Two weeks after a gunman at Folklife injured three people, Mayor Greg Nickels announced his plan to ban guns from all city-owned property. Yesterday, Wash. State Attorney General Rob McKenna (defending his office against challenger John Ladenburg in November's election) released an official legal opinion concluding that Nickels does not have the authority to order the prohibition. more ›

The Seattle Times and City Club sponsored yesterday's debate between Rob McKenna and John Ladenburg, which was hosted at Seattle University as part of the school's Social Justice Week program. Times crack reporter Bob Young reports on how it all went down. We'll cut straight to the important part: neither are for legalization of marijuana, and in fact McKenna wants to reclassify pot as a "more serious drug" thanks to BC growers' potent strains. more ›

WORDY SHIPMATES: Sarah Vowell's finally here to read from her book about the thought-life of Puritans such as John Winthrop, Anne Hutchinson, and Roger Williams. She's "not interested in the whole person," says Vowell in a recent interview with Seattlest Editor MvB. Take Roger Williams: "I'm mostly interested in what he thought about religion, government, community, Indians and how much Roger Williams was getting on his nerves. I don't really give a hoot what he had for breakfast or how he felt about his mom." This is one reading we feel more than comfortable recommending! more ›