Results tagged “money”

The city faces a $43 million budget shortfall. An unprecedented number of eyes (many of which belong to Seattle journalists and political watchdogs) are trained on the city's every budgetary move. We're just beginning what already smells like a contentious mayoral race towards elections later this year. What better time for Nickels and the city council to start meeting behind closed doors to work out the "very dull" budget-balancing process? Let media report on whatever they see fit, so the public can decide what's boring and irrelevant. That model works for hyperlocal blogs and it will work just as well for government.

We knew that SkyCity—yes, the restaurant in the Space Needle—attracted tourists, but never did we imagine that it would be Seattle’s highest-grossing independent restaurant in 2008, earning $15,116,739. That is more than 275,000 meals served over the course of the year. Who said something about a recession? We are suckers for a good view of the Seattle skyline, but come on, we know the Emerald City has some serious culinary talent that rivals the Space Needle's food--and maybe even the view.

Washington may have sky-high sales tax, but the absence of any income tax has always been a consolation for citizens calculating just precisely how they could afford to live here. This morning, however, Democrat Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles re-introduced a bill that would change that by imposing a state income tax. (Check out Political Buzz' reporting on the bill, including a response from Kohl-Welles.) The proposed 1 percent tax would only affect those making more than $500,000 a year, so maybe the image of budget-traumatized, poor citizens eking out an existence is not the best to conjure. If you're making over $500,000 a year, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it: you can afford the 1 percent income tax, and we're terribly sorry if it requires you to liquidate one of your vacation homes or, god forbid, drive a car more than two years old.

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.

The housing market might be crashing, the sky crumbling (oh...that's snow, you say?), and layoffs increasing, but don't worry: along with the booze biz, the tattoo industry here in Seattle is doing just fine. That doesn't really make sense to us except in conjunction with the liquor sales increase. People get laid off, get drunk, get a tattoo: it's a time-honored tradition.

This guy, a Fort Lewis officer, thought it was a great idea to embezzle $700,000 from Uncle Sam during a recession and a war. Genius! Did he think they weren't gonna notice that kind of pocket change missing from the coffers? The only explanation we can come up with is that his 14-month service in Iraq was more traumatizing than has yet come to light, and if that's the case, our heart goes out to him--but dude still owes the country some cash.

• Big Blog won points with a post about The Bachelor's ex-wife and her YouTubed guest spot as a groupie on local band Out From Underneath's Seattle-heavy music video. Onwards and upwards, Gas Works Park.
• The blog formerly known as bigasscity is quoting none other than ZZ Top while crunching the numbers about Metro's projected budget shortfall and how much money the city could have saved by rejecting the bored tunnel viaduct replacement option.
• Cliff Mass thinks it's "pretty definite": we're looking at more snow, probably on Sunday. Actually, that works well with our schedule. How kind of the gods to check with Seattlest HQ's Google Calendar before sending the cold front!

One of the more bizarre stories we've reported on in the past few months now has a compassionate, helping-hand update. Remember the woman who was stabbed by her boyfriend in Lower Queen Anne? At the time, the story was that he intended her as some kind of human sacrifice, though now Heidi Gardner says she was misquoted by the Times--he had some sort of psychotic break, there was no altar. We just received a legit email from one of the victim's friends, letting us know about a fund she's set up to raise money to help with Heidi's towering medical bills. If you have a spare $10 and feel compelled to help out a knife-wounded sister, by all means head over to heidifund.org.

During that vaguely hellish snowstorm right before Christmas, the City of Seattle may or may not have missed garbage pickup a few times at your house. You will recall a certain stench. If they missed your house two times or more during those weeks, the city has announced they will be sending you a check for $5 to make up for it! Man, $5. That's a whole two meals at Dick's, Seattle. Of course, $5 can also buy you a neighborhood kid willing to clean out the insides of your putrid, slimy garbage can. It's your call what you'll do with this unexpected bounty.

