Washblog

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Update: 10/29/08. Story title changed for correction from "parole officer" to "probation counselor". NM

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Yvonne Gaston, a juvenile probation counselor, decided early this September to help one of the children on her case load get school clothes. "Little did she know," writes James Bible, president of the Seattle-King County branch of the NAACP, that her attempt to help him would lead to assault of a police officer charges." Below the fold James Bible describes what happened:

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Reverend Rich Lang, above, speaking at the 2007 Lora Lake Service of Lamentation for the expected tear-down of moderate-income housing. Related story.

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From: Rich Lang
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 8:52 AM
Subject: Rich Lang to be arrested

Hi folks,

In all probability I will be arrested Monday morning, June 9th for an act of civil disobedience protesting the current Mayor's policy of sweeping the greenbelts of homeless encampments. Below is the letter I've written my congregation. I ask that you give the Mayor's Office a call 206-684-4000 asking him to support the Real Change Organizing Project.

Several talk shows featuring local hosts have been canceled from 710 Kiro.  The new owner, Bonneville International, evidently prefers to have canned shows than local content.  Well, it's certainly cheaper.

Andrew Villeneuve at Northwest Progressive Institute has written an open letter to Kiro 710. Open Letter to 710 Kiro.  Please consider signing.  Here's a DailyKos article: Recommends keep this article high up on the page, attracting more signatures to the letter to 710 Kiro.  Seattle's 710 KIRO cancels netroots radio program - "The David Goldstein Show".

Wanna learn how to be a more effective political activist?

There's a Democracy for America Training Academy in the Seattle area next month. It's taking place on February 23-24 at the IBEW Hall in Kent.

The DFA Training Academy empowers ordinary citizens to manage successful campaigns and even run for office themselves. Taught by experienced professionals and co-organized by local DFA volunteers, the DFA Training Academy is designed to fit the needs of local grassroots activists like you.

No one is talking about what the meeting between Sonics owner Clay Bennett and Seattle Mayor Greg Nikels is really about, but with the likelihood of Key Arena being rebuilt, sold or refurbished almost nil, you can imagine that the discussion is going to be about buying out the current lease.

Last year a city initiative tied the city's hands on building a new arena, this year fans of the Sonics, specifically a group that had been lobbying along side Bennett for a new arena in Renton, is filing an initiative to force the city to honor the current lease on Key Arena. They essentially want to say "the Sonics aren't going anywhere, for now."

From SonicsCentral:

During the course of the last year I have spent a great deal of time advocating on Clay Bennett's behalf. While I don't regret that decision I have certainly re-thought it a number of times.

...

To this day Bennett has still maintained publicly that he wants to remain in Seattle. I believe however that these statements have to be subject to question based on his behavior of the last several months. During this time frame he has never returned a call from our camp and according to reports from people around the state we are not alone. Potential development partners, political leaders, trade association leaders, all describe Clay Bennett's "open door" as more of an "unsupervised answering machine" where you leave messages and then never receive a callback.

Just over one week ago I contacted Bennett's office advising them that SOS&S had formed a new committee, "A Deal Is a Deal" PAC with the intention of filing a public initiative which would block the mayors ability to negotiate an opt out of the lease.

While we wrestle with an out of town owner who wants to drag the Seattle SuperSonics into the Great Plains, there is another professional sports drama going on pretty much unnoticed.

A California family is trying to choose between Portland and Seattle for the home of their brand new Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. Both cities have historically been great soccer towns, both professionally and culturally (kids and adults playing soccer in rec leagues, the kind of thing soccer team owners look for in a market). The only problem is both cities already have top flight professional soccer teams: the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers.

Update: The Seattle Weekly has a story on the feelings of the hard core Sounders fans about the behind the scenes machinations of the MLS, the USL and the Sounders. Here is the reaction of one of the subjects of the story, who is a fan of bringing the MLS to town and not a fan of the current ownership of the Sounders.

Instant reaction to the story: aside from the plot about fan v. fan, if the current Sounders ownership is losing $300,000 to $400,000 on a smaller operation than an MLS franchise, maybe they don't deserve a shot at the MLS. They probably never would have made it anyway. If someone else wants to spend $35 million on the MLS's franchise fee and take a shot at the Seattle market where the current ownership is obviously failing, give them the chance. I'm done complaining.

A growing number of youthful BMX riders are pursuing the development of trails and jump courses through the Seattle area. This is their vision for a new type of urban park management. Bringing new people into the underutilized areas of these public spaces will help manage garbage, overgrowth, and vagrancy. The real opportunity here is for neighborhoods to participate in the management of city parks by encouraging new uses within the park. And these riders get it.

March 13th we have a "special election" to "decide" what we're going to do with our aging viaduct. The ballot, as everyone should know by now, only has two choices: vote yes or no on a four-lane tunnel and yes or no on an elevated structure. To be perfectly clear on the purpose of this post, I believe we need to have the debate here on Washblog about what we, the members of a Progressive website, think the future of transportation in Seattle will look like. The continuum, to me, stretches from the radical carless society, depaving the highways for bike trails to the equally radical car-dependent world of individualized transportation catering to oligopolistic transportation companies. Continuing from the diaries, where do you stand?

All things considered, is our understanding of the world made better or worse by an unfiltered cacophony of opinions?

Seems that way when you're looking for something to draw about.

David  Horsey doesn't seem to like blogs all that much, for their unfiltered opinions. But, heck for their ideas, bring them on!

Check out David's cartoon from today:

Now, check this out:

 

I'm not saying he stole the idea, I'm just pointing out how funny bloggers can be.

I snapped this familiar-looking freaked-out inflated being in a store window after the Seattle Kossaks & Washbloggers get-together.

The event at Elyssian Fields featured our own Kos frontpager McJoan, just returned from her epic election '06 trip across the mountain west States. N will have to dish that conversation because he, Seattle Liberal and LeftyMama secreted her into a dim booth where they had her to themselves for several hours.

Belltowner and seabos were seated next to each other, believe it or not, but no blood was spilled--that I witnessed.

Pictures to come today! But I had to pop this guy onto the front page for your early-morning viewing enjoyment. How about a caption contest for him? Mine is:

"YIIIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKEESSSSS!"

The Divine Feminine: from the Pageant of Alternative Deities presented at UNCAGED CABARET.

Have no fear, my beloved children, of colors like fire-engine red and idolotrous images of thigh-high, lace-up, platform boots.

Honor our fellow rightful human and liberal Democrat Jim McDermott, treat your inner child to a night of laughter, reward your sister Dinazina, whose graceful fingers bleed from her labors, and buy tickets to UNCAGED CABARET.

Then, let the ecstacy of auspcious KARMA radiate from each chakra.

Dina's holographic tickets of JOY await your call.

I'm okay, you're okay.

'Bye.

 

Greg Palast is speaking tonight at Townhall at 7:30pm. He's promoting his latest book, Armed Madhouse.

This event is also a fund raiser for Voter Action. They're a great organization that fights for election integrity. USA Today covered their most recent action: Spate of Lawsuits Target e-Voting.

Original announcement follows...