In one of those mysterious black-is-white, up-is-down occurrences, Mayor Greg Nickels and the City Council's Richard Conlin have in unison agreed to push for a $0.20 per paper-or-plastic bag fee at grocery and convenience stores and drugstores. While we're still trying to figure out what the vision is, we're aware that paying for bags bugs the hell out of a lot of people. Unsurprisingly, a new fee isn't popular except with people who already share......

This morning, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced a proposed ban on foam food containers and a fee for disposable bags at grocery stores. The ban on polystyrene foam products would outlaw common items like plates, meat trays, eggshell containers, and cups from both restaurants and grocery stores. The so-called "green fee" would apply to both paper and plastic bags at your local grocery store. The fee would impose a 20-cent charge for each disposable......

Local supermarkets QFC and Fred Meyer have issued a recall on bottles of their Everyday Living Bleach. The companies have issued a warning about the potential for explosion when opened. Of course, because of the potential for explosion, the last thing QFC and Fred Meyer want you to do is return the bunk bleach bottles to the store. They will not take or replace the defective bottles. Rather they ask that you call the manufacturer......

The latest session of the state legislature is now in full swing and most people are watching the big-ticket items under discussion. The supplemental budget and what to do with our $1.5 billion surplus are at the top of the list. Also high on the agenda are transportation issues like a new vote on light rail and a toll on 520. But there are always niche issues under consideration. They probably won't get the......

In the chapter on invasive species in David Williams' awesome book The Street-Smart Naturalist he says of blackberries: Ecologists don't like Himalayan blackberries because the dense thickets block light to other plats, reduce animal habitat, and hinder access to water in riparian zones, another area where blackberries flourish. With their rapid growth they can quickly outcompete natives and turn a diverse field into a monoculture. Himalayan blackberries, however, do have several features that make......

Shopping for carnivorous loved ones this holiday season? We suggest a visit to the Oberto Factory Outlet, a store clogged with a staggering array of discount meat snacks. The Oberto Sausage Company is the nation’s largest jerky concern, and its Rainier Avenue outlet seems to carry every possible variety: beef, pork and turkey, cured and seasoned in myriad flavors (original, spicy, teriyaki, hickory, BBQ, taco, mesquite, etc.), and packed in bags, cans, and jars of......