Over the past six days, King County Animal Care and Control received 35 reports of dogs locked in very hot cars, during what's been Seattle's most dramatically hot week ever (!). Thankfully, no fatalities occurred from pooches being left to suffer and pant their way through 130-degree temperatures.
Belltown people, where is your past? Belltown people, how long will you last? This is the them of belltownpeople's story on the opening of City Hostel Seattle. It's one of those gritty, gotta-dream stories, featuring a fiery waiter-turned-entrepreneur, 47 artists invited in to "redo" the hallways of the historic Spanish colonial-style Lorraine Hotel, and a reason for someone besides prospective condo owners to visit Belltown.
Today the PostGlobe followed up on our own sterling reporting about how the Parks Department doesn't want you, your baby, or your dog in the water features at Cal Anderson Park. There are tiny little signs!
Police are searching for the cocoa butter bandit, believed to be responsible for up to 17 tanning salon robberies (Tanning salons, really?) throughout Snohomish and King County.
When we first read the headline "1 in 3 Americans likes to nap" in the Seattle Times, we initially thought, Sweet, we can do an Times Op-Ed board joke! But then fate--well, Publicola--provided us with better napping evidence.
Looking at a projected two-year shortfall of $213 million, Metro Transit is in a position to scrimp, save, and make some serious cuts and changes. So what do we get? Proposals, proposals and more fictitious proposals--that (sigh) will save the day--from the King County Council.
Jarrod Washburn's up-and-down Mariner career is over; Jack Zduriencik traded him to Detroit this morning for two young lefthanded starting pitchers. The M's get 23-year-old Luke French, who's split time between AAA and the majors this season, and 20-year-old Mauricio Robles, who's pitching in A ball. Neither was listed among the Tigers' top-ten prospects coming into this season.
The M's bats once again get shut down by a no-name lefty starter, in this case the Rangers' Derek Holland. Holland showed a mid-90s fastball and a devastating curve, but, still, he came into the game with a 5.56 ERA and held the M's to just one hit through the first eight innings. The loss left the M's a full five games behind Texas for 2nd place in the West. M's 53-49, 8 GB. Box score. Next game Fri @ TEX, 5:05 p.m.; Vargas vs. Padilla.
The Washington state Department of Information Services has chosen Binghoo! to serve as the search engine for the state's website, says TechFlash. But the DIS spokesperson claims it wasn't about snuggling up to Microsoft: "the bottom line was to get the best search engine we can get." Seriously? What were your fucking metrics? Bing is almost two months old, and Google's search dominance is unquestioned. (We're fine with them picking Binghoo!, btw--just try to be proud of it.) We note that this is the same DIS that thinks access.wa.gov is a better URL than wa.gov. That "access" makes all the difference--it's...um..."accessier."
We're in our 33rd year of Mariner fandom, and we're still waiting for the M's to acquire a shortstop who's worth a crap.
Sound Transit says weekday ridership is at estimated at 12,000 per day--with 15,000-17,000 on the weekend, so suck it, Seattle Times. ST is aiming for 21,000 riders per day by the end of this year, with another 5,000 daily stragglers due to board after the final leg to SeaTac opens end of December. Events like last weekend's Sounders FC and Seattle Mariners games, and the Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade have boosted ridership--coming up, ST will be running free shuttles from the Othello light rail station to Seafair's hydroplanes and air show on Lake Washington on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Blue Angels, Navy's elite flying aerobatic team is back in town for the annual Seafair celebration. The bright blue Boeing F/A-18 Hornets are expected to cruise (at mach speed, we hope?) through Seattle's air space around 10 a.m. today, causing all sorts of fun traffic congestion today through Sunday, August 2. As always, WSDOT will be closing all lanes, in both directions of the I-90 between I-5 and Island Crest Way. The I-90 bridge closure times: Thursday (9:45 a.m.-noon, 1:15- 2:30 p.m), Friday (12:45-2:45 p.m.), and Saturday and Sunday (12:45-2:40 p.m.). For pedestrians and bicyclists, the bridge will be closed to you 30 minutes prior to the cars.
Ryan Rowland-Smith lost a no-hitter bid in the seventh inning, and also a slim 1-0 lead when Aaron Hill hit a two-run homer. But Ken Griffey Jr. delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the inning (matching his previous RBI total for the entire month of July) and the bullpen held on. Ichiro had two more hits, his 149th and 150th of the year, raising his average to a ridiculous .368. M's 53-48, 7.5 GB. Box score. Next game Thu @ TEX, 5:05 p.m.; Olson vs. Holland.
Smoke from a brush fire that started at about 1:15 today has got traffic backed up for miles on I-5. Q13 has raw video. The fire blocked all southbound I-5 lanes and four northbound, but WSDOT Twitter tells us that now 3 lanes are open each direction. Somewhere in all that traffic are people who were trying to head to Southcenter Mall just for the air conditioning, and got stuck on a sweltering, smoky I-5 instead. We feel for them. But this is exactly why we never leave Capitol Hill--wait, what's this about a brush fire on Broadway near Harborview? Folks, the end is officially near.
Even with ties to people in high places, the Seattle Police Department was deee-nied, while 30 other Washington agencies were awarded a combined total of $18,543,197 to cover the cost of hiring/rehiring 71 officers over the next three years--benefits included.
"We have solidified the shortstop position," GM Jack Zduriencik said today after the Mariners traded light-hitting infielder Ronny Cedeno, former first-round pick Jeff Clement, and three minor-league pitchers to Pittsburgh for Jack Wilson and Ian Snell. Wilson becomes the team's starting shortstop. Snell, a one-time 14-game winner, was pitching for the Pirates AAA farm team.
After 18 long months of on-again, off-again online business romance, Microsoft and Yahoo have final sealed the deal. The two announced today they will team up in an effort to chip away at Google's dominating lead in the search engine marketplace.
ARTSBLOG sent us this picture he shot of a few of the 280 people in line to buy air conditioners at the North Seattle Home Depot. "The guy up front said they started lining up this morning, said a truck of various air conditioners just pulled up. He said there was no way there were enough air conditioners on the truck for even a third of the people in line. The guy said they’ve been telling people this all day but nobody is leaving the line and they keep lining up," reports Art. "Man, nobody was talking and you could cut the tension with a knife. They were just sending people out with air conditioners that they were taking off the truck and they were sending them out through the lawn and garden department so there wouldn't be trouble." Check out his full post on the Great A/C Shortage of '09.
