According to Times reporter Misha Berson, Intiman is laying out a new artistic map for the 2012 year, which includes plans to open the 440-seat playhouse to other arts groups, including the Seattle Shakespeare Company, the Whim W’Him Dance Company and Unexpected Productions (all of which have plans to rent performance space from the theater), all while it attempts to raise money, settle its $500,000 debt and fulfill commitments to subscribers and ticket holders from the 2011 season. From the Times:
The company has hired Andrew Russell, Intiman’s former associate producer, as its consulting artistic director through Oct. 1, said board Chairman Bruce Bradburn.
Russell’s immediate task is to craft a plan with the board to present to arts funders, and to the Seattle Center, the theater’s landlord and one of its biggest creditors. If sufficient funds are raised and the plan is implemented, Russell will become the full-time artistic head and more staff will be hired.
“We think this is, truly, good news,” said Bradburn. “We spoke with many artists in the community, and received four very interesting proposals for the future. We thought Andrew had some very exciting, fresh ideas. Then we voted — should the Intiman pack it in, or move forward? It was unanimous that we move forward.”
Read the full piece on Intiman’s future and new artistic director Andrew Russell’s plans in The Seattle Times here.
Last night you hustled to make sure your ballot was counted in the Seattle primary election. Here’s what you accomplished (or didn’t accomplish, depending on how you voted).
By all accounts, the tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct is good-to-go. Despite some extremely strong opposition around town (especially if you’ve read the weeklies in the past six months), nearly 60 percent of the votes counted Tuesday were in support of the project.
Technically the vote was not a binding rule or law, however it is seen as the proof that the people of Seattle want the city to move forward on the $2 billion tunnel. Just pray they everything goes to plan. Seattlites will foot the bill on any overages beyond the proposed budget.
Meanwhile, King County voters overwhelmingly approved the Veterans and Human Services Levy with 66 percent in favor. The levy, which will support veterans, military personnel and their families as well as the county’s neediest residents, is expected to collect between $102 million and $108 million over the next six years.
Check out the full results for the rundown of voting on the Seattle School Board, Seattle City Council and many other primaries, courtesy of our news partners over at The Seattle Times.
Crisis averted for Queen Anne’s public transit riders. Changes to King County Metro service that could have cut up to 600,000 service hours of bus routes, heavily-affecting quite a few neighborhood routes including the 2, 4, 15 and 45, will not happen.
The Metropolitan King County Council said Friday it will approve a $20 car-tab fee to spare Metro bus service from deep cuts, according to a report by The Seattle Times.
A vote won’t come until Monday, but suburban Republicans Jane Hague and Kathy Lambert — who had been against bypassing voters — said they would supply the decisive votes in exchange for a package of reforms and efficiencies in Metro.
Those changes include: phasing out Metro’s subsidy for the free-ride zone in downtown Seattle, running smaller buses on less popular routes, and providing $24 in bus tickets to people who pay the fees; people who don’t want those tickets can donate the value to a pool of human-service agencies.
The 2010 Census numbers indicate a rise in the number of same-sex couples living in Washington state and in many neighborhoods throughout Seattle, according to a report by The Seattle Times. Today one out of every 18 couples living together in Seattle are same-sex, the Times reports.
While Capitol Hill has long been a central hub for the gay community in Seattle, Census data shows that the numbers of same-sex couples living in other parts of the city and its suburbs is on a general upward trend, especially in places like West Seattle, Lynnwood, Shoreline and Lake Forest Park, which all saw a sharp rise, and Vashon Island, which has the highest same-sex population statewide, at 5.5 percent.
Parts of Queen Anne have also seen an upward trend in the number of same-sex households. East Queen Anne and the south slope in particular saw a noteable increase, from 39 families in 2000 to 70 in 2010, and from 42 in 2000 to 70 in 2010, respectively.
The Seattle Times piece breaks down the Census data by neighborhood with an interesting info-graphic, showing not only the increase in same-sex households, but the numbers of male couples, female couples and couples with children. We thought this was an interesting case study for both the local gay community and that of the greater Seattle Metropolitan area. From the Times:
Many factors account for the growth in numbers of same-sex couples over the decade.
Since 2000, Canada and several U.S. states have legalized gay marriage, and Washington has a domestic-partnership law that grants same-sex couples many of the same state-level benefits as married people.
At the same time, couples have become more aware that they can indicate their status on the census forms, and many are likely more comfortable than they were 10 years ago in doing so…
…That gays are spreading out beyond the traditional gay hub of Capitol Hill suggests that gay families are feeling more comfortable living everywhere — and practically anywhere.
And there are many positive aspects to that, said Josh Friedes, marriage-equality director with Equal Rights Washington, a Seattle-based advocacy group for gays.
“They are becoming neighbors with people who’ve not had a lot of exposure and had not been familiar with gay families,” he said. “You begin to see increased support for things like marriage equality as the general population has more and more gay neighbors.”
Check out the graphic here. Read the full Times story that goes along with that graphic here.
One of the most notable patrons and philanthropists of the Queen Anne and greater Seattle arts community, Bagley Wright, died at the age of 87 after suffering a heart attack on Monday night, according to a report by The Seattle Times.
Bagley and Virginia Wright at a “Capote” party in Seattle, 1966. Photo credit: Photo by Dave Potts, Courtesy of the SeattlePI Collection, MOHAI.
Wright moved to Seattle in 1956 with his wife Virginia Bloedel, whose family owned a successful Northwest timber business, and quickly got to work developing what have since become some of the city’s greatest artistic institutions. At the time Seattle’s arts scene was regarded as ‘cultural backwater,’ the Times writes, and Wright took it upon himself to change that. “He understood that a great city had to have great cultural institutions,” his son Charlie Wright told the Times.
And change it he did. The influential philanthropist and developer founded the Seattle Repertory Theatre here in Queen Anne, helped transform the Seattle Art Museum (where his son Charlie now sits as chairman of the board) from a boutique gallery in Volunteer Park to a downtown destination, and had a hand in building the Space Needle, undoubtedly the city’s most iconic landmark. The Wrights were also the first major investors in Benaroya Hall.
“He really planted the first seeds of a vibrant cultural life in Seattle that we all take for granted now,” local arts consultant Susan Trapnell told the Times. “He’s really been an essential donor and supporter of almost every major arts organization in the city.”
From the Times:
In addition to his wife, Mr. Wright is survived by his brother, Dan Wright, of Greenwich, Conn.; sons Charlie Wright, of Seattle and Bing Wright, of New York City; daughters Merrill Wright, of Seattle, and Robin Wright, of San Francisco; as well as 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“We have a great family, thanks to him, and it’s a great comfort. We did have a good time together. Nobody was better company than Bagley. I’ll miss him no end,” Mrs. Wright told the Times.
A memorial service for Wright will be held on Tuesday, July 26 at 3 p.m. at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Capitol Hill. In lieu of flowers, the family has suggested contributions be made to the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Repertory Theatre or the Bloedel Reserve in Wright’s memory.
Trucks will not be allowed in residential neighborhoods, near high schools or within 50 feet of an existing food business. Some restaurant owners had expressed concern about competition from the trucks, which can do business more cheaply, in part, because they don’t pay rent or property taxes.
Food truck owners will be required to pay the city a fee in the amount of $2.25 an hour (in four-hour time slots), or $9 a day, to park and operate on its streets. In the event that more than one vendor applies to park at the same location and time, the city says it is planning to use a lottery system to determine which vendor wins the spot.
The 8-0 vote in favor of the measure comes nearly three months after Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law a new measure allowing cities to regulate and license production, processing and distribution of medical marijuana on a limited basis.
That statute, which takes effect on Friday, requires storefront dispensaries and other medical pot suppliers to reorganize themselves as small, cooperative ventures serving up to 10 patients. These “collective gardens” are confined to growing 45 plants total but no more than 15 per person.
This vote is a ground-breaking move for Washington, and is the farthest any city in the state has gone toward legitimizing medical marijuana usage. Dispensaries and co-ops citywide would benefit from the licensing decision, including Queen Anne area dispensaries the Seattle Medical Marijuana Association on 15th, the E.C.C. Emerald City Collective on Elliott, and Sens-Able Patient Network, and Fremont-based Dockside Co-Op. From MyNorthwest.com:
“They’re not kicking the can down the road and having somebody else deal with it,” [Dockside Co-Op owner Oscar] Velasco-Schmitz says. “They realize that there is a need for medical cannibis within the community, and they’re taking steps to be able to provide that for the community in a safe manner.”
