Seattle King

On March 25th at approximately 11:53 a.m. officers responded to 911 calls of a male subject armed with a rifle firing numerous rounds at another subject in the middle of the street in the 13500 block of 3rd Avenue NW.  Officers arriving on scene located and detained an adult male subject who was later determined to have been in possession of a rifle (the rifle was found nearby lying on the ground). 

A Ford Mustang was located abandoned in the middle of the street with multiple bullet holes in it.  The Mustang is believed to be one of two vehicles driven to the scene by the burglars.  The Mustang was subsequently impounded and taken to the evidence garage for processing by detectives. 

Preliminary investigation indicates that the adult male subject with the rifle had confronted two adult suspects, one male and one female, attempting to burglarize his home.  A third suspect, an adult female, was waiting in a white SUV parked near the...

Seattle City Council member Nick Licata has committed to drafting legislation that would make it easier to prosecute cops for killing civilians. Licata says that he wants to remove the stipulation that "malice"—otherwise known as "evil intent"—from the state's current deadly use-of-force laws because, as some people have noted, it's a nearly impossible bar to prove.

"You basically have to prove that a police officer was intentionally out to kill someone," says Licata. "I think the general public

Know an individual or organization making a difference in Seattle through the arts? Nominate them for a 2011 Mayor’s Arts Award. The nomination deadline is 5 p.m., Thursday, May 5. The online nomination form is available here .  

“Forty years ago during another difficult economy, city leaders founded the Seattle Arts Commission because they believed support for the arts would enrich urban life. They were right. The arts have helped make Seattle the rich cultural city it is today” said Mayor Mike McGinn. “I look forward to honoring the inspiring accomplishments of artists and cultural organizations that have been shaping our city for many years.”

As the goal of the awards is to reflect the diversity of artistic achievement throughout the city, there are no preset award categories. This year marks the 40

Anyone interested in renewable energy is invited to check out the new map of our renewable energy demonstration projects, which we’ve added to our website. 

The map shows the location of all of Seattle City Light’s 31 public demonstration projects. By clicking on one of the blue icons, an information bubble will open with basic information about the site. Many of the information bubbles have a link for more details, including history, photos and access to live production data.

The demonstration projects are partnerships among Seattle City Light and local public and nonprofit organizations. They are designed to raise awareness and educate the public about different sources of clean electricity and ways to conserve energy.

The first project was a solar energy system at Seattle Center’s Northwest Rooms in 2000 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Earth Day. From 2002  to 2010, most local demonstration projects were funded...

Earlier this month, we broke the news that the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) had a $520,000 contract with the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, a group that got caught up in the Seattle Public Schools scandal for taking money for services they never actually provided.

We were curious to see if the Urban League—vocal fans of WSDOT’s deep-bore tunnel project—was providing similarly questionable services to the state.

In response to a public disclosure request, WSDOT revealed

The Seattle Department of Transportation will close the southbound, right lane on the Alaskan Way Viaduct at Jackson Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays from Monday March 28 to Friday, April 8. During the closures the crews will repair railing that was damaged by accidents.

This schedule is subject to change in the event crews are called to another location to perform emergency work.

For information: Greg Funk, (206) 233-7210

Media contact: Marybeth Turner, (206) 684-8548

This is an open letter to all Seattle City Light Customers from Superintendent Jorge Carrasco.

Greetings,

You, our customers, are the focus of everything we do at Seattle City Light, so I’m pleased to provide an overview of key accomplishments we achieved on your behalf in 2010.

Despite a poor water year and a drop in surplus power revenue, City Light was able to control costs while delivering significant accomplishments that benefited our community in 2010 and will continue to do so for years to come.

The attached report provides a high level summary of City Light performance in 2010.  I want to thank all our customers, Mayor Mike McGinn and the City Council for their help and support of our work in this challenging year. While our employees are proud of every accomplishment, several merit highlighting:

• Ranked in top 25 percent by JD Power among all utilities in the United States for customer service
• Significantly reduced streetlight repair time from 64 days to 10 working days
• Exceeded our annual energy conservation...

Apparently, repairs to the CNG fueling station will be measured in months, not weeks:

Since February 28th, a fire in our Compressed Natural Gas fueling station has limited the number of buses we can put into service each day. We are now learning that repairs will take several months and that we will be unable to return to regular service levels. As a result, we are operating Emergency Reduced Service through June 11th.