The M's win 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth on Ichiro's two-out walk-off single -- Ich's 148th hit of the season, which puts him exactly at the pace of his record-setting 262-hit season in 2004. Washburn allowed just 1 run in 7 IP in what may have been his last start as a Mariner, but didn't get the win due to a bullpen collapse. M's 52-48, 7.5 GB. Box score. Next game Weds. vs. TOR, 1:40 p.m.; Rowland-Smith vs. Halladay.
The Pink Door has large black canvas shades to keep the sun out of your eyes, but said shades don't keep the heat out. All evening we were patting our temple with our cloth napkin like a 19th-century lawyer.
There is no question this week is going to be a hot one, as temperatures reach into the high 90s and perhaps even 100 degrees. As many people crank up the power and seek an air conditioned refuge away from the heat, Seattle City Light--here's their energy-saving tips to beat the heat--warns that their old equipment may fail as temperatures climb. Customers need to be prepared for potential outages. Grrreat.
Yesterday, a Seattle police SWAT team arrested a 17-year-old male in a Ballard home on the 900 block of NW 60th Street, who they are "pretty confident" is the gunman in Sunday's Pit Stop Express (15th Ave. NW and NW 58th St.) robbery and murder. The juvenile--whose name will not be released--was booked into the Youth Service Center while being investigated for the murder of 28-year-old convenience store clerk Manish Melwani of Lynnwood.
Washington bankruptcies are up just over 50 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to 2008, says the Seattle Times. 15,000 people and 87 businesses filed. On the other hand, says the Times editorial board, we've "turned a corner." The editorial board, just for reference, may be sniffing glue.
Link Light Rail hasn't been open a full two weeks, and sadly we're already passing along news of the first light rail fatality--though it may have been a suicide. The accident took place late last night in the SoDo area, as the rail car was heading southbound, past South Holgate Street and 5th Avenue South. The SPD Blotter reports a man jumped over a barricade and into the path of the train, where he was struck and killed. With no crosswalks in the vicinity, police are still investigating the accident and what the man was doing in a non-pedestrian area. No light rail passengers were witness to the accident, and they were later bused away.
Now this is just getting ridiculous. The M's get blown out for the fourth consecutive game, this time with King Felix on the mound. Hernandez had his worst outing of the year, allowing 7 runs and 11 hits in 5.2 IP. A makeshift lineup -- with Branyan and Lopez both out with bad backs -- didn't record an extra base hit. Ichiro had 3 hits, raising his average to .363. M's 51-48, 7.5 GB. Box score. Next game Tues vs. TOR, 7:10 p.m.; Washburn vs. Rzepczynski.
It seems as though 2009 will be the year of recession-inspired backyard chicken coops. (Those lawn-mowing goats are so 2007.) We've been pretty excited about all the recent chicken coop sightings around Seattle. Even if they are only a city-limited, three domestic fowl per single-family lot, we still think they're cute. However, we have recently learned that Seattle is lagging behind on the chicken coop craze.
The worst thing about the headline "6 injured in overnight shootings" is that it doesn't take into account a murder at a Ballard gas station. Just to recap, over this weekend, a man was shot in the leg following an argument at Second and Pine (while the Torchlight Parade was going on), two people were shot at 1 a.m. at 208th and Pacific Highway South in SeaTac, and three men were shot at about 2 a.m. at the 1200 block of Westlake Avenue North. Then at around 6:30 a.m. Sunday came the gas station robbery and homicide.
If you didn't stock up on fans, porches, and Mint Juleps this past weekend to brave the heat, you may want to rethink that decision. This week (and perhaps even longer) Seattle will be experiencing one helluva summer heat wave--to the point where an excessive heat warning has been issued for our area until Thursday, July 30.
In every non-playoffs sports season, you can date the moment when your team's hopes collapsed. For the last place 2008 Mariners, it was approximately mid-April. This year's Mariners lasted far longer in the playoff hunt. Nevertheless, July 24-26 was their undoing.
SPD Blotter with more info on this morning's hit and run at Sixth & Cherry: "They now believe that a light-colored bus with a dark stripe or dark tinted windows, is possibly involved."
Adding to this week's lamentable streak of violence, we woke up to find a report from Seattle 911 that a man had been killed in a hit-and-run accident last night near Cherry and Sixth in Downtown. The body was found just past midnight. According to the SPD Blotter, there are no witnesses at this point, but "officers observed a security camera on the east side of the Seattle Metropolitan Tower that might cover the intersection."
Link light rail is again visiting the Westlake station in the bus tunnel. Sound Transit got the "signal system" problem under control at about 11 p.m. last night. For riders complaining about the lack of information, set yourself up with a subscription to ST alerts. And then be nice and tell everyone else without a smart phone what's going on.
Another day, another masterful pitching performance by the M's, this one from Jarrod Washburn (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER). The bullpen just barely held on to the lead to get Washburn his eighth win of the year. Mike Sweeney, in his first start since coming off the DL, had two hits including a first-inning RBI double that gave the M's the lead. M's 51-44, 5.5 GB. Box score. Next game Friday vs. CLE, 7:10 p.m.; Rowland-Smith vs. Laffey.
The intern over on the Slog has put together the stats on our brutal week of murders. There have only been eleven murders in Seattle this year--which is the good news; the bad news is, a quarter of 'em happened this week.
Having had a peek inside, it's obvious that criticisms that the new "15th Ave Coffee & Tea," as the signage puts it, has ripped off its next-door neighbor Smith aren't going away any time soon. Woodblock print-style logo? Check. Long table of rough reclaimed wood? Check. Vaguely Western and/or rustic, farm-themed? Check.
All we missed was perhaps the most dramatic local sports event of the year, a three-overtime classic that included a team-record seven three pointers from Sue Bird, an ejection for Lauren Jackson, and twelve lead changes.
One of our more grotesque civic comedies is reaching its Act 2 climax this afternoon--denied a restraining order, the homeless encampment dubbed Nickelsville is expecting state police to arrive at 7 p.m. today, to evict them from their latest refuge.
Every journalist grew up with fuzzy memories of old movies in his or her head, of chain-smoking beat reporters with arm-garters and press passes stuck in the bands of their fedoras, always going on and on about how they've got "the big scoop, chief!" Alas, real life is rarely so exciting, but it's cute (and pathetic) when they grow up and try to realize those misty, water-colored memories of the way it never was. Witness KIRO 7's attempt at muckraking yesterday by digging into the mayor's "no more bottled water!" plan.
