What a case study of suburban America. more ›

If you've seen it, you know you need to see it on the big screen. If you haven't, you owe it to yourself to get acquainted with a damn near perfect thriller that also happens to be a masterpiece of American cinema. more ›

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. more ›

Yesterday the Seattle Times reprinted a New York Times article on the "third wave" of foreclosures--foreclosures on people who had good credit and reasonable mortgages, but who have fallen behind due to job loss or pay or hours reduction. The first wave came when flippers and speculators got caught by plunging real-estate prices, and wave number two arrived when option-ARM mortgages reset at higher rates. Foreclosures are terrible for the value of surrounding homes. In Seattle, says the PSBJ, the "average price of a Seattle home dropped 16.4 percent in March from a year earlier, which is moving closer to the national average decline of 18.7 percent." more ›

Sometimes we fantasize that the Capitol dome is a Reset button that just needs a really big thumb. Here's the exciting part about the viaduct bill that just passed the House: "Any costs in excess of ($2.8 billion) shall be borne by property owners in the Seattle area...." Are you at all reassured by Gov. Gregoire's spokesperson that "we don't envision any cost overruns to occur on this project"? more ›

As Cliff Mass was pointing out during our monsoon yesterday, Sequim (pronounced "skwim" for the newbies) sits in a rain shadow and gets less rain, more sun. But before you move, owners of this Seattle house, check out the neighborhood--KOMO has a story on Sequimmers' distaste for lavender and fuschia paint. The extra sun doesn't seem to be translating to sunny dispositions. more ›

Today lot of people who don't spend much time wondering what other people think about them would be feeling pretty proud if they did because the Washington state House and Senate have both adopted resolutions "honoring individuals with autism" (HB 4627, SB 8629). more ›

• Schmudget analyzes the 2009-2011 House budget and compares it to the Senate's, released yesterday.
• MyBallard is concerned about tents on Shilshole and stolen trees.
• The Troll got tagged! Fremont Universe reports, and they have photos.

• The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce asks what livability is and receives several thoughtful responses. We'd settle for a coffee and donut place on every corner. (h/t to Hugeasscity.)
• Rainier Valley Post has a hot tip about "close-your-eyes-and-sigh" good Eritrean cuisine on Rainier Avenue.
• The Capitol Record posted blow-by-blow reports on the Senate and House budget meetings today. Grim reading, but very informative.

This morning, the state Senate will reveal their plan for a 2009-2011 operating budget; the House will release their version tomorrow. Given an unavoidable $9 billion shortfall, major cuts are only to be expected. Schmudget reported that if the Senate uses the entire Rainy Day Fund and frees up all available federal funds, legislators will still have to reckon with a deficit of $3.1 billion; that's where the program slicing and dicing comes into play. Stream the budget unveiling proceedings live at Washington State Public Affairs' website, tvw.org, or check online sometime after 10:30 a.m. today to find out what the Senate's budget looks like. more ›

Eww...Somehow we haven't ever before considered the potentially toxic chemicals in such seemingly innocuous every-day items as baby bottles, but now we're eying all the plastic around us with new suspicion. The chemical in question today is bisphenol A, or BPA, which the state House just voted to ban from baby bottles, sippy cups and water bottles sold here. How timely--today, six of the largest manufacturers of baby bottles announced they're not even going to make BPA-contaminated products anymore, according to the Washington Post. more ›

The second-longest-serving member of the Washington Legislature has confirmed she will not run for re-election. “This is my last session. I’m not going to run again.” Asked why, she laughed and said: “Because I’m 75 years old and I’ll be 76 in a couple weeks. That’s why.”

