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May 16, 2008
"yellow dragon on pole" by Seattlest Flickr Pool Contributor Seattle rainscreen. Thanks! It's not every day that the local news headlines look so....well....international. This morning, we've got Seattle money going to China to help out after the horrific earthquake; more information about the death of a museum director in town from Thailand who was in federal custody; Seattle-based federal prosecutors in Baghdad conducting a criminal investigation on a Seattlite paratrooper; and an incinerated tavern...
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After over 45 years as Seattle's most visible man-made icon, the Space Needle is in dire need of a bath. Turns out the Needle has not had a serious cleaning since 1962, when it was introduced to the world as Seattle's symbol, during the World's Fair. The much-needed bath began yesterday, at the hands of a German company which promises a "green clean" of the icon. Karcher has also been tasked with cleaning some...
Continue Reading "The Space Needle Gets a Much-Needed Bath "May 15, 2008
Earlier this week, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that:Jeff Raikes, 49, will succeed Patty Stonesifer as head of the world's largest philanthropy, managing a $37 billion endowment, $3 billion a year in grants, and ambitious goals such as eradicating malaria and developing a vaccine to prevent AIDS.How lucky that Raikes was right there at Microsoft all along. It's like Gates hired based on keywords, one of which is "my company." In 1997, with...
Continue Reading "Guess They Don't Call It the "Microsoft Family" for Nothing"
The latest endorsement may not be on a John Edwards scale. But, in such a tightly contested race, every endorsement (especially one from a superdelegate) is a victory worth celebrating. Washington Representative and superdelegate Jim McDermott announced his support of Barack Obama today. McDermott told the Seattle P-I that he is supporting Obama because he is "confident as president he will end the war in Iraq and bring our sons and daughters home." McDermott...
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The Eastside Ben & Jerry’s has a conundrum. The downtown Kirkland development of Lake Street Place is forcing the store to vacate its waterfront location during the upcoming summer months. This puts an obvious damper in the store’s business plan. On numerous summer days, we have walked past a long line of ice cream addicts salivating out the Ben & Jerry’s door. How will the downtown Kirkland staple re-coup its forecasted summer losses? Find...
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May 15, 2008
An associate professor of military science at Seattle University has been arrested in Colorado as part of a child sex sting. Andrew Douglas Frank was arrested in Canon City, Colo., where he had flown to meet a teenage girl he'd been communicating with online. The underage girl he'd been sharing risque communiques with was no Lolita, she was in fact, an undercover officer. Franz, who identified himself on-line as "sugardad4u33," had been chatting with...
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Fishing the Sound by epic Seattlest Flickr contributor Slightly North Sorry local fisherman. After the NOAA ruled out shooting as a cause of death, we know we passed the blame to your understandable anger at the gluttonous sea oafs. But the latest theory on just how six local sea lions died places the blame squarely on mother nature's shoulders. Now, according to investigators, the sea lions do not appear to have died of gunshot wounds,...
Continue Reading "So There's Not a Sea Lion Killer on the Loose?"May 14, 2008
We've all called in hooky and faked a cough or cold to get out of a day of work. Sometimes the daily grind just seems unbearable...we understand. But we sincerely hope that karmic justice comes fast and furious at Sandra Dee Martinez, a 40 year-old woman who faked brain cancer to get out of work. Martinez received over $21,000 of paid time-off from her job at the Department of Social and Health Services in...
Continue Reading "Faking Cancer to Get Off Work-Not Only Uncool, Illegal Too"
If there's one thing we're sick of, it's the ignorant attitude every pseudo-populist commentator in Seattle has taken on regarding the SLUT. (And yes, we've had more than our fair share of fun at its expense, replete with lame puns, etc.) But Aimee Curl's report in this week's Seattle Weekly on the City Council's discussions for SLUT expansion leaves us just a little ticked. After characterizing service expansion as "daydreams," Curl gives plenty of space...
Continue Reading "The Streetcar Isn't a Joke, So Let up on It!"
A Coinstar employee has been accused of stealing nearly half a million dollars from the company's coin-counting machines in three states. 39-year-old Michael R. Burns was arrested yesterday and is expected to be charged with first-degree theft. Burns, who was trained to fix the Coinstar machines and worked in the company's manufacturing department, used his knowledge of the coin kiosks to break into them while he was off-duty. Because Burns would wear a company...
Continue Reading "Hopefully It Wasn't All in Pennies..."