As though the city is slowly going mad in the dry and oppressive heat (for Seattle), yet another brutal killing occurred last night in Leschi. The Central District News has the most detailed account yet, but in brief, an altercation earlier in the day led to a shooting around the 800 block of 32nd Ave. S shortly after 8:30 p.m. The victim was shot as he drove by the shooter's house. A police stand-off ensued that lasted for more than five hours, until SWAT officers determined the suspect was not in the house. He was arrested early this morning in West Seattle, near Delridge and Andover.
Says Sound Transit: "Central Link light rail service has been temporarily suspended in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel due to a loss of power at one of the stations and associated impacts to systems for controlling tunnel equipment. Crews are working to address the issue and expect to restore service soon. Bus service in the tunnel is continuing at this time. Northbound light rail trains are stopping and turning south at Stadium Station. Bus service northward into downtown Seattle is available just to the west of Stadium Station at the intersection of the Busway and Royal Brougham Way. Light rail service between Stadium Station and Tukwila International Boulevard Station remains in operation." [UPDATE: As of a 10:57 a.m. email, they're rolling in the tunnel once more! WHOOPS! As of an 11:25 a.m. email, they're not rolling. Buses are still rolling in the tunnel, but light rail is not. Crews working feverishly, etc.]
Seattle City Light will be bumping up rates by 2.3 percent, due to an increase in wholesale costs. Just back in April, the mayor promised no new rate increases in 2009; as City Light's long-term budget woes increased earlier this month, Nickels's $40K bonus to Jorge Carrasco, the director of City Light, became yet another embarrassment to the mayor. The new rate increase takes effect Oct. 1.
The PostGlobe reports that I-100 gathered about 5,000 less signatures than required. If placed on the ballot, the initiative would have asked Seattle voters to require "the city to analyze successful and cost-effective jail diversion programs, address the effects of racial disparity within the incarceration system, work collaboratively with King County, and put the matter of a new jail to a public vote before a new jail could be constructed." Even the pro-jail website admits, "No one wants to build a jail," but argues that the King County Jail is planning on turning city inmates away, once a jail space agreement concludes in four years.
The M's had two hits, but they only really needed one -- Russell Branyan's majestic two-out, two-run homer in the eighth. The homer was Branyan's 24th, tying him atop the AL leaderboard. The homer gave Felix Hernandez his 11th win. King Felix was dominating, striking out eight including two punchouts of MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera with runners on. M's 50-44, 5.5 GB. Box score. Next game Thu. @ DET, 10:05 a.m.; Washburn vs. French.
Amazon buys Zappos, the online shoe store. Amazon already runs high-end shoes and accessories site Endless.com. Zymogenetics stock is up with promising new lupus treatment.
Mike McGinn, local enviro and an increasing threat to Greg Nickels's re-election effort, is doing his damnedest to make Nickels pay for lobbying so hard for a waterfront tunnel. The Times has a report on McGinn's strategy today, while Publicola points out McGinn supporters have launched a new anti-tunnel website.
In the Seattle Times story about mayoral candidate Michael McGinn, "McGinn: 'He's the guy who's against the tunnel,'" state representative Judy Clibborn, chairwoman of the state House Transportation Committee, tries to pull the "done deal" card: "Since we're so far down the line and this was a decision that took so long to make, we're not going to change just because one person doesn't like it." Judy, Judy, Judy...70 percent of Seattle voters rejected a tunnel in 2007. We're not statisticians, but we think that's more than one person. (Check out tunnelfacts.com for all the reasons why people haven't warmed up to the deep-bore option.) But maybe we're looking at this the wrong way--if the state has a few billion sitting around to spend strictly because of process inertia, Governor Gregoire is obviously misleading us about all those cuts to healthcare we need to make that will kill people.
Seattle911 has the oddest news of the morning: "A cyclist says he was hit with a dart, apparently from a blow gun, as he was crossing the Ballard Bridge on Monday." MyBallard has the story, as well as details on a second bicyclist with the same story,
Your Sounders advance to the finals of the U.S. Open Cup with this hard-fought, semifinal win over top rival Houston. The Rave Green looked likely to fall until a 89th minute goal from Nate Jaqua -- a Dynamo until this season. Stephen King got the go-ahead goal in the fourth minute of overtime, and the Sounders held on for the win. They'll play D.C. United for the Cup (and an automatic berth in the CONCACAF Champions League) on Sept. 2 in D.C.
The M's fought back from 8-1 down to make this respectable, even getting the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth. Still, the score was secondary in this one after Franklin Gutierrez took a horrific spill after crashing into the Comerica Park scoreboard chasing a flyball. Luckily for those of us having 1995 flashbacks Gooters suffered only bruises -- nothing broken, nothing torn. M's 49-44, 5.5 GB. Box score. Next game Tues @ DET, 4:05 p.m.; King Felix vs. Galarraga.
We departed Seattlest world headquarters at 12th and John Street at 11:49 and landed at SeaTac at 12:45. Our trip included a ride on the #10 bus to Westlake, a light rail ride from Westlake Center to Tukwila, and a shuttle bus from the Tukwila station to the airport. For speedphiles, the actual train trip ride from Westlake to Tukwila was 34 minutes. It was also 34 minutes last Friday. It will probably be 34 minutes next week.
The MSNBC has a piece up today about how minors hunting sans supervision is legal in 21 states, with the jumping-off point being the case of young Tyler Kales, recently sentenced to thirty days in juvie for mistaking Skagit County hiker Pamela Almli for a bear and shooting her in the head, killing her instantly. So many things wrong with this story: the fact that the then-fourteen-year old was armed with only the supervision of his sixteen-year-old brother; that the two were out huntin' in the fog; and that hunting near hiking areas is a-okay and doesn't require any signage to that effect.
If you see this man, call the police. At right is the official police sketch of the suspect wanted in connection with the brutal Sunday assault of two women in South Park.
Starbucks' third quarter earnings beat market expectations, sending its stock up 8 percent. Don't assume this is because their new "we're not Starbucks" campaign or other gimmicks are working, though--most of the improved earnings is due to cutbacks, layoffs, and store closures.
Of the fifteen major contributors on the M's roster--that's the nine position players, the five starting pitchers, and the closer--only three are acquisitions of the man who ran the team for the five seasons before this one.
