Results tagged “newspacnw”

The most unfortunate victims of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor--which happened 66 years ago today--were surely the 2,333 military personnel who lost their lives.

Here are things you don't want cops to find when they search your apartment:

Four computers, two printers, a scanner and an industrial machine that makes identity cards...$17,500 in cash, dozens of credit cards and fake driver's licenses, and keys to unlock many of the apartments and mailboxes in [your] upscale apartment building...a book titled "The Art of Cheating: A Nasty Little Book for Tricky Little Schemers and Their Hapless Victims," as well as a newspaper article on "How to Spot Fake IDs."

PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland snake enthusiast, Matt Williamson was rushed to the hospital after a recent assault by an unnamed rattlesnake.

In Slate today, Taylor Clark declared our -Ist-less neighbor to the south "America's indie rock Mecca," then spent several paragraphs dropping names and figuring out why. His conclusion?

It's easy to live here. In the words of a friend of mine who used to be the music editor at the local alt-weekly, Portland is like a resort community for indie rockers who spend half the year working themselves ragged on tour. You can venture into public dressed like a convicted sex offender or a homeless person, and no one looks at you askew. It's lush and green. Housing is affordable, especially compared with Seattle or San Francisco. The people are nice. The food is good. Creativity is the highest law. For young, hip Portlanders, financial success is a barista job that subsidizes your Romanian-space-folk band or your collages of cartoon unicorns.

Some of Seattlest's favorite family members are taking Amtrak to Portland this weekend. Yesterday, they heard through the friend-of-a-friend grapevine that Amtrak wasn't allowing people to check any baggage.

ROSEBURG, Ore. – 80’s glam-rock band Poison is in hot water over allegedly showing a woman’s bare breasts in a video projected behind the band during their performance at the Douglas County Fair. Fair organizers are demanding an apology.

Some people like going to the Eatonville Pioneer Farm Museum to see the genuine 1880s cabin. For others, it's the chance to participate in the craft instructions or walk the nature trail.

Some guy who decided Halloween was just too fun to be only one day a year got a heavy dose of ironic justice yesterday:

A Puyallup man who posed as a decorated Marine Corps captain for two years will tend graves at the Tahoma Military Cemetery in Kent as part of 500 hours of community service, a federal judge has decided.

Continue reading "Ironic Justice For Puyallup Man"

"Les Schwab, 89, was the sort of bigger-than-life person for whom Oregon is legendary: the independent maverick and unabashed capitalist who insisted on doing business his way, who ignored business trends, treated people with respect — and raked in the profits."

As the Seattle Traveler reminds us, today's the 27th anniversary of Mount St. Helens' eruption back in 1980. We remember the eruption, though not the particular day -- we were living in Wisconsin at the time, so we didn't have to shovel any ash out of our gutters. But we know we discussed it in science class.

Another group of noobs got rescued off Mt. Hood recently, and we scanned the news looking for what people had to say on the subject. We follow climbing-related news not because we're climbers per se (in fact Seattlest is really nothing of the sort), but to keep tabs on what the rest of the world thinks about "extreme" sports. And sadly we've found that digging up people saying stupid things on the topic of high-altitude climbing is about as easy as shooting some of Dick Cheney's friends in the face.

What defines a terrorist or terrorism? You know, besides standing between a Republican and the camera he wants to install in your panty drawer? Is it your actions? Is it your nationality? Is it your race? Is it your intent? We better figure it out because there are suddenly a whole lot of laws on the books all over the place that say criminals get this sentence and terrorists get this other one. Down in Eugene right now the (and this next word is important) eco-saboteurs who perpetrated a string of arsons across the Pacific Northwest are about to be sentenced.

We're not sure if some airborne lead has made its way into the Tacoma aroma, or if the apocalypse is coming, but this must be a sign of one or the other:

The police log entry said it all: "Deceased fawn was dressed up like an infant and abandoned at the Pantages" Theater.

Continue reading "Someone in Tacoma is...Well, Let's Just Say They're Five Runs Short of a Jeff Weaver Start"

How do we know? Amazon.com's running a contest. If your town pre-orders more copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows per capita than any other, Amazon will donate $5000 (via Amazon gift certificate) to a local charitable organization.

Everything we know about dodging the draft by heading to Canada we learned from The Brothers K and popular mythology. So, we don't know much. Little before our time, there. Despite the fact that today's army is all volunteer (and today's Canada is more Conservative) there are still some soldiers waiting out Iraq up north. Almost everyone that this Salon article mentions seems to have already pulled a shift in the Middle East and is in Canada dodging a redeployment. The article talks about these soldiers (they estimate some 250 of them) and the great lengths that Canada has gone to to see that they are returned to the U.S. military.

So we're not exactly clear on the methodology behind the Humane Society of America's animal compassion index, but we kinda thought that hosting the nation's most notorious bestiality den would prevent our fair city from attaining a high ranking.