Photo of Ezell's by our very own Seattlest Contributor, James Ezell's Famous Chicken, a Seattle institution of deep-fried goodness, has been victim to a number of burglaries in the past six months. The most recent burglary happened this Saturday and was caught on surveillance cameras. The grainy footage shows a man breaking in through a side-window of the restaurant early Saturday morning after Ezell's closed for business. This is third burglary in six months at...
Continue Reading "Ezell's Targeted by Repeat Burglaries "May 13, 2008
Lofa Tatupu, the Seahawks three-time Pro-Bowl linebacker, was arrested this weekend in Kirkland for driving under the influence. Tatupu was pulled over for speeding and changing lanes without signaling. The officer on the scene reported that Tatupu smelled of alcohol though he claimed he hadn't been drinking. Tatupu refused a portable Blood Alcohol test after failing field sobriety tests. His car was impounded and he was brought into police custody where he submitted to...
Continue Reading "Seahawks Pro-Bowler Arrested for DUI"
Seattlest relies on local news sources and the AP for the vast majority of our news stories and information. Of course, the AP and other local news sources are not infallible and mistakes are made. As a responsible news source that we hope you trust, we want to make sure that if an article we post proves to be inaccurate, the corrections are duly noted. While using the best information we had at the...
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Seattlest may be more attuned to these reports, since we spend the greater portion of our day browsing local news sites...but what is going on with the spate of stabbings in Western Washington? Every time we refresh the local news sites, it seems they are reporting a new fatal or near-fatal stabbing. A quick perusal of Komo 4's local news site found the following recent headlines: Roadside Argument Leads to Deadly Stabbing Auburn Teen...
Continue Reading "No More Stabbings, Please "
((((Burp)))) courtesy of Flickr photographer RSKT Only in Tacoma... The Tacoma Municipal Court is scheduled to have a hearing today to decide if Judson Morris can keep his pet pot-bellied pig or if it violates a 1912 city statute banning hogs. On one side is the city of Tacoma, who contends that Morris' pet "Pig-Pig" is a hog and is thus banned from living within city limits. On the other side is Morris and his...
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May 12, 2008
Husky Marching Band by Seattlest Flickr Contributor pdgibson Does this mean no more "Bow Down to Washington" at Husky games? Say it ain't so! The University of Washington is hosting a songwriting contest to create the new theme song for the university. If your ode to the purple and gold is chosen, you'll be awarded $1,000 and a lifetime membership in the University of Washington Alumni Association. Are you a devoted Husky fan who happens...
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When will people learn that a joke about having a bomb is never taken as a joke? We believe this statement has always been true, but is especially so in our heightened state of paranoia about security. Just to reiterate this truth, two Seattle gentlemen temporarily halted ferry service on Sunday, after making a joke about placing a bomb in the trunk of their car. Ferry service between Kingston and Edmonds was delayed over...
Continue Reading "Proof a Joke About a Bomb Is Never Taken as a Joke "
Seattle City Hall by the amazing Seattlest Flickr Contributor--Grundlepuck Seattle City Hall was evacuated this morning because of a minor fire. A fluorescent light on the second floor caught on fire, causing embers to shower on nearby desks. City Hall employees tried to quell the fire with an extinguisher to no avail, so firefighters were called. This is the first fire in the new City Hall building, there was no damage reported. Employees returned to...
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Some asshole’s broken-down Dodge Caravan is making Nirvana look bad. The decrepit piece of shit has been rusting like a cheap can in front of a hotel on Bell Street for the better part of two months, the lone Nirvana sticker on the back window convincing tourists only poor people and scumbags listen to Nirvana around here anymore. Normally we’d expect a Megadeth sticker from this type of vehicle, but to soil Nirvana’s good...
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At the top of the P-I today is a story about nude swimmers who like to converge on the Ballard pool for a monthly go. The crux of the story is that the Ballard pool is having a tough time finding lifeguards to stand watch during Naked Swim. We're not sure that making sure nude people don't drown is akin to selling the morning after pill. Do lifeguards really need to turn down duty...
Continue Reading "Naked Swimming Is Not a Crime"May 9, 2008
Maybe we've seen Outbreak too many times, but this does not sound good: Canadian authorities have a train in northern Ontario traveling between Vancouver, B.C. and Toronto, Ontario under quarantine after one person died and several others came down with an undetermined illness. Apparently, 10 people have come down with flu-like symptoms on the train and one woman has already succumbed to the mystery illness. We guess flu-like symptoms are better than ebola-like symptoms,...