WSDOT is giving Nickelsville three days' notice to move the camp from its current location at Second and W. Marginal Way. According to the Nickelsville website (yes, they have one), the move followed action by the city government against the state. In a message yesterday, the operators of the website stated, "Nickelsville remains determined to remain until another permanent site is secured."
Erica C. Barnett over at Publicola has an interesting tidbit this morning: apparently, a local lobbyist has filed an ethics complaints against Mayor Greg Nickels for the above ad. The shot that's causing the trouble is at 40 seconds in. Apparently, that shot of the new Link Light Rail line wasn't filmed from a public area (or so the complaint maintains), raising the question of how the crew got access. It would be a violation for Nickels to use his power as mayor or other public resources to help his election campaign. UPDATE: As comments suggested, it turns out it was pulled from earlier footage, according to Publicola.
The Examiner reported yesterday that Google is purging their Seattle and Kirkland offices. "A source said the layoffs are coordinated in a fashion to avoid showing up on the radar of governmental, business, and media reporting agencies," writes Steve Speigel. "In other words, the layoffs are below the threshold of the various state and federal rules to avoid being identified and therefore having to pay large severances."
Our good friends at the American Chemistry Council, a plastics industry organization, have pumped another $500,000 into the fight against Seattle's dastardly plastic bag "tax." Because if there's anyone out for our best interests, it's the plastics industry. And they're willing to put their money where their mouth is; this makes a total of $740,000 in contributions they've made. The pro-bag fee people raised a totally comparable $9,500 in June, for a total of about $65,000, mostly from local enviros.
From the Times: "On the first day of regular light-rail service, ridership on Sound Transit's new Link train system is rather light. Midway through the morning commute, trains were arriving at Tukwila from downtown Seattle with fewer than 10 passengers aboard." And: "Normal use is projected at 26,600 per weekday next year—far more than today's trend." One morning is a trend? This makes us curious. What was the Times headline on February 4, 1965? "I-5 Looks Awfully Open"? Times commenters are through waiting for ridership to increase--they sound about ready to rush out and pull up the tracks.
Over the weekend and again this morning, a bug has been affecting Link light rail's ticketing system, telling aggrieved would-be riders no soup for you "transaction canceled." Bummer.
What team can get thoroughly outclassed, yet consider their game a success? The Sounders, if they draw 65,000 fans to Qwest Field -- most of them in Sounders green -- for a game against international powerhouse Chelsea FC.
None of Seattle's typical "too cool for school" stand-offishness. Tens of thousands of cheerful riders, oohing and cooing, tweeting and twittering along SoundTransit's light rail line. Dozens of staffers in dayglo green shirts directed (human) traffic, and the trains (speedy, quiet) ran every ten minutes or so, tunneling under Beacon Hill and emerging high above MLK in Mt. Baker. (Big crowds expected at the Stadium station, where the MLS Sounders played Chelsea.)
Starting today, the Sound Transit Link Light Rail line from Westlake to Tukwila is officially open. This weekend, everyone rides for free. (As of noon, that's been about 13,000 people.) Paid service starts on Monday. Transit officials said yesterday that the system is ready to go. Fourteen two-car trains are operating all weekend. On Monday, 14 trains will be operating during peak hours and 12 trains at all other times.
Former Christ Jim Caviezel received minor injuries yesterday after being thrown from his motorcycle on I-97, all because some guy tossed a bicycle into his path. Caviezel was taken to Cascade Medical Center for treatment of cuts and bruises and was later released (thank God for his helmet). Washington State Troopers plan to forward their investigation to the Chelan County prosecutor's office for possible assault and reckless endangerment charges against a 42-year-old Wenatchee man, identified as David Nelson. There's no indication why Nelson threw the bike into the path of Caviezel's 2006 Harley Davidson, especially since it's common knowledge that nobody fucks with the Jesus.
Gizmodo is reporting a really, really bad thing: Amazon has deleted digital books from customers' Kindles after they've already bought them. The kicker? The books were Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm. (This irony is delicious! Where did you get it?) Gizmodo says the publisher "changed its mind" about having electronic versions, which we don't actually believe. We don't see Amazon bowing and scraping before publishers much, let alone offering to break into customers' devices for them to erase purchased products. Stay tuned for the full story--just maybe not on a Kindle.
A KING 5/SurveyUSA poll shows Referendum 1, the 20-cent plastic bag tax, being defeated 51 to 42 percent. The tax, approved by the city council last year, was to go into effect on January 1, but now Seattle's voting on it August 18, which is what we always do and why nothing ever gets accomplished. As inconvenient as the tax is, we have to ask: Why the hell don't you just get reusable bags like everyone else? Seriously people, shit shouldn't be this hard.
The news that the UW Autism Center is getting a new director, Wendy Stone--who wrote the book on autism (the one titled Does My Child Have Autism?)--provoked just two comments on the Seattle Times story, one of which says, "So many of their good providers have already left and joined the Seattle Children's Autism Center." We didn't know Children's had an autism center. (Actually, neither does Children's--if you do a search for "autism center" at the Children's site, they reference the UW Autism Center.) So what gives? Anyone know if there's really that much of a difference?
KOMO reports this week on the heart-wrenching tale of Nick and Marilyn Papini, long time Beacon Hill residents who are suffering the "big scar" of Sound Transit's new power lines now crossing their view of downtown Seattle. "My heart sank when I saw this," said Marilyn Papini. "It's like a big scar." For more than 50 years, the couple has enjoyed a picturesque view from their home. In one afternoon it was taken away.
The captains of Ballard industry just had their complaints against the Burke-Gilman trail's extension (it's in their way, it'd be a traffic hazard) tossed by Seattle's Hearing Examiner in June, so now they're filing an appeal.
One hundred lucky locals who work at Boeing are getting an extra special prezzie today: a pink slip! They're part of 668 workers world-wide the company's axing today. Good luck.
Seattle Bubble has the story in all its depressing details: King County foreclosures up 180 percent year-over-year.
MIT's SENSEable City Laboratory is conducting experiments on garbage in Seattle through a program called "Trash Track." Utilizing "smart tag" technology, the team has created a device around the size of a matchbook with its own SIM card. The tag is placed inside a piece of garbage or recycling, then every 15 minutes pings the cell system to locate itself. This allows researchers at MIT to track the course of waste from the time its expelled by the user until it eventually winds up somewhere.