A hiker fell to his death at Baker Lake on Sunday afternoon. While the news wades through the details of finding a helicopter to help retrieve the body (a ground rescue is apparently impossible given the chasm he fell into), all we can think is: Did his friend watch him fall? That is a sticky, panicked vision that will never erase itself from his memory. Muted and amended over time but perpetual nonetheless, the memorial to his friend will be the never-ending loop that runs in his mind.

If you want to repair the aging 520 bridge, you'll have to pay tolls. We knew that. But State Treasurer Michael Murphy says you'll need tolls both on I-90 and 520 to pay for the project--and he won't issue bonds needed to finance construction without them:

"I will not authorize the debt to be issued for a project that can't pay for itself," Murphy said. "In order for the thing to work, both bridges -- period -- need to be tolled, not parts of bridges, not certain lanes."

Continue reading "Free-Loading Lake Crossers, The Party's Over"

They can handle uncertainty--it is a professional requirement, in fact--but they tend to avoid speaking about their research unless they are very certain about something. (At least the good ones do.) Increasingly so, the precision and certainty of science are being put on trial on a public scale never before experienced. And to a degree, the admirable tendency of scientists to demand certainty is in conflict with our need as the public to potentially act on less inviolable evidence.

A few days of awful publicity later, the website of Americans United to Preserve Marriage, the anti-gay-marriage organization bankrolled by Sonics owners, is now "under construction."

"Quick, Marge, get my gun! There's one of them nutria swimmin' in the river over there!"

A Canadian mining minster in British Columbia recently flamed someone who wrote in about a policy decision via email. He pretty much tore the guy up and attacked him on the grounds of the guy's questionable Canadian pedigree ("It is my understanding that you are an American, I don't give a shit what your opinion is on Canada or Canadian residents"). Big story. The guy seems to have resigned over it. Shit's in the P-I.

Striking out on one's own and carving a living from the breast of the land was once the mark of an American hero. The colonists, the homesteaders, the gold rushers, even, are mythological giants without which our country would have no identity, no past. Our city in particular was an outpost of these kinds of guys, scratching sustenance from a far and isolated territory.

Two of four misconduct charges were dropped just yesterday against Watada, which would reduce the maximum sentence he could receive from six to four years. It also means that the Army will no longer pursue subpoenas against journalists who interviewed Watada-- journalists like Sarah Olson, who was threatened by the Army to comply with the subpoena or face six months in jail.

You'd think it was the Second Coming or something. TV news shots, front page of the local dailies, big story in the New York Times. It's a fucking ski lift, for chrissakes. You get on, you ride in a gondola for five minutes, you get off at the top. But it's in Portland, you know, so it's got to be terrific. Even Amy Jenniges, former Stranger staffer now at the Portland Mercury, thinks it's hot shit. What are they calling it? An icon for the Rose City? Like the Eiffel Tower?

It's the end of Week 1 of Canada's trial of the century and so far absolutely nothing has happened. The jurors have been watching a long interrogation of Pickton from way back when they thought he had killed a couple of women but didn't have evidence that said he killed a lot of women.

We'd like to be able to say in full confidence that we'd never attend a rave at a pig farm in the country surrounding Vancouver, B.C., particularly if we were invited by this guy, but you never know. That guy is Robert or "Willie" Pickton and he's on trial in Vancouver right now for killing two six people, although it seems like he'll eventually be charged with many more. Like serial killer more. He claims 49, or did at one point. Here's a picture of his spread. We don't want to judge a man's crib --hey, it rains and not everyone in the world lives in condos with fancy furniture in the lobby and doormen-- but that place looks fucking scary and so does he and this trial is making us reconsider Canada. While we don't want to judge, sometimes it's in our best interest - That place, and that guy are the biological justification for our ability to detect "creepy." Stay away from that dude and you'll live longer, your nervous system is telling you. Then again, he's got a big bag of weed and he just wants to party. Out at his pig farm.

OK, Seattle maybe you're not so bad. Or, maybe someone hasn't caught an incident here like this series of crashes on an obviously icy street in Portland (sorry, couldn't find it on YouTube).

Seattlest once got lost in Kmart while our mom was trying to buy our brother clothing, and we're still reeling from it one week later. So we're curious about a story that the Times has picked up from the AP, reporting that some national parks and search and rescue organizations will be testing out a radio transmitter system originally designed to help law enforcement types find disabled people (primarily those with Alzheimer's or autism) who wander away from home. The theory goes that it might assist in searching for lost hikers/climbers/etc.

When something seemingly senseless happens, people often feel helpless. Distance from here to San Francisco, among other things, buffers people's sadness at the death of James Kim, and we all move back to the minor (or possibly major) worries of our own lives, perhaps to be reminded of the Kims when others go missing. But two crafty women—artists/sisters Lisa Congdon and Stephanie Barnes—have put together an impressive benefit auction of gorgeous art, clothes, and other hand-made treasures that defy distance and apathy. 100% of the proceeds go to the Kim family, and shipping appears to be free on nearly everything up for auction. As of today, with 4 days left, over $8,000 worth of bids have already been made.