The brochure lays out the route-by-route impacts.

Large, temporary

The Seattle Department of Transportation will close the northbound, right lane through the Battery Street Tunnel tonight, March 25, from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. tomorrow. During this time crews will perform electrical work on behalf of the Washington State Department of Transportation.

For more information: (206) 684-ROAD

Media contact: Richard Sheridan, (206) 684-8540

As mentioned yesterday, this weekend brings Vegfest—the nation's largest vegetarian festival, featuring lectures, cooking exhibitions, and over 500 meat-free foods for sampling—to the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.

Find full info on Vegfest 2011 and many other food-related doings in the Chow Events Calendar.

Vegfest: Because cheeseburgers are too adorable to eat.™

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Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC) has a good analysis on all three of the proposed transportation budgets on their blog and copied below. Since the release of the House’s budget earlier this week $4 million dollars in funds for Sound Transit’s Lakewood to Tacoma Sounder vehicle project have been added back (out of $4.5 million dollars). This project was not initially included in the Regional Mobility Grant despite being one the top ranking projects. This amendment was proposed by Rep. Upthegrove

Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC) has a good analysis of all three of the proposed transportation budgets on their blog and copied below. Since the release of the House’s budget earlier this week $4 million dollars in funds for Sound Transit’s Lakewood to Tacoma Sounder vehicle project have been added back (out of $4.5 million dollars). This project was not initially included in the Regional Mobility Grant despite being one the top ranking projects. This amendment was proposed by Rep. Upthegrove

Cast and Crew Auditions for Joe O’Connor’s New Film

Movies are just fluff, right? Rest stops for escapism before easing back into our daily routines. They rouse our emotions for a short while, but the fire cools soon after. Rarely do we allow them to adjust our actions and change us in some fundamental, lasting way. If a film possesses this revolutionary spirit, it would surely rock the sociopolitical order.

Filmmaker Joe O’Connor is working on his own “revolution” of sorts, with the perfect city

Vince's, the old-school red-sauce classic down in Rainier Beach, is closed forever. If you need some red-and-white-checked vinyl tablecloths, pizza pans, or red glass candle-holders, there is an auction today (posted without a time on their readerboard—no info on their Twitter as of right now). Three other Vince's (Vince'ses?)—in Burien, Federal Way, and Renton—remain open.

UPDATE! As gloomy gus points out in comments, Pizzeria Pulcinella in Rainier

• Community Meetings - Patu and Smith-Blum, 
• Seattle Spring College Fair at Seattle University
• Pinehurst K-8 Festival

On Thursday, March 24th the Aggressive Driver Response team (ADRT) conducted enforcement around the city in accordance with their mission to promote traffic safety through the vigorous enforcement of city and state traffic laws.  Some of the high speeds and other violations detected by ADRT officers today include:

On Highway 99, a 50 mph zone, one at 85 mph and one at 80 mph. 

On the West Seattle Bridge, a 45 mph zone, one at 71 mph, one at 70 mph, one Bus Lane violation and one No Proof of Insurance ticket.

On SW Admiral Way, a 30 mph zone, one at 55 mph and one at 51 mph.

On the 1st Avenue South Bridge, a 45 mph zone, two at 71 mph, two at 70 mph, one at 68 mph, one at 67 mph, two at 66 mph, one Cell Phone violation and one HOV Lane violation.

Commenters at the Seattle Times are outraged—outraged!—at the news, reported by Mike Lindblom, that Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl is likely to get a $6,000 performance bonus this year and a 3 percent raise.

The increase would put Earl’s total salary at just over $200,000.

Sure, that is—as Lindblom notes—more than Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn or Gov. Chris Gregoire. But it’s hard to argue that Earl doesn’t deserve it. (Unless you believe, as many commenters seem to, that “no one rides” Link light rail or

If you’re in West Seattle’s Delridge neighborhood on Saturday, April 16, you’re likely to see an unusual sight: runners carrying buckets of gravel and pushing wheelbarrows full of mulch. 

They are participating in Seattle’s first Environmental Adventure Race. Conceived by Healthy Parks, Healthy People, Healthy Planet (HP3), the 16-mile Adventure Race pushes participants to their physical limits while they restore trails, build habitat and plant trees in West Seattle parks.  

