Plan ahead for the closure of the Viaduct starting October 21 (h/t).

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will close the majority of the Alaskan Way Viaduct at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 21 until 5 a.m. Monday, October 31.

During the closure, crews will tear down large sections of the southern mile of the viaduct, and complete temporary connections to a new SR 99 bridge currently under construction on the west side of the viaduct in SODO. Also, the northbound viaduct between the South Royal Brougham Way on-ramp and the Battery Street Tunnel will open from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and for special events at CenturyLink Field, but closed other times.

Drivers are encouraged to consider alternatives to their normal commute. WSDOT suggests the following options: carpooling, vanpooling riding the bus, water taxi, train or light rail; working from home or adjusting work schedules; checking traffic conditions before hitting the roads; using alternate routes where possible; delaying or combining trips.

Personally, I encourage carpooling, vanpooling riding the bus, water taxi, train or light rail even on days when the Viaduct is working fine.

My prediction: Most news outlets won’t cover it much until a week ahead and then will be like OHMYGOD!!!!!!!!!!! for a solid week. Then traffic is a little worse downtown but not much. But like I-5 a few years ago, or I-405 in LA, people will adjust and be fine.

I’ve got errands to run, but here’s the link to watch it live.

– Free trees for your yard, Seattle people.

– Who could have predicted?

– It’s funny because the guy died unnecessarily.

– I’m just not really a fan of individual, personality-based explanations for systemic problems like “Democrats caving”. We as a country would be better off if we stopped seeing politicians as leaders so much as ciphers.

– For The Birds.

– Given the violence in the NFL today, I’m always amazed when I read how much worse it was.

– I’ve had better experiences with the police in Belltown.

– Bike Polo.

Last Friday, The Seattle Times had an opinion piece demanding that the legislature crack down on teachers unions that strike. And in almost a throwaway line, they miss the goddamn solution to many of the strikes:

The next economic forecast will not bring good news. A deficit between $1 billion and $2 billion may force lawmakers to look again for cuts in education. We don’t think they should do that, but the point is districts ought not enter long-term contracts based on old financial assumptions. What if that money is no longer there?

More than hard stances against teachers, the Seattle Times should demand that the legislature do more to fund education. They might suggest *gasp* tax increases to pay for that. Maybe get serious about closing loopholes. Maybe reexamine their opposition to an income tax. See, then money won’t be such a sticking point, we’ll be able to open schools on time, and you know, educate the state’s children better.

– The announcement for the pro- $60 car tab campaign’s kickoff.

– It’s not really taking a 3% pay cut if you’re just voluntarily giving it to charity.

– Yes, friends: I invite you to discuss the mighty works of Professor Feminism. But please, in our comments, refer to him by his title. Or, “Zhoxor the Destroyer.” If you prefer a manlier alternative.

– Today in movies I’m not going to see.

– Any can’t misses at Bumbershoot this year?

– I’m sort of goofy about college football. I certainly prefer the pros. And oh the corruption. Still, I’m sure I’ll watch a fair amount of it once it’s on. I love the tradition, and their upsets are more thrilling than anything in any professional sport. Still, even if it makes business sense, I think there has to be a way to reign in Oregon’s uniforms.

Goldy notes the flat jobs numbers for August.

But not to worry, if the lack of jobs really was an issue for the majority of real Americans, I’m sure Congress wouldn’t have put off President Obama’s jobs speech so as not to preempt a Republican presidential debate.

I don’t think the people who’ve been obsessing about deficits (Democrats included) are going to be able to do what’s necessary to get jobs back on track. We need something as large in scale as the Tree Army and we shouldn’t pay for it until the economy is doing well again.

No more belt tightening in the hope that it’ll impress Wall Street. If we want jobs, we can create them. Not tax breaks. Not magical thinking. We have enough need in this country, we have willing workers. We ought to make it happen.

– Republicans sure are Assholes.

– Who think they’re funny when they’re being assholes.

– Reuven Carlyle passes this on about 619 Western.

– So, when’s the rally to protest this outrageous waste and misuse of taxpayer’s money?

– Flying While Black & Reading Antique Aviation Books (h/t)

– An amazing looking moth.

Since a lot of the farmers markets in Washington run through late September/early October, and since we’re in a great harvest time, it seems like the right time to mention that you should go to a farmers market if you haven’t yet (or even if you have). I’ll vouch for the Ballard, U District, Columbia City, and Lake Forest Park markets as good places to shop this year.

I love the interactions at the booths, both the pride people take in what they’re selling and their suggestions for what to do with the food once you buy it. I love the food, fresh, tasty, great for you.

One thing that I never tire of reading is foreigners who come to America and share what they found. From Alexis de Tocqueville to the countless immigrant stories, to more recently Jonathan Raban and Stephen Fry there’s something charming about seeing an outsider’s perspective. While you don’t expect them to get everything right, a different set of eyes is interesting. And quite naturally, I especially love people coming to Seattle.

So I was glad Seattle Bike Blog linked to this piece about someone from England cycling around the world. It’s always a bit mystifying to think about people who only know us from TV.

I explored the sculpture park and talk a walk to the Space Needle, and followed bike lanes through the city. I was soon south of the downtown core and took a route along a lake where the road was closed to traffic every Sunday and was taken over by cyclists. It was a wonderful atmosphere. South of the city I picked up the Cedar River Trail and followed it south before camping down a side trail which resembled the Amazon rainforest, except for the busy highway overhead.

The recession is still bad. So what should Washington do about it according to The Seattle Times? Make sure to fire people!

The Times recently reported that state full-time equivalent jobs are down a total of 7 percent in fiscal 2010 and 2011. That does not include higher education, which has had few job losses. It includes everything else.

The New York Times reported that? The Times of London? Oh, you mean The Seattle Times. Nobody calls it that, Ryan or possibly Joni. Well that’s pretty terrible for the people involved, don’t you think? I mean at least have a bit of compassion for people who’ll get kicked off work. No? Nothing.

No downturn in decades has been as deep or as long as this. It is news.

I like the implication that if the downturn was as bad as some in the 70’s or 80’s, it wouldn’t be news. Skipping ahead.

There is a thought that the state should not do this — that its layoffs are making the downturn worse, and that it should keep everyone on the payroll. It is a warm thought, but who would pay for it? The state cannot do it with bonds. New taxes on the private sector would probably snuff out as many private jobs as public jobs sustained.

Layoffs are making the downturn worse. Public sