Results tagged “tacoma”

Even with ties to people in high places, the Seattle Police Department was deee-nied, while 30 other Washington agencies were awarded a combined total of $18,543,197 to cover the cost of hiring/rehiring 71 officers over the next three years--benefits included.

• Tonight we expect it to be all-out airness in Eastlake at El Corazon for the Seattle Regional Air Guitar Championships. We also hear one of the judges has a thing for the keytar.
• A homemade float plane (who does that?) had a splash landing this morning into Lake Sammamish. Its pilot, an 82-year-old Redmond man, was left unscathed.

Seattlest headed south on I-5 this past weekend for our annual Oregon coast getaway. Instead of boring you with details about rugged ocean scenery, we thought we’d detail what must be the least beautiful of the major interstate commutes from Seattle.

Turns out cloudy weather and passive-aggressive behavior will only attract people for so long. Recent data from the US Census shows that the Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma metropolitan area is the slowest-growing region in the whole wide country of the largest 100 areas that grew last year. From 2007 to 2008, we only grew at a 1.4 percent rate. Across the mountains the Tri-Cities were attracting enough people to become the third-fastest growing area, up 3.5%. Of course from 2007 to 2008 the need for rodeo clowns greatly outweighed the need for fish tossers.

Violent crime rates are up in Bellevue and down in Tacoma, according to the most recent FBI reports. The number of occurrences of violent crime reported in that new, shiny city across the lake increased from 65 in 2007 to a whopping 91 in 2008--a 40 percent boost in one year, for whatever reason. (Fights at The Parlor?) Down in Tacoma, the reported occurrences of violent crime went from 1,085 to 905 in that same time span (a 17 percent drop). In related news, the migration path of several flocks of flying pigs will lead them right over downtown Seattle this afternoon around 4 p.m., so be sure to step outside and take a gander at what is sure to be an educational sight. Seattle's info, of course, wasn't turned in on time to be included in the FBI's report. (Win!)

The B-Town Blog has an ominous Port of Seattle bulletin regarding Sea-Tac operations: "Airport is open--two runways are operational. There are many airline-initiated cancellations. Backlog of stranded passengers awaiting rebooking. Travelers are advised to contact their airline for flight status and to attempt to rebook from home." We're having trouble pulling up the flight status link, and we heard via Twitter earlier this morning that Alaska Air's phone wait was 149 minutes. As you might expect, there's no room at the inn, and many travelers are sleeping in airport. It gets worse: airport stores haven't been getting deliveries, so supplies are scarce.

Never know what you're gonna find when you climb down a manhole. It could be your average sewer, or... well, this guy found a huge, once-luxurious, 120-year-old Turkish bathhouse hidden under downtown Tacoma. The kicker is that the property was at times owned by famous vice lords Peter Sandberg (7th paragraph down on this page) and Vito Cuttone (11th paragraph down). How fantastic, in the traditional sense of the word! Really, who woulda thunk? It seems ripe for some sort of historical romance novel about a prostitute, her pimp, and the logger who loves them both.

People calling themselves Seattleites fell primarily into two camps when finding alternatives for a Sonics replacement: the Sounders crowd and the folks who think our professional basketball void could be filled with hockey.

HALF-NAKED BOOTY GIRLS: The 2 Live Crew outta Miami is at Nectar tonight, and you know what that means: half-naked booty girls, according to local emcee Wizdom. "I believe it," he told us with anticipation. The 2 Live Crew has been holding down the sexually explicit end of hiphop since the '80s. Warning: there might be juggalos present. Locals Mad Rad, Champagne Champagne, and Jay Barz open for this promisingly profane and colorful evening.

He's not the cultural Molotov cocktail his VP opponent is, but he's probably talked to Barack Obama, like, dozens of times, so, OMG a guy who knows Obama was in Tacoma this weekend! This photo is courtesy of grundlepuck, and he's got a few more of the Joe Biden/Cheney Stadium event worth checking out in the Seattlest Flickr Pool.

Turns out getting your degree from an "academic institution" that advertises heavily during Jerry Springer and in between Maury Povich's multiple declarations of "You are not the father" is not so helpful in the real world. Bates Technical College in Tacoma, one such institution, is in the midst of settling a suit brought by former students in the school's civil engineering technician and surveying program. Bates has agreed to pay $500,000 to 16 students who claim their degrees left them "embarrassingly unprepared" for employment.

• Rainier Valley Post warns: beware the Microsofties on I-90 today! The Microsoft annual meeting will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Safeco Field today, and I-90 is sure to be a clusterfuck.
• Flu season is just around the corner and the B-Town Blog has a comprehensive list of south Sound sites for flu shots.
• Lights & Sirens reports on the oldest homicide suspect they've ever reported on.

A future firefighter, of course. Or rather, someone who had hoped to become a firefighter, because this guy can pretty much kiss his firefighting and law enforcement career goodbye. An 18-year-old trainee with the Bucoda Fire Department stole and totaled the small town's only ambulance early Saturday morning.

• Capitol Hill Seattle has found the answer to the "graffiti problem"--passive aggressive semi-anonymous notes. Because passive aggressiveness has worked so well at solving everything else in Seattle.
• If you like mojitos as much as we do, you might be tempted by this Belltowner post. Apparently, the failed Mojito Cafe is selling their big neon sign on Craigslist.
• Lights & Sirens brings us the sad and disturbing story of a Tacoma woman who is reportedly suing the city of Tacoma, Pierce County, and a retired Tacoma police officer, after videos of her sexual abuse were found in the disgraced officer's private collection. The officer, who illegally kept the video of her abuse, has recently been sent to jail for first-degree child rape.

• Now's your chance, Tacoma and Seattle! According to Lights & Sirens, crews from the epic show COPS will be riding and filming with Pierce County sheriff's deputies for the next four to six weeks. While we're not encouraging illegal behavior, this could be your only chance at 15 minutes of fame and a lifetime of re-runs.
• Meanwhile. "Magnolia is Really Part of Seattle..." is a little disturbed by the realization Seattle's premier swinger's club is at the base of their fine bridge. It's not key parties anymore. Magnolia and the Wet Spot have been pleasing Seattle's kinks for years before you even noticed, so it can't really be that big of a deal. Right?
• Anyone want to buy a cafe in Georgetown with us? According to Blogging Georgetown, the Georgetown Truckstop is up for sale and they've decreased the asking price to $80,000. All they ask for is $65,000 up front, so if you have $64,980 and want an enthusiastic co-owner...let us know. We see it now--the Seattlest Salon, where port is served all day and the dress code is all tweed, all the time.

• Sometimes we can't help but love Ballard and how, despite all the changes, the neighborhood is trying to retain it's heart and soul. My Ballard's coverage of the annual and epic Ballard Seafood Festival reminds us of all that we love about Ballard--long lines for salmon barbecue (with copius photo evidence), coverage of the couture cover-all contest, and the crowning of a record breaking lutefisk eating champion.
• Blogging Georgetown reports of repeated break-ins at the working urban organic oasis that is Marra Farms. Not only is Marra this amazing farm in the south of the city, where one would imagine nothing would grow without care or love, the folks at Marra do good work with Seattle Youth Garden Works and local food banks. So, double or triple shame on whoever is breaking in and tagging up the place.
• And Lights & Sirens, the Northwest's finest crime blog (sorry Seattle 911--y'all are just getting started--but we really like you) shares a sad local loss from the continuing wildfires in California. The Fire Chief of East Pierce County died battling the Panther wildfire in Northern California this weekend. Early last week, a firefighter from Port Townsend also died fighting the California blazes.

In terms of identity, Chad Goller-Sojourner either hit the jackpot or got the short end of the stick, depending on one's perspective: a gay black man raised by a white family with a "girl's" eating disorder.

Judge Ronald Leighton, a federal judge in Tacoma, is officially our new hero. In response to a particularly wordy complaint filed in a racketeering case—we're talking 465 pages, with an 8-page title—the judge ordered the lawyer to refile his suit in limerick.

On Saturday the Mariners blew a ninth inning lead to lose to the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta. The loss was disappointing to many, but shocking to few; the team with the worst record in baseball often finds ways to lose games in the ninth. On Saturday Seattlest drove south (not 35 hours south) to watch a baseball game and the team we watched also lost, 4-2.

While the rest of the world was glued to soccer shoot-outs on the field, Lakewood, Wash., police were investigating the deaths of two men from a soccer related shoot-out off field. While the names of the victims have yet to be released, KOMO News is reporting two young men were killed after a soccer dispute escalated into gunfire on Saturday night. Police have said that one of them was an innocent bystander, and another bystander was injured by an errant bullet. Two gunmen were involved in the shooting—one is in the morgue and the other remains at large. Lakewood police did detain and question a suspect about the shooting, but he has since been cleared of involvement and released.

Only in Tacoma...

Light rail is about to be in the news in a big way again. Shortly after announcing an increase in ridership of 12.5 percent on Sound Transit and 7 percent on King County Metro last year, it's looking like light rail will be back on the ballot in '08. The Seattle Transit Blog, The Stranger and others are all predicting that the Sound Transit Board is coming back to voters with another light rail expansion package this year, as we fervently hoped.

The Tacoma soldier who is accused of killing a fellow army couple and kidnapping their infant has been transferred to the custody of the United States Army. The Army will prosecute Specialist Ivette Gonzalez Davila for the murders of Army medics Timothy and Randi Miller, who were doused in acid after being shot. Davila was transferred yesterday from Pierce County Jail to the brig at Bangor's sub base. The Army is expected to charge Davila with the Millers' murders within the next 48 hours.

Are you looking for exciting theatre outside the Seattle city limits? If you are interested in the artistic works of people from all around the Northwest, you can still check out the four remaining shows of the Northwest Playwrights Alliance (NPA) Festival of Northwest Plays in Tacoma. The festival will showcase three new full-length plays and several 10 minute plays with themes varying from disaster survivors to “tongue-in-cheek potty humor.”

We were going to send this to our cousin, but then we remembered how bad he looked at our antler party.

10 out of 10 Pro Bowl voters agree--the Seahawks have more talent on defense than on offense.