First of all, may we just say it's great to be back in the Seattlest saddle again after a somewhat extended absence! We actually...*sniff*...missed you guys. Alright, back to business. Thanks to Twitter, we now know about a neat local cooking site named, appropriately, CookLocal. They're covering the very important rutabaga and sunchoke baked chips beat this week. West Seattle Blog passes along news about South Seattle Community College's new scholarships, money set aside to help out anyone who's ever been in the U.S. foster care system. The Weekly's Sara Brickner reports on N.A.S.A.'s show at Nectar last night on Reverb, with photos and all ("go-go dancers, a giant visualizer screen and aliens" is part of the write-up, reason enough for you to click on that link). And over at the Seattle Post-Times, they're upset about the new, unsightly ads on Washington ferries. Of course, the pictured ad supporting the Post-Times' case is for the Woodland Park Zoo's flamingos exhibit--not exactly the devil incarnate.

INTERNATIONAL TIPPLE TASTING: As a Pacific Rim port, Seattle should really be more broadly acquainted with saké than it is. Enter tonight's premium sake tasting at Umi Saké House in Belltown, a Saké Nomi event designed to familiarize attendees with thirty of the world's finest (and in some cases, rarest) brands. You and your fellow fermented rice enthusiasts will be able to sample a saké whose brand hails straight from 1505 as well as an igloo-brewed variety called "Divine Droplets." Kampai!

To everyone who remembered to vote, bless you. To everyone in King County, up to and including those who spaced on yesterday's mail-in election, congratulations: you get Sherril Huff as your Director of Elections for another few years. Even before all the absentee ballots rolled in, officials declared that Huff won a "decisive victory" over the other, mostly unqualified candidates. She will earn $146,000 a year, which is almost half of what it will cost the county to pay for the special February election. The King County Elections office has an interesting set of graphics on their site that clarify how they operate; it's worth a look [pdf], especially the second page, which shows the process each ballot undergoes in order to be counted.

The vote on school closures is fast approaching! On Thursday, the city school board will make the official call--and emotions are running high. Parents and teachers at the schools on the final recommended closure list made sure their voices were heard this weekend at a rally at T.T. Minor Elementary, one of the schools on the recommended closure list. Though it's possible the school board will vote not to close any schools (a strategy recommended by former school board director Dick Lilly over at Crosscut), it's not likely. Money is just too tight, and something's gotta give. The complaint, however, is that the "somethings" taking the brunt of the cuts are Seattle's poorest, least lily-white neighborhoods--and some are going as far as to call the selective closures racist, flat out. The local chapter of the NAACP is on the case, though last we heard, NAACP national leadership hadn't heard about or approved any legal action.

As the minutes tick past, that blurb keeps getting updated. Now, it's a full story, complete with quotes from Swartz: "One thing is clear: at the end of the sale process, we do not see ourselves publishing in print."

The region's...er...inclement weather must have given an extra boost to Amazon.com's sales this season. Or maybe depressed, laid-off people everywhere felt like the malls were too much to handle and decided to shop online, instead. Either way, Amazon had the best Christmas ever! All that money couldn't plow the roads, though, and Seattlest's gifts, guaranteed by Amazon to arrive at our house by Christmas Eve, still haven't landed on our doorstep. We pulled the trusty "print out a picture from the website and put it in a pretty envelope" trick to make up for it.

What is going on down there? Yesterday, two teens--aged 17 and 19--were rushed to Harborview with gunshot wounds after a meet-up in Federal Way's Alderdale Park turned violent. The 19-year-old sustained head wounds from the shoot-out and as of last night was in critical condition; sounds like the 17-year-old's wounds are less serious. According to the SPD, the gunshots "might have taken place during a drug deal"; we're just relieved the word "gang" wasn't tossed in, after the uptick in gang-related violence this season.

FLEXIBLE MIND, FLEXIBLE BODY: Why not practice some venue-sanctioned yoga in the Northwest Film Forum's lobby before you hit the bars on Saturday? The 1.5 hour class is for all skill levels and ages, and is being held as a fundraiser for the arts center. We think this sounds like a great chance for you to limber up with your neighbors, center your energies at the beginning of the holiday season, and do something supportive for the arts community.

Gregoire is currently in Philly at a gathering of the nation's other state governors and our president-elect to discuss the details of Obama's economic stimulus plan. From KIRO: "Facing a $5 billion deficit in the upcoming budget, Gregoire said federal money is imperative in stopping an economic freefall." The word "freefall" sounds decidedly scary. Good luck catching Obama's eye, Gregoire--the funding to straighten out that Mercer Mess would make a beautiful Christmas present for your constituents. Nudge, nudge!