While Seattle has taken measures to license medical marijuana dispensaries, such businesses are still in violation of federal law. If signed by Mayor Mike McGinn, the proposed ordinance would require medical marijuana businesses to comply with city codes, governing everything from plumbing to public nuisance complaints. From Reuters:
Seattle officials backing the proposed city ordinance say more than 25,000 of the city’s 600,000 residents use cannabis for medical reasons. They argue that regulation will bring more order to the burgeoning supply chain.
“We’re saying, ‘You’re already here, now we need to regulate you,’” Seattle Councilwoman Sally Clark said.
Clark told Reuters that some 80 medical marijuana dispensaries have sprung up in Seattle over the last few years, but of those, only about 50 have officially registered with the city. The mayor is expected to sign the ordinance as early as Tuesday. Once signed, the measure would go into effect in 30 days.
But not all medical marijuana proponents are praising the decision. Medical marijuana attorney Douglas Hiatt told The Seattle Times he’s planning to sue the city to block the action. “He says marijuana remains illegal under both federal and state law, and the city does not have authority to regulate an illegal substance,” according to the Times.
What do you think? Is it time for medical marijuana dispensaries to be full licensed by the city and state?
Emerald Bay Equity has sold two Upper Queen Anne mixed-use retail/residential buildings – Eden Hill and the Sweetbrier – to affiliates of Deutsche Bank real-estate subsidiary RREEF for a total of $44 million, according to a report by The Seattle Times.
EBE put all four properties in The Collection up for sale back in April, in the hopes of finding a solution for the projects’ financing challenges. At the time EBE principal Joe Geivett said he preferred the possibility of a joint venture over a sale, but ultimately opted to split the buildings in The Collection between EBE and RREEF in the deal.
Both Eden Hill and the Sweetbrier are apartment complexes with ground-floor retail, both of which were completed in the last three years. Together the buildings have a total of 84 residential units, and over 30,000 square feet of ground-level retail, the Times piece reports.
For more information on EBE’s ongoing developments on Queen Anne, including the forthcoming Seven Hills Apartments and Met Market Redevelopment, check out our ongoing coverage.
We just got an email from Queen Anne resident and reader Marina, who was attacked by a pair of crows at the top of the hill last night and wants to warn neighbors to keep an eye out for the birds. She writes:
I was running last night on 7th Ave W, and just north of Garfield Street I had two crows attack my head about 10X for two blocks. I was running down the street away from them and yelling and waving my arms. I assume they have a nest in someone’s yard and are protecting their young, but they were VERY aggressive and could definitely knock an elderly person or child off balance.
This behavior isn’t all that uncommon in Seattle, especially during the late-spring/early-summer, or “fledge season” from mid-May to mid-June when crows teach their babies how to fly and are on high-alert and on edge, ready to attack anything they might see as a threat.
“They’ve invested a lot in their young and literally have helped them survive natural hazards and storms,” professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington John Marzluff, who in 2005 co-authored a book called “In the Company of Crows and Ravens,” told The Seattle Times in a story last year. Read the full story for more information on how to avoid crow attacks during fledge season, or what to do if you are attacked.
It’s Memorial Day weekend, which for many Seattleites is synonymous with the city’s annual Northwest Folklife Festival, now in full swing at Seattle Center.
The festival, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, chose to have a Bulgarian theme for the 2011 festival, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find all of your favorite cultural, ethnic, musical and artistic events, alongside a few new ones. One of the elements new to the festival this year is the “Indie Roots” stage, which according to The Seattle Times, intends to highlight “kinship between traditional folk music and Seattle’s burgeoning “neo-folk” indie movement”.
Also new to the festival this year: a Living Green Courtyard, located in the Alki Court on the northeast corner of Seattle Center. For more information watch the following news clip about the garden:
The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday. Check out The Seattle Times lineup preview here. The full festival schedule can be found at the Folklife festival website here.
Parking is always packed around the festival, so it’s recommended to carpool or take public transportation when possible. Metro will be offering cash-only shuttle service to and from the festival on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Other routes will operate on holiday schedules on Sunday and Monday. More information on the Folklife shuttle here.
