word yet on if the snow will effect Monday’s MLK march, scheduled to get under way at 12:30 p.m. (with a rally and workshops beforehand).

As usual, cars and buses are having trouble on some of the steeper hills. Metro is on snow schedules, and there are several stranded buses out there. You can find your bus’s snow route online.

Joanna reports that some people have had trouble making it up Union (and if you’re calling a cab she suggests not getting picked up at the top of a hill. That sounds like pretty good advice!).

Photo by Joanna

Meanwhile, boxers from Cappy’s Boxing Gym and some farmers from Alleycat Acres made some snowpeople at their 22nd and Union farm:

Photo by Sean Conroe

I took a stroll through Pratt Park, where families were playing:

Do you have any photos/stories/tips to share? Post them in the comments below or email [email protected].

Seattle Community Colleges held their 38th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration at Mount Zion Baptist Church Friday. Above, Nate Miles gives the keynote address.

Below is a list of nearby MLK events in the next week. If you know of anything else, let us know in the comments below.

The annual MLK Day rally and march will be Monday. It starts at Garfield High School (see our coverage and video from last year’s march). More information from the MLK Seattle Celebration Committee:

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee announces the 30th annual region-wide Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration on Monday, January 16, 2012, beginning with Workshops (9:30am-11am), Rally (11am-12:30pm) and the March beginning at a new time of 12:30pm. This year’s theme is “30th Anniversary Celebration: Recapturing MLK Jr.’s Revolutionary Spirit!”

This year we will march from Garfield High School to the Federal Building via Union St. & Madison St. Please see the march route page for complete details. Lunch will be provided FREE following the march in Garfield’s Commons area. We look foward to seeing you for a wonderful meal.

Teens from around the city will march from MLK Memorial Park to Garfield Community Center Saturday. Participants will meet at (MLK and S Walker St) and walk north, touring some of the Central District’s parks named after Civil Rights figures. After Sam Smith, Powell Barnett and Sidney Gerber Parks, the march will end at Garfield Community Center with group discussions.

Seattle Parks created a video to go along with the march:

UmojaFest and the United for Youth Coalition are holding a week of events called PEACE Week.

First AME is celebrating at their 14th and Pine church Sunday:

Join us in the Birthday Celebration of

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 15, 2012

 7:30 a.m. – Special Guest Speaker:

Sis. Sarah Collins Rudolph, from Birmingham, AL

 11:00 a.m. – Our very own Presiding Elder Shermella Garrett

Seattle University is holding an MLK celebration Tuesday:

Seattle University Martin Luther King Jr. CelebrationTuesday, January 17, 7:00 p.m.Pigott Auditorium (Marion and 12th Ave.)Carlotta Walls LaNier: “A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice of Little Rock Central High School”

Free and open to the public; RSVP to [email protected] or 206.296.6070 

This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration features Congressional Gold Medal winner Carlotta Walls LaNier, who in 1957 joined eight classmates to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The courage of the Little Rock Nine in the face of violence, hostility, and discrimination catalyzed the Civil Rights Movement and mobilized post-Brown v. Board of Education desegregation of public schools in the U.S.  Mrs. LaNier is the author of A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice of Little Rock Central High School.  For more information, visit our event page.