“HP3 is the first and only event to combine running and restoration,” said Amanda Zahler, the race organizer. “It takes adventure racing to the next level.” 

The partnership of HP3, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is engaging communities in the event to bring people’s attention to environmental stewardship issues, to spotlight a fitness opportunity, and to get some real, needed work done in area parks. 

Seattle Parks and Recreation supports healthy lifestyle choices through our...

This weekend brings Vegfest, aka "America's Largest Vegetarian Food Festival," to Seattle Center.

On the roster: Cooking demonstrations, nutrition lectures, and over 500 meat-and-cost-free food samples [Eds. update: with $8 admission, which is still cheap for 500 SAMPLES!].

Those curious about the meat-free life should consider attending, or just behold these two photographs/artworks that accompanied the execept of Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals in the New York Times Magazine, which makes

On March 22nd at approximately 8:00 p.m. Seattle Police officers and detectives conducted a large scale narcotics operation which resulted in the arrest of five adult suspects and the seizure of over 8,400 pills of “ecstasy” (MDMA), the seizure of two vehicles, a loaded handgun and the almost $15,000 in cash.  The street value of the seized drugs is approximately $42,000.   Some of the units involved in this major operation included Narcotics, South Precinct Anti-Crime Team (ACT), and SWAT, as well as others.   This operation was the end result of a two week investigation that began with the arrests of suspects selling ecstasy at a rave outside of a club in the 4200 Block of South Othello by members of the South ACT.    This led to a residence in Snohomish County, where a suspect delivered 1,000 pills of ecstasy and an additional 1,500 pills were recovered from the residence. 

On the evening of March 22nd, a “buy” was set up involving the...

The economic recession made 2010 a challenging year for many people and organizations, including Seattle City Light. Even so, the utility did achieve significant accomplishments on behalf of our customer-owners, including improvements in customer communications, cost-cutting efficiencies in operations, streetlight repairs, the introduction of LED streetlights, savings from refinancing debt and much more.

You can take a look at some of those accomplishments with this video.

If you’re looking for a spring egg hunt, join Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Northgate community for the grand opening of Hubbard Homestead Park at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 23 at 5

 The free egg hunt, for children 12 and younger, will kick off this neighborhood celebration that includes music, clowns, and light refreshments. Mayor Mike McGinn and some of the Hubbard family will cut the ribbon at 11 a.m.

Friday, April 15  

Northgate Community Center, 10510 5

Bunny Hop Northgate

Ages 5 and younger

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Cost: $5 per family

Celebrate our 5th Annual Bunny Hop! Join us for an evening and “Wear ‘Em Out.” We’ll have toys, trikes, scooters and bounce houses for the little honey bunnies to enjoy!

Teens Only! Montlake Community Center, 1618 E Calhoun St.

Teen Flashlight Egg Hunt

Ages 11-17

Dusk – 8:45 p.m.

Free

Teens are invited to bring a flashlight and search in the dark for eggs that contain candy or a certificate to claim a special prize. The hunt is sponsored...

You know spring is here when both professional soccer and Little League are on the weekend calendar!  Friday, March 25, the Seattle Sounders will take on the Houston Dynamo at 7 p.m. at Qwest Field.  A crowd of 34,000 fans will be attending and traffic is expected to be congested on the streets around the stadium before and after the match.  

On Saturday morning, March 26, at 8:30 a.m., 1700 participants and spectators will begin assembling for the Magnolia Little League Parade.  The one – hour parade will get underway at 10:30 a.m. starting at W McGraw Street and Westmont Way W. Escorted by Seattle Police, the marchers will head east on McGraw to 32

Contact: Peg Nielsen, 206.684.8114

Seattle City Councilmembers passed legislation out of committee to place a renewal of the Families and Education Levy on the November ballot. After rigorous discussion, the Council unanimously approved the levy at $231 million. The legislation will be considered for final adoption at the Full Council meeting on March 28.

“Today’s unanimous vote sends a strong signal that this Council is committed to Seattle’s most vulnerable children and struggling schools,” said Councilmember Tim Burgess, chair of the Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee. “We recognize the City must do more to partner with the School District and prepare all of our children for college and career. The Levy is an effective tool that moves us closer to this goal.”