Great City Attractions, a British company that operates observation wheels in Asia and Europe and had planned to transport, construct and operate the wheel at Seattle Center has met trouble securing liability insurance for the ride, according to a report by The Seattle Times. This would have been the first wheel the company constructed in the United States. From the Times:
“We’re still talking with Great City, but we’re looking into other options as well,” Dauost said. The Center’s master plan calls for an iconic ride to replace the carnival rides and arcade games that operated at the site.
According to the report, Seattle Center representatives became concerned over Great City’s difficulties in securing arrangements for the wheel over the past couple of month when the company asked to push back the opening from April to July, and later told officials that the wheel would meet further delays due to the royal wedding in London.
Seattle Center officials were hoping to bring the giant observation wheel to the campus as a tribute to the carnival spirit of the original World’s Fair, with a futuristic design that looked to the years ahead for the campus and the city surrounding it. The ride, which was supposed to run through October 2012, was projected to attract half a million visitors per year.
But even if the Seattle Center cancels its plans to bring an observation wheel to the campus, the city may be getting one soon in a different iconic location – Pier 57 owner Hal Griffith is currently in the midst of getting the necessary permits to bring a similar Ferris wheel to the city’s waterfront, according to the Times report. Read the full story here.
Our news partners The Seattle Times had a story today about how the economy has been affecting local food banks. Now, a graduate student at the University of Washington contacted us about her own research project on the topic.
Paula Rhyne, a master’s of public administration candidate at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, has developed an online survey about individual giving patterns as part of her research.
You can take the survey here. It only takes about two minutes.
“The deep-bore tunnel, with tolls, causes more congestion and delay on city streets than any other option,” McGinn told the March 19th meeting at Aljoya Thornton Place, 450 N.E. 100th St.
Apparently he repeated the claim on KUOW public radio last week, according to Sunday’s Seattle Times “Truth Meter:”
The claim: Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said last week on a radio appearance that the state’s data show the planned Highway 99 tolled tunnel would cause the worst downtown congestion of all options to replace the 58-year-old Alaskan Way Viaduct.
What we found: half true
We took a look at the same numbers, and the state does predict its tunnel plan would mean more car traffic in the area, which the anti-tunnel McGinn points to as more congestion. But the state’s research also says drivers would reach their destinations sooner compared with the surface-transit option McGinn favors. Because of that, we find McGinn’s statement half true.
You can read the full story here in The Seattle Times.
McKibbin and Bostdorff are being represented by Bellingham-based attorney Adam Karp, who specializes in animal law. The 17-page claim, which was filed Friday, included a note from Karp that the two would settle for $30,000 if City Light would agree the the following three conditions:
That City Light post contact-voltage safety tips on its website;
The City Light would take part in an annual contact-voltage safety conference;
That City Light would make contact-voltage scans annual rather than every four years.
In the claim, Karp said that since the 68-pound dog, Sammy, was purchased in 2004, the daughter and mother had spent over $10,000 on the dog, with the big-ticket items being $5,212 for “doggy day care,” $2,400 on vet bills over the six years of his life and $1,339 for emergency treatment and cremation after the dog was electrocuted.
In the claim, Karp said Sammy “did not have a fair market or replacement value,” but “a unique value.”
“My clients loved Sammy as if he were their child. … The avoidable and wholly unexpected death by electrocution of Sammy caused complex grief and emotional harm to both my clients,” said the claim.
McKibbin originally purchased Sammy for $200.
Included in the claim were photos of Sammy on vacation with his owners, and postings by McKibbin from the blog she created shortly after his death. Karp told the Times that McKibbin needs counseling that she cannot afford because she does not have medical insurance.
The claim said McKibbin “will testify to complex grief, emotional and physical stress, haunting flashbacks replaying the witnessing of Sammy’s death, fear of herself also being killed by lethal voltage and losing him so tragically and unexpectedly.”
Suzanne Hartman, spokeswoman for City Light, told the Times that they will take a look at the claim and put it through the “normal processing to determine the reasonableness.” Karp told the Times that if no settlement is reached within 60 days, a lawsuit will follow. Read the full Times piece here. See our past coverage of the tragedy and inspections that followed here.
Queen Anne loves its street food. There’s plenty of food trucks that come and go, some stay longer than others and almost all of them bring tasty food with them.