Amazon is getting sued for broken Kindles and promises to replace them at no charge. JP Morgan says there will be no new layoffs in Seattle, where it purged WaMu's operations after taking it over several months ago. More UW scientists are cashing in on their lab work and raising venture capital to go into the biofuel business.
hey finished so close together it hardly seems fair to separate them with something as trivial as names. But yes, officially, Washington's Tyler Farrar finished just a few feet behind Mark Cavendish in Stage 11 of the 2009 Tour de France.
Abdifatah Yusuf Isse, 25, a Somali raised in Seattle, has pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in a Minnesota court, says the Seattle Times. Isse was part of a group which recruited young Somali Americans to return to that country to fight with groups the U.S. government claims are linked to Al Qaeda.
According to the Seattle Times, the 15th Avenue Starbucks, up on Capitol Hill, is part of an ambitious makeover project the company's exploring that will leave the store stripped of the Starbucks name altogether (if you read CHS, you heard about the makeover in the comments a month ago). The store will be renamed for the neighborhood, lose the traditional Starbucks branding, and will even start serving wine and beer. The remodeled store will be re-opening next week.
KOMO News is reporting that a day after the nation's largest ferry system got snubbed by the feds, Sen. Patty Murray has secured $7.6 million in federal transportation funding.
Recently, while reading the current issue of The New Republic, we came across an interesting article on the current Boston mayoral race, pitting the four-term incumbent, malapropism-prone, Democratic machine stalwart Tom "Mayor Mumbles" Menino against upstart candidate-of-change and current city councilor-at-large Sam Yoon. This would be of little local interest if it weren't for the following tidbit:
Solidifying the U-District Farmers Market's reputation as a haven for NPR-listening liberal-lefties, no less than the Huffington Post has named it one of the nation's 10-best farmers' markets. You can go online to rate them; currently, the U-District market is ranked third in the polls.
Just yesterday, we reported that the state's official unemployment rate grew to 9.3% last month. But today in The New York Times, David Leonardt has an in-depth look at the entire national unemployment picture, using the broadest measure possible. The official rate refers to people actively seeking unemployment; by expanding that definition to the entire world of people affected by the poor employment climate, including those who've dropped out of actively seeking employment (discouraged workers) and those part-time workers seeking full-time employment, Leonardt draws an even more painful picture.
The long-running conflict over how to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, theoretically settled in January when local and state leaders agreed on a controversial tunnel option, has come up in the tendentious races for mayor and city council. According to the P-I, tunnel supporters held a press conference yesterday attacking mayoral candidate and former Sierra Club leader Mike McGinn and council candidate Mike O'Brien for "misleading voters about the project's costs and benefits." McGinn has been particularly critical, frequently pointing to a $4.2 billion price tag, which includes related projects like street and seawall improvement and replacement. Tunnel supporters counter that the tunnel is only $1.2 to $1.9 billion.
Both the print edition of the Seattle Times and its online headline stack yield some curious juxtapositions this morning--at least at first glance. Were the moon landings faked, or was it the mission to mars? (PS: To our knowledge, this story about an unemployed blogger--but we repeat ourselves!--marks the first usage of the expression "ass-clown" in Fairview Fanny's pages.)
The Seattle Times is reporting that due to Pentagon cuts, Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems, which employs 7,000 in the state, will be shedding at least 1,000 jobs.
Bad news for lovers of bad musicals--Playbill reports that noted author-composer-librettist Leslie Bricusse has dropped out of the creative team working to bring a musical version of the 1993 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan vehicle Sleepless In Seattle to the stage. Whether this will delay the musical's release is unknown; the original film featured numerous Seattle location shots, including Alki, Lake Union, and a luxury suite at the historic Sorrento Hotel.
NWCN has done its best to exploit the Seattle ties of one of the biggest stories to come out over the weekend. In a long front page article on Sunday, the New York Times reported that over 20 young Somali men, who fled that country's disintegration in the 1990s for Minneapolis, have returned to join the Shabaab, a radical Islamist group with ties to Al Qaeda that's fighting the moderate Islamist government that nominally controls the country. Seattle is also home to a large Somali community, and at least one of the suspects involved with recruitment efforts in the Somali emigre community was arrested here.
Ex-King County Exec. Ron Sims may have moved across the country, but he's still tweeting locally--we see he's just read Joel Connelly's piece on global warming deniers at SeattlePI.com. (No, he didn't have much success at persuading the deniers: first comment begins, "Well as usual Connelly doesn't get it.") But since Connelly's point is that scientific research bounces off the deniers, ten seconds with the comments section persuades anyone else that he does get it. If you look at the Know-Nothing crowd as a crowd, you're tempted to wonder what they know you don't. But when you look at what they do believe, there's no united front there--just an assembly of cranks who misunderstand the scientific method, and prefer to come to their own conclusions.
The Seattle Department of Transportation failed to properly oversee almost $200,000 in roadwork, the Times reports, all of which will now be replaced at the city's cost. In the midst of the ongoing budget crisis at City Hall, this does nothing to help Greg Nickels' re-election campaign, who some pollsters show losing in head-to-head races with virtually all his potential opponents.
Jon Talton has a great (i.e., it supports our position) piece in the Seattle Times about Boeing "overplaying its hand" with a new South Carolina love-nest. (That Vought plant is a union shop, and SC during a recession isn't in a position to write a lot of incentive checks.) Says Talton: "It's healthy to run a little scared in today's economy as long as you don't run over the edge of a cliff or throw others off. That's the risk with the most strident comments about the bad-business climate here. It's mostly a myth. And, in addition to being divisive because much of it translates into blaming workers or programs that benefit them, it obscures the real competitive issues that face us." Boom! He also presents facts and figures, if you're into that sort of thing.
No shocker there, considering PETA's recent public angst, for AVMA's decision to hire--and, finally growing a pair, to keep--the iconic fish throwers of the Pike Place Fish Market for a team-building exercise at the conference.
Seattlest is shocked, shocked! to read that the freaking Federal Trade Commission plans to investigate bloggers who review and endorse products because (God forbid) they might have actually received those products for free. Duh. We hereby disclose that bloggers regularly get free stuff (tickets, books) in the mail, and we sometimes review the stuff we get (or see or read). Sometimes we like it, sometimes it's crap, and we say so. Why should the FTC give a rat's ass?