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Not the Bicyclist(s) in Question--Photo Courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Contributor Josh Larios As a driver, we admit we've cursed our bicycle brethren more than once and occasionally blamed them for things far beyond their two-wheeled control. That being said, we've never blamed cyclists for interstate or highway traffic, but after an incident on I-5 yesterday, that may change. A bicyclist caused a big traffic snafu on I-5 after he pedaled down the HOV lane and...
Continue Reading "Bicyclist "Headed to Louisiana" Snarls Traffic on I-5"Seattlest is no proponent or fan of violence, but we have always enjoyed a good baseball brawl. And the Seattle Mariners, failing at all other parts of what we find enjoyable about the game, decided to throw us a bone--giving us the first bench-clearer of the season. Mariners' first baseman Richie Sexson charged the mound and threw his helmet at Rangers' pitcher Kason Gabbard, after Gabbard threw a high pitch near the 6'7" player's head....
Continue Reading "Fight! "May 8, 2008
When we were dissing Clearwire the other day, we had no idea a deal this big was in the works. In fact, plenty of people thought the writing was on the e-tablet for Clearwire after its WiMAX deal with Sprint fell through six months ago. But you can't count Craig McCaw out. The P-I reports:Intel, Comcast, Google, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks have agreed to invest $3.2 billion in the company, which will...
Continue Reading "Seattle's Clearwire WiMAXes Out, But Stocks Fall"
There's a 36-year-old senior surgical resident with the University of Washington who's in the hospital as a patient this week. Police are still looking for his assailants. If you were wandering around Belltown at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning and remember seeing a fight, or a group of meatheads running away from one, call the Seattle Police Department's Homicide and Assault unit at 206-684-5550. The way we read it, one group--the Korean victim, his girlfriend,...
Continue Reading "See Something (A Racist Attack in Belltown)? Say Something!"Advertisement: Seattlest Continues Below!
May 8, 2008
Congratulations are in order today for Patty Murray and Rick Larson, as a federal bill they both sponsored, aiming to declare Wild Sky Wilderness near Seattle a protected area is getting signed by our fearless leader, George W. Bush. So says the Times: The House gave final approval to the bill last month. It designates 167 square miles in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest north of Sultan, Wash., as federal wilderness, the government's highest level...
Continue Reading "No More Logging Our Wild Sky"
Apparently we're not the only ones with hope for Microsoft! Wired Magazine published an interview this morning with Mary Jo Foley, author of the cutely-titled book Microsoft 2.0, about the future of the company as Bill Gates leaves the day-to-day ops in the hands of Steve "I walked away from Yahoo" Ballmer. Her verdict? "It's dangerous for companies of any size to count them out. They're still good at figuring out how to come...
Continue Reading "Author Contends Microsoft Can Still Steal Lunches If It Wants"
Mayor Nickels tapped into a quality of life issue often taken for granted regionally when he cited Seattle’s tap water as an incentive to curb plastic bottle consumption. We’re sure some purists out there can tell us horror stories about the chemicals added to the water flowing from our watersheds, but the mayor has a point. Our tap water is damn good. From the Mediterranean to the Midwest; brown, funky bong water is the...
Continue Reading "Mayor Nickels Taps a Little Truth"
The rugged terrain surrounding Ross Lake, courtesy of Flickr User Rich Sobel Usually, when we hear about people dying trying to cross the border, it is the other border being discussed. However, North Cascade National Park employees recently discovered the body of a man who died trying to walk across the Canadian border this winter. The body of 37-year-old Peter Kim was found on Friday by park employees who were clearing trails near Ross Lake....
Continue Reading "Body Found Is Failed Canadian Border Crosser"May 7, 2008
Another great sea lion photo by Bob Whitney Remember how we wrote yesterday that six sea lions were found shot in traps in the Columbia River? Turns out they weren't shot. According to a NOAA press conference held this morning regarding the sea lion deaths, necropsies of the animals showed no evidence of recent gunshot wounds. X-rays did show metal fragments in the soft tissue of two of the sea lions, and another had a...
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Seattle city planners announced today four possible locations for the city's new jail. Funny thing about jails, even the strictest "law and order" folks and the strongest proponents of the penal system have no interest in a new jail being built in their neighborhood. Jails and the NIMBY folks go hand in hand...the chorus of "yes we need it, I just don't want to see it." The neighborhoods that are sure to a quick...
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But one day, one day...the -est will triumph! And we will store the Webby proudly in our non-existent