However it’s a tough racket to run a food truck in Seattle. Restrictive city laws make it hard for many small businesses and impeded the growth of the street food scene in neighborhoods like Queen Anne.
New legislation is expected to go before the City Council by the end of the month, detailing changes that would make it easier for street-food vendors to set up shop and, in the process, help bring more economic vitality to neighborhoods.
“Urban neighborhoods are where we want our growth,” said Gary Johnson, center-city coordinator for the Department of Planning and Development, which helped craft the proposal. “A street-food scene can help brand a neighborhood in a positive way.”
Outside of the sunnier months and the Seattle Center grounds, you don’t see many sidewalk vendors in Queen Anne. Right now, street cart vendors in the city of Seattle are limited to mostly selling coffee, popcorn and hot dogs. Under the new guidelines, the city would “allow everything on the push cart except raw proteins.”
The Seattle Department of Transportation also wants to designate zones where curbside vending would be allowed. Right now vendors have to work out deals with business owners, which is why you always see food trucks in parking lots or outside local companies.
The flip side of this possible change is that local restaurants could see their business decrease, especially if a like-minded food is available down the block on a food cart.
So far Lower Queen Anne is leading with 16 percent of the votes, followed by Ballard, South Lake Union and Wallingford (all with 12 percent), and Magnolia and Lake City (with 11 percent). Upper Queen Anne is in tenth place, with 6 percent of the votes so far.
Think Queen Anne needs a new beer bar or brewery more than any other neighborhood? Cast your vote with Seattle Beer News here.
The construction of a suicide prevention fence along the Aurora Bridge has been completed, according to a report by The Seattle Times. City officials and Seattle residents now hope it can prevent more people from joining the list of 230 jumpers who have leapt to their deaths from the bridge to date.
Construction of the 8-foot, 9-inch-tall safety fence started in the fall and cost $5 million, according to a state Department of Transportation news release. The Legislature’s 2009-2011 transportation budget included $3.6 million to build the fence.
The fence’s construction was lobbied for by Fremont residents and those that work underneath it and was supported by the city of Seattle, King County and the state Legislature. Read more about the need for the fence and why it matters here.
Tracking the progress of potholes in your neighborhood, or along your commute, just got a whole lot easier. The Seattle Department of Transportation, taking a feather from the hat of The Seattle Times, has launched a Pothole Status Map where you can see all the city’s potholes that have been reported since March 15, 2010.
On the map above you can see all the potholes that have been reported, and filled across the city. The green dots indicate potholes that have been fixed in the last three months. Blue dots indicate new reports, and pink dots indicate potholes that are currently in the process of being repaired. The full map can be found here.
Know of an untended pothole that’s not on this map? The city would like you to report it so that it can be fixed. According to SDOT the map is updated nightly, though its currently posted statistics are not as up-to-date. SDOT says that as of Januart 30 there were 1,175 open requests to fix potholes, and that 1,365 others had been repaired in the previous seven days.
In 2010, we reviewed our methods of patching potholes. We found that there were better methods that would provide a longer-lasting patch, and have made those changes. This method takes more time when a pothole is fixed, but will last much longer than the method we have used in the past. In the long run, this will leave Seattle streets better off for a longer period of time. Our goal now is to repair potholes within three business days of receiving a report.
Have a pothole you’d like to report? Use this form to report potholes and other non-emergency problems (minor street repairs, malfunctioning traffic signals, damaged street signs) to SDOT.
The optometrists office at 166 Roy Street, formerly known as Eye Doctors Ltd., changed its name to Eyeballs last week.
The new name and signage is just a small face lift for the practice, which is staying under the same ownership, according to an employee.
Longtime Queen Anne resident and optometrist Dr. James McCrum and his wife Paula Whelan remodeled the building themselves in 2005, creating a 1,700 square-foot urban home above the office. Read The Seattle Times’s large Pacific Northwest magazine piece on the project here. McCrum continues to operate the practice below.
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Crisis averted for Queen Anne’s public transit riders. Changes to King County Metro service that 
Say hello to more street food in the neighborhood. 
Queen Anne loves its street food. There’s plenty of food trucks that come and go, some stay longer than others and almost all of them bring tasty food with them.