About 1 p.m. this afternoon, a Bronco XLT swerved out of control, clipped a few cars, and collided with Twice Sold Tales, at East Denny Way on Capitol Hill. CHS says the driver got out and headed up Denny on foot towards Broadway. Then at 5:30 p.m., MyBallard reports, a driver of a Bronco also lost control, smashed into a few cars, and ran into the bike shop at 56th Street and 24th Avenue. As we always remind you, two is a trend. If you see a Bronco, run like hell.
Seattle PostGlobe's Kery Murakami follows up on his earlier story about the Tenants Union travails with the good news that an anonymous donor has handed over $25,000.The Tenants Union helps out renters with a range of advice and aid (hotline: 206-723-0500 ); not everyone knows their rights as a renter and not every landlord is scrupulous about the law. When King County cut their funding recently, the Union was sent scrambling for cash, raising about $17,000 before they hit the $25,000 jackpot. Anonymous donor, you're one of us.
Let’s say that you that you excelled at your job to the point where people mentioned you as one of the tops in your field. Also, let’s say that your co-workers kept messing up repeatedly to where it was costing you clients. Well then, you might sit like this after Doug from accounting screwed up your masterful PowerPoint presentation:
TechCrunch is reporting that Microsoft's decision engine Bing has decisively leapfrogged Yahoo! search traffic for the second time (post all the what's-a-Bing? search traffic just after launch). 12.9 percent, says StatCounter.com. What a horse race! It's like Mountain Dew battling it out with Dr. Pepper! Bing's boost is suspiciously close to the appearance of NYT tech-guy David Pogue's "Bing, the Imitator, Often Goes Google One Better," which says Bing can save you a few clicks. Yahoo! aside, mighty Google dipped about three percent, to 75 percent of search traffic. No benchmarks were provided on which surfaces more free HD pr0n.
Thanks to a study led by Julian Sachs, a UW associate professor of oceanography, scientists tracked rainfall from 1400 to 1850 at four Pacific islands, and found, in scientific-ese: "that the Pacific intertropical convergence zone was south of its modern position for most of the past millennium, by as much as 500 km during the Little Ice Age."
It's been six months since the sailors of the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier have been back in their home port of Bremerton. This morning, the ship--which measures the length of three football fields--arrived with more than 3,000 sailors trying to escape to the bar on board. We expect tonight's Bremerton to Seattle ferry route at 7:55 p.m., 9 p.m., and 11:40 p.m. will more than likely be filled with sailors heading to the big city, recouping their past six months in a weekend's time. Cheers, welcome back!
Swin Cash led the team in scoring for the third straight game, getting 18 points as the Storm jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Lauren Jackson made her impact on the defensive end, getting four blocks. Props also to Tanisha Wright, who had 7 assists. Storm 8-4, 2nd place, .5 GB. Box score. Next game Sunday vs. Chicago, 6 p.m.
Franklin Gutierrez' three-run eighth inning homer gives the M's game one of a crucial four-game series vs. division leading Texas. King Felix kept the M's in the game while the offense sputtered, going eight innings to get the win. His next appearance will be in Tuesday's All-Star Game. M's 44-41, 3.5 GB. Box score. Next game Fri vs. TEX, 7:10 p.m.; Morrow vs. Feldman.
This morning around 2 a.m. a deadly fire broke out in a University Place home, killing 61-year-old Rachel Kalebu and J.J. Jones, formally John Eddie Jones, a New York Jets quarterback during the 1970s. Fire crews reported finding the bodies in different levels of the home--Jones had rented the basement--after the intense flames were extinguished. Suspiciously, the fire occurred a day after a restraining order was filed against Kalebu's 23-year-old nephew. Police have since taken the nephew into custody, and he is now being questioned in connection with the fatal fire.
Last week, an undercover sting up in Everett had arrested, cited, and in the end released ten men who were suspected of trying to hire a few ladies of the night. Meanwhile, in Seattle this past weekend the West Precinct Anti-Crime Team officers had a field day making several arrests, including at least three women and one 17-year-old girl who were "working" within the Denny Triangle area.
Today Seattle's Amanda Knox--on trial for the murder of her British roommate--had to once again celebrate a birthday, this time her 22nd, in an Italian jail cell. As her trial continues in Italian courts, she had once hoped she wouldn't be spending another birthday in jail.
At yesterday's Public Employees Benefits Board meeting, they voted to raise out-of-pocket health care costs for the 336,000 state employees state employees, teachers and retirees come January. For state employees signed-up with the state's health-insurance policy Health Care Authority, half of the medical plans' premiums will increase (some retiree plans won't change). The hardest hit group will be state employees of higher-education institutions, community and technical colleges, who will see their premiums rise the most as some co-pays and deductibles are expected to be double. Ouch!
The most epic ninth-inning collapse you're ever going to see. Up three runs in the ninth, M's closer David Aardsma lost the lead before he even recorded an out -- a botched double play by Jose Lopez fueling the fire. M's 43-41, 4.5 GB. Box score. Next game Thursday vs. TEX; King Felix vs. Hunter.
The trains will open with service from Westlake to Tukwila on July 18. It will be free to ride on the 18th and 19th with paid service starting on Monday, July 20. The base ticket price will be $1.75 with a .05-cent increase with every mile. When the Tukwila to SeaTac section opens in December, it will cost $2.25 from Westlake to the airport. Trains come about every 7.5 minutes during peak times, and every 15 minutes otherwise.
Yesterday we thought only a huge idiot would really believe Boeing was going to leave its Northwest workforce behind and move to South Carolina. But then Matt the Engineer commented: "Bad news, or perhaps part of the bluff: I just received an e-mail from Boeing letting me know that an engineering job I had applied for has been cancelled. I went back to their site to see if other jobs are available (there used to be a handful), and found absolutely no engineering jobs posted for Washington."
Artistic happy dances are going on within the Seattle arts community. News came this week that $1 million in federal funding will be spread out among local art, theatre, music, and literary organizations to help preserve nonprofit arts jobs in jeopardy. Thirteen local arts groups received $25,000 or $50,000 in funding, including: On the Boards, Northwest Folklife, Pilchuck Glass School, Intiman Theatre, and Seattle Theatre Group. Both the City of Seattle and the Cultural Development Authority of King County received $250,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts, which will be allocated--via an application process, due August 10--in a one-time arts stimulus for additional Seattle-based arts nonprofit groups.
Seal pupping season has begun, which means those cute widdle furry seal pups will soon enough start popping up on West Seattle beaches. And when they do--watch the seal cam!--the Seal Sitters, an all-volunteer seal superhero group will be on the lookout. This year the group needs more trained helpers on the beaches, protecting the resting seal pups from curious dogs and the "I want to pet it!" type of people.