We have gathered some of the top political writers in the country and asked them to discuss the presidential race throughout the year. Today they will discuss the Democratic race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. more ›

Long spoken of and rarely acted upon, the renovation and remodeling of The Seattle Center was again on the docket for Monday's City Council meeting. Center officials presented a number of new design ideas for the redevelopment of the Center. Central to these are the demolishing of Memorial Stadium and The Fun Forest. Proposed uses for the space include a new outdoor amphitheatre to replace Memorial Stadium, a brand new Center House, and plans to turn the asphalt of the Fun Forest into green space. more ›

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We first saw Toshi Reagon at the House of Blues in New Orleans, where she was opening for Ani DiFranco. Not the greatest venue for acoustic music -- the NOLA HoB has an echo problem. Toshi sat on a stool center stage and just oozed music, though, and we were totally sold. Something about that woman you just gotta see and hear. more ›

photo by Flickr Contributor lachance more ›

Is February Jane Austen month? PBS has turned every Sunday evening into a Jane celebration (see the KCTS Jane Austen blog for the definition of overkill), but if you want to experience Jane Austen the way she meant to be experienced (if you get our drift) and are too lazy to read a book, then Book-It's Persuasion is all you, baby. more ›

We here at Seattlest really wanted to go out and caucus on Saturday, however, HBO is showing Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. So we made some calls, and the DNC gave us permission to hold a special caucus today. They even threw in a couple delegates that Utah wasn’t going to use: more ›

First of all, let us say that we didn't plan our Super Tuesday get-together as an Obama event. We support Obama; we've even given him $$. more ›

The highlight is you get to live, subsidized, in one of the “Hugo Huts”—Seattle’s historic Belltown Cottages. The rent subsidy doesn't include utilities, jackets with worn corduroy patches on the elbows, or afternoon drinks at Black Bottle. more ›

This Seattlest will be heading to a private party tonight, where we will celebrate among our favorite people the fact that Super Tuesday is FINALLY here. But, if you're looking for somewhere more out-on-the-town to get your drink on and watch the returns trickle in, and pancakes aren't your bag, here's the guide for you. Most of these events start at 5pm, and they're all free. Go America! more ›

the very nature of how she conceives of memory." To do that, she plans to create a complete world in a 10,000-sq.-ft. warehouse-type space. more ›

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We hope this isn't a growing trend. From the Croc to the Sunset Bowl to all of Seattle's bars, it seems as though any place of which beer is an integral component is endangered with stifling regulation or closure or even the wrecking ball. The very latest, of course, is a portion of the old Georgetown brewery just a scant few days after the 104th anniversary of Georgetownian incorporation. more ›

[Via Komo] We've been loosely planning our Alaska adventure for a few weeks now. Loosely, we say, because we haven't actually made any reservations yet. Mostly we've just been cruising the web, gathering information and daydreaming about sitting out on the deck of a ferry as it makes its way through the inside passage of America's 49th state. more ›

There's a nice little piece over at Crosscut this morning about Georgetown's Rainier Cold Storage Stock House (and the demise of), but just like the neighborhood opposition to the building's demolition, it's too little too late. To be fair, the building's owners broke their way through many walls (a much beloved building that defines a neighborhood, an official Seattle Landmark) with the wrecking ball of public safety: it's going to collapse onto Airport Way, they said. Demolish away, they were told. Demolish away they did and not enough people knew or cared beforehand to do much of anything to stop it. more ›

Despite being narrated by Sean Penn, it's fairly lo-fi -- a cool-headed interview with media critic Norman Solomon intercut with film and video footage to illustrate salient points on how gullible/acquiescent the American public is when it comes to run-ups to war and how supine the media generally is until after the fact, when lone, contrarian voices are celebrated as if "we knew it all along." more ›

This weekend's highlight for Geoff will be a Brewer's Dinner at The Collins Pub held by Hair of the Dog Brewery from Portland. 6 courses paired with 6 beers, plus a few special releases to boot. As a Bears and now semi-Seahawks fan, he'll be hoping that Brett Favre breaks a hip during Saturday's Seahawks game at Lambeau Field. more ›

You know how when you're at the bus stop and the Local shows up and it's packed and obviously only has room for you if you stand in the aisle and clutch at a post and you think, "I'm better than that. I'm waiting for the Express," the Express--which is scheduled to come only minutes later--never shows, late or ever? Then, thirty-five minutes later you're presented with the same dilemma, only this time the Local is even more packed and traffic has really picked up by this point so it's sure to be a week and a half before you can finally sling your shoulder bag on the floor inside your own front door if you take the Local, but the Express could be tantalizingly close--just down the street maybe... Or it could be up on blocks at base somewhere, who knows? You know how that is? more ›