The Levy would fund programs with proven results to help at-risk students and low-performing schools. These programs, directly administered and controlled by the City, supplement the basic academic instruction provided by Seattle Public Schools. The Levy would also provide continued...

If you want advice on growing a beautiful garden that uses less water and pesticides, check out the Savvy Gardener Facebook page.

The Savvy Gardener Facebook page gives you practical tips, advice and resources on gardening the natural way.

With seasonal advice on dealing with weeds and pests, choosing the right plants, managing your lawn, smart watering, growing food at home, and building healthy soil, you’ll have the know-how to create a healthy garden that conserves water and helps keep chemicals out of local waterways.

Visit www.facebook.com/savvygardenernews and click on “Like” to access this free gardening resource.

Savvy Gardener is a service of Seattle Public Utilities and the Saving Water Partnership.

A group calling itself Let’s Move Forward has officially registered with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, and commission director Wayne Barnett confirms that it’s the pro-tunnel campaign, who want voters to say “yes” on the tunnel referendum and uphold the city’s agreements with the state on the tunnel.

Although the campaign has not reported any contributions or expenditures (they just registered a half-hour ago), the campaign will reportedly be managed by Sheila Stickel, who previously

I thought I’d pass along a data reference tool that I’ve found very useful in understanding our city and region.  A few months ago the New York Times launched a project called Mapping America – Every City, Every Block.  The maps use data from the 2009 American Community Survey to display basic population data (density, race/ethnicity, income, education etc…) but they are especially useful in their use of automatic scaling; the maps adjusts your viewing

I thought I’d pass along a data reference tool that I’ve found very useful in understanding our city and region.  A few months ago the New York Times launched a project called Mapping America – Every City, Every Block.  The maps use data from the 2009 American Community Survey to display basic population data (density, race/ethnicity, income, education etc…) but they are especially useful in their use of automatic scaling; the maps adjusts your viewing

Seattle Municipal Archives has added a photo to the pool:

Item 77310, Miscellaneous Prints (Record Series 9910-01), Seattle Municipal Archives.

1) Your daily Morning Fizz.
2) What if South Lake Union and Pioneer Square traded places?
3) Anand has Stockholm Syndrome here at PubliCola. We’ve got him writing about land use planning.
4) Erica on the radio.
5) Fact checking a bill that would undo the voter-approved renewable energy initiative.
6)Urban planning contest.
7) Bob Dylan on Elizabeth Taylor.
8 ) Erica adds some relevant context to PI’s tunnel story.
9)We are trying to fix the problems with Disqus.
10) Joel Connelly on Erica C. Barnett. Thanks,

Seattle city attorney Pete Holmes, writing on Crosscut, says state attorney general Rob McKenna’s opposition to health care reform shows McKenna doesn’t understand how health care works:

Politicians like McKenna who don’t support universal health insurance coverage aren’t saving us money; they’re just perpetuating a system that spreads our ever-increasing health care costs among Medicare, Medicaid, federal, state, and local government employee plans, the VA, other government programs like SCHIP

Here are the US Lacross Washington Players of the Week, sent in on Wednesday.

SEATTLE - Bainbridge High's Alexander Rabin, Richland High's Daniel Hart, Stadium High's Sadie Treleven and Central Kitsap's Jacky Hennegan were named by US Lacrosse as Washington High School Players of the Week for the week of March 14-20.

The US Lacrosse Washington High School Player of the Week in Boys and Girls Division I and II is selected based on exceptional performance and sportsmanship on the field of play by the

Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna—frustrated that his gang bill appears to be stalled—circulated a KOMO story today on a gang-related murder in Seattle.

McKenna’s point: Wake up, Seattle.

In the email, McKenna writes:

There have been dozens of gang crimes reported since the 2011 legislative session began. Yet our anti-gang bill, remains bottled up, where some lawmakers hope it will die quietly.

The simple truth is many of the victims of gang violence are from communities of color east of

Seattle Department of Transportation crews will grind down and pave the northbound and southbound lanes at the north end of the Ballard Bridge on Saturday, March 26, weather permitting. Lane closures will change throughout the day to accommodate the work. At least one lane will remain open in each direction. The crews will work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information: Steve Hoyos, (206) 386-1218

Media contact: Marybeth Turner, (206) 684-8548