Shortly after 2 a.m. this morning, a 20-year-old British woman, steps away from her apartment, noticed a man had been following her. At the corner of 10th Avenue East and East Highland Drive, the attacker pulled a knife and lunged for her purse, cutting both the purse strap and the woman's wrist. Moments later, the victim flagged down a nearby police car, alerting them of the robbery and the fleeing assailant. A police pursuit ensued, although it ended without finding the suspect.
Phew! What a day!
As we write this, your Storm are taking on the San Antonio Silver Stars, in a special matinee game. (Go Storm!) But if you're thinking, "Aw, hell, there goes my chance to watch professional sports tonight"...well, first of all, no need to curse. Do you talk to your mother with that mouth? Second of all, no, it's not your only chance. The Gods of Professional Sports Scheduling (Ballimus and Fanina) offer three further opportunities tonight along the I-5 corridor.
The real estate sales report from Northwest MLS says median home prices are up 4.4 percent across the area, with King County coming in at just over $363K. Bargain homes are selling, but condos are still taking a beating. The main thing is that people are out making offers on houses, so realtors have a reason to change out of their pajamas--pending sales (offers made and accepted) are up, though a significant portion of those fail in the financing round. The Seattle Bubble has a good media-coverage round-up, and notes with some satisfaction that the rah-rah contingent is getting less play this time around.
Restaurant newshound Nancy Leson of the Seattle Times broke the surprising news yesterday that The Oceanaire Seafood Room has shut its doors for good. It turns out their parent company--which has already removed Seattle from its website and closed down its blog, Facebook, and Twitter feed on June 30--filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, revealing that their new restructuring plan included shutting down four of the sixteen chain seafood restaurants across the U.S. While we typically don't profess our love for chain restaurants, we do have to admire and appreciate Oceanaire for bringing the talented former executive chefs Kevin Davis, 2001-06 (Steelhead Diner), Eric Donnelly, 2006-08 (Toulouse), and Aaron Valimont, 2008-09, into the Seattle food community.
Similar to sibling rivalry over a new toy, the City of Seattle had first created a successful online blotter for the Seattle Police Department to share news and information, and now the Seattle Fire Department wants one too, darn it! To make it fair, yesterday the SFD launched their very own blog, The Fire Line, where they will cover the gamut of fire, hazardous materials, technical and emergency medical responses, local event information, and helpful fire prevention and safety tips. What, no firefighter calendars?
It was thirteen days ago Seattle and the rest of the world learned about the passing of one of the most iconic entertainers, Michael Jackson. And since then we've been on serious MJ overload. Now in a fitting final star-studded tribute, the King of Pop's memorial service will take place today in Los Angeles. The event itself, planned to attract millions worldwide will also be broadcasting here in Seattle at the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum's JBL Theater from 10-11:30 a.m., which will be free for fans to come watch and pay their final respects.
So Boeing is "in talks" to buy the a South Carolina factory that currently makes sections of the 787 (huh, that's funny, the autotext is "long-delayed 787") fuselage, which has sparked rumors that the plane-maker is thinking about, in the words of Billy Joel, "movin' out." Anti-union business interests blame...the devil union. Jon Talton focuses on a huge Southern sucking sound. And Rick Anderson points out that the state gets advice from Deloitte Consulting on how to keep Boeing, while Deloitte & Touche does Boeing's books--this is okay because they are "separate but affiliated" entities. We are not Boeing experts by any means, but this is what we see: a) low labor costs alone don't build a plane that flies, b) Boeing's future requires a more highly trained and skilled work force than ever before, and c) we haven't noticed Boeing crowing lately about any profits generated by moving its corporate HQ to Chicago.
Jarrod Washburn pitched the best game of his life, recording the 10th one-hitter in Mariner history. Adding to the fun -- his folks were in town for the game! Washburn retired 27 of the 28 batters he faced; only a fourth-inning line-drive single by Nick Markakis kept the game from being perfect. Russell Branyan's first-inning solo homer turned out to be all the offense Wash needed. M's 43-39, 3.5 GB. Box score. Next game Tues. vs. BAL, 7:10 p.m.; Bedard vs. Guthrie.
The City of Bellevue and local residents have had it with the excessive amount of retailers' shopping carts strewn across city bus stops, streets, vacant parking lots, and don't even get them started about the dizz-asterous collection found at Crossroads Shopping Center. While some retailers do attempt to corral the runaways, other shrug their shoulders without the means or capabilities to collect the transient shopping carts.
Hey-oh! So westbound I-90 closure began yesterday on the floating bridge and it'll remain two lanes until July 20, which WSDOT is quick to point out is a whole week ahead of schedule. Drivers are being funneled into the express lanes for the duration of the project, which is to replace the expansion joints.
Erik Bedard returns to the Mariners rotation on Tuesday, having missed the last month with a sore shoulder (according to team doctors--some of our Mariner fan friends contend that the oft-injured Bedard has a sore part of the female anatomy.) Bedard's return takes up a spot in the five-man starting rotation, meaning somebody's headed to the bullpen or, worse yet, back to traveling coach class with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers. Ew.
Today marks the sixth of ten furlough days that major King County buildings and facilities will be shut down, requiring eligible County employees to take an unpaid day off. It's all due to those pesky budgetary issues the County has to face. Emergency service 911 is on call, buses are working, wastewater treatment plants are flushing (?), and don't get your hopes up if you have jury duty or a scheduled court date today. King County's website notes that the Courthouse and its many district courts will still be open bright and early.
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Neighborlogs news intern Lucas just posted this story about a couple raising chickens in the Central District--"City code permits up to three domestic fowl in addition to up to three other small animals on single-family lots"--which reminded us that we've also seen a chicken coop in Montlake, of all places! Quel agriculteur! UPDATE: Commenters confirm that chicken coops have been spotted in Wallingford and Ravenna, too. Look, they're cute!
No doubting it: The Seattle Mariners are legitimate pennant contenders. The Seattle Mariners are legitimate pennant contenders. THE SEATTLE MARINERS ARE LEGITIMATE PENNANT CONTENDERS!!! Sorry, we like writing that so much we had to do it thrice.