According to the Puget Sound Partnership, 150,000 pounds of toxic chemicals find their way into the Puget Sound every day. That, along with being absolutely disgusting, is one of the primary reasons behind the urgency of the group's creation of an action agenda to restore the Sound to at least something resembling its former pristine glory. Yesterday, the PSP submitted a full agenda to the Washington state legislature at Gov. Gregoire's request; if you're interested in the details, here is the plan's full text [pdf].

We hit up Moe Bar last night for Happy Hour to toss back a few and discuss Things with non-Seattlest Friends, whereupon we were pleasantly reminded of the establishment's insanely good Happy Hour deals. $2 wells, people! That's five drinks for your tenner, or three drinks if you are a Good Person and tip. You should tip. You should also join Seattlest at Moe Bar on Monday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for our next official Seattlest Happy Hour to take advantage of said insanely good Happy Hour deal and to chat it up with us.

The Seattle Times reports that a whopping 400 county government jobs will be cut in King County Executive Ron Sims' 2009 budget. The cuts are part of Sim's plan to reduce county expenditures by $93 million for the next year, a significant belt-tightening. Sims did say that he's trying to delay budget cuts in health and human services, but still....400 jobs gone translates to a lot of men and women who will be looking for work soon. Anyone hiring?

The bountiful ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest is worth between $243 billion and $1.22.1 trillion, economic and environmentalist researchers announced late last night. Phew! Numbers are far easier to work with than poetic sentiments about our "introverted, feral, buddhistically cool" raindrops (Tom Robbins), "unruly mobs of young clouds" and "green stand of mountains" (Ken Kesey), or Chief Sealth's sacred, inter-connected vision of "every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods."

Mount Rainier National Park is preparing for a big celebration on Monday, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony and everything. At the center of the celebration: A new trail? No. A new naturalist program? No. New campground? Nope. A brand-new toilet? Ding-ding! And this toilet must be something pretty amazing--this is its second official celebration, and it cost a truly jaw-dropping $70,000. For a toilet...singular.

We guess Forbes went back to measuring rich folks. It was announced today, courtesy of Forbes' annual billionaires list, that Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. The title now belongs to U.S. financier Warren Buffett, who had a very good year in 2007. He saw his wealth jump from an estimated $52 billion to $62 billion. A $10 billion year in the midst of a recession--wow.

Maybe when your club is as steeped in musical history and genetically bound to its host city as the Crocodile Cafe, explaining a sudden shut-down is embarrassing. Maybe a public statement is too daunting a task. Maybe a background in law teaches you to keep your mouth shut. Whatever the reason, Stephanie Dorgan could pick up some PR tips from Matt Feigenbaum, owner of Bellingham's just put-to-rest Nightlight Lounge.

Dennis McLerran, head of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is "pissed." Governor Schwarzenegger is suing federal regulators. According to more than 500 news articles, The Environmental Protection Agency denied California’s bill to place limitations on vehicle emissions, which would have cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 30 percent in the next 10 years. McLerran claims in a Seattle Times article the EPA’s decision is purely political, not factual.

If you're wondering what happens to the lesser-known bands who used to play Seattle at the Croc, evidence from the sports world shows that you ought to look for them in Kent. Or not at all.

Making up for weeks of hibernation and workaholism, Kim will hit the parties this weekend. Tonight, she’ll don her Groucho glasses for a lesbian function at Jabu’s celebrating the births of her two favorite Sagitarii. Saturday, it’s to the War Room for a company party with the missus and her workmates. Finally, she’ll ship off to the sub-tropics on Monday, where she’ll spend what remains of 2007.

We have to be honest: We were slightly annoyed when we read the email promoting Seattle School's (of Motel fame) latest event. Anything that calls an organization "insanely exuberant" and says that it is putting on one of the "craziest film events in the history of the city" is trying pretty hard to sound zany and exciting.

While trolling through today's Floor Proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives for our other job (it's an exciting one), we noticed something that will probably get no coverage anywhere else. However, we think it is important to note when Congress singles out one faith as important. We think it's doubly important to note when the vote is taken while Congress fights with the Bush Administration over funding the government for the next year, haggles...