Elevators were running on generator power but everything else was candle-lit when an electrical fire at Fisher Plaza blew up the Belltown grid shortly before midnight last night. Power's back on at Seattlest International Headquarters high atop Second Avenue, but not at the various websites hosted on servers at Fisher. The P-I says KOMO Radio is broadcasting from Queen Anne, and KOMO TV is operating out of a mobile truck in Kerry Park. (One of the sites that's fried: the credit card processor Authorize.net.) The whole Fisher complex was for sale, BTW, advertising itself as the only place in Seattle to house mission critical communications; now their own website's down and out, too.
A much-needed win at Yankee Stadium gives the M's a .500 record on their road trip from hell, which now proceeds to Boston. After Jason Vargas left because he was suffering from flu, the bullpen (Batista, Lowe, Aardsma) threw five scoreless innings. Ichiro continued his mastery of C.C. Sabathia with two hits, including a 2-RBI double. M's 40-38, 3.5 GB. Box score. Next game Fri @ BOS, 4:05 p.m.; King Felix vs. Wakefield.
Seattle weather guru Cliff Mass has some unsettling news: May 20 to June 30 was the driest such period in the 116-year history of Seattle weather-record-keeping. Seattle got a mere .18 inches of rain--not enough to chase a whiskey--deblitermashing the previous record by a full .1 inch! Suck it, 1934.
Today federal law enforcement agents announced that after a 14-month investigation they have dismantled a large Seattle drug trafficking ring, one that's been dispensing methamphetamine and cocaine into the state from Jalisco, Mexico. And here we were worried about Mexican-borne swine flu.
Sounders striker Nate Jaqua, the reigning MLS player of the week, stands accused of rape, according to the Courthouse News Service.
Last night at about 10:20 p.m., a bicyclist was struck and killed by a car taking the Dexter Way North exit from Aurora, says Queen Anne News. The police arrested the car's driver after "an evaluation showed signs of impairment."
After 61 years of business, Ballard Camera officially closed their doors on Tuesday. This is just days after other Ballard shops have announced their pending closed-for-good signs. Sadly, we say goodbye to the camera shop, who was a victim not only of the economy but also our impatient obsession with digital photography.
Released via the Seattle Police Department Twitter feed, officers shot a man yesterday at Greenwood Ave. N and Holman Road, who is suspected in yesterday's Shoreline bank robbery and a string of other bank robberies. Prior to shots being fired, officers had spotted the bank robbery suspect stopped in traffic at Holman and 3rd Ave. with a stolen pick-up truck. A team of police cars quickly began to box in the truck. Trying to flee, the suspect rammed the stolen pick-up into a police car and a car carrying a father with his kids at the corner of Greenwood Ave. N and Holman Road. Police fired four shots, stalling the suspect who sustained injuries to his arm. The family of three was uninjured.
The Storm usually hold Cappie Pondexter in check, but not tonight as she nearly had a triple-double. They had issues with the refs, too, as LJ and Swin Cash both got technical fouls. Once again, the Storm got next to no production from their bench, which managed just 8 points. All starters finished in double figures. Storm 6-4, 1 GB. Box score. Next game Tues. vs. San Antonio at KeyArena, Noon.
The Sounders advance to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, silencing 16,000 Timbers fans with a first minute goal. Roger Levesque, the goal-scorer, mocked the fans with his goal celebration, pretending to fall like a tree with Nate Jaqua pantomiming a lumberjack. Sweet. Stephen King had the other goal. Match report. Next game 7/7, U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal vs. Kansas City at Starfire Sports Complex.
A-Rod's second homer in as many nights sinks the Good Ship Mariner, as Andy Pettitte outduels Jarrod Washburn. Half of the M's offense was a solo homer by Griffey, his first in New Yankee Stadium. That's 44 major league parks Junior's homered in, one short of Sammy Sosa's record. M's 39-38, 3.5 GB. Box score. Next game Thu @ NYY, 4:05 p.m.; Vargas vs. Sabathia.
If there is one thing you should never say in our dear city, it is "recycling is a hassle." (Gasp!) Without a doubt, muttering those words will earn you hundreds of dirty looks--we're passive-aggressive too, don't forget.
Pity the poor bastards at the Liquor Board, whose job is to contribute revenue to the state's general fund, which they do by selling us booze. Not too much, mind you, that would be Bad. (Which is why most stores still aren't open on Sundays or holidays.) But now, thanks to the budget deficit, they're supposed to raise more revenue, so they're going to be open on the Fourth. Trouble is, according to the Times, they can't even get the right bottles of liquor into the stores (no Campari yesterday at Lower Queen Anne, for example). We have a suggestion: form a SWAT Team (Jim, Jack, James) and send in the snowplows!
With all the audits going on around town, it's no surprise to hear the next taxpayer rip-off comes courtesy of the Washington State Department of Transportation. A routine payroll review of overtime accrual reports uncovered a WSDOT employee jerry-rigging the payroll system for the past two years, allowing her to snag at least $67,000 in unearned overtime and compensation time. Currently, the case is undergoing an audit and investigation for potential criminal charges. In the meantime, WSDOT has decided to update their system, so that no one can adjust their own payroll records in the future. Smart move.
Ballard's Epilogue Books is creating their very own epilogue--and their ending is a sad one for the community and book lovers. Bookstore owner Nathan Heath wrote in a tearjerker e-mail, "So with great regret and heavy hearts Epilogue Books will be closing." Apparently, the beloved book store had been having problems solving (and settling on) lease agreements with the landlord and didn't have enough time to find a suitable new storefront. Now they have 70,000 books, new and old to pull from their shelves. Starting July 5 at 11 a.m., all items will be marked down 20-70 percent off and will continue until the store's anticipated closure in August.
Nothing like a small earthquake to jumpstart the day. This morning shortly after 5:00 a.m., folks living on Whidbey Island were woken up or spilled their coffee, thanks to a 3.7 magnitude earthquake. Reports note the quake was centered two miles south of the Coupeville area, was about 36 miles deep, and did not cause any major damage or injuries, just a few strange looks from a cat.
They rallied from behind twice, but a three-run Yankee eighth off the usually reliable Sean White put the Mariners away. The Brandon Morrow experiment continued to deliver inconclusive results, with Morrow going just 4.2 IP and walking 5 batters. Chris Woodward, replacing Beltre at 3B, made two errors on the same play on the first ball hit to him. M's 39-37, 3.5 GB. Box score. Next game Wednesday @ NYY, 4:05 p.m.; Washburn vs. Pettitte.
In Woodinville there's a hole-in-the-wall charcuterie named Bill The Butcher which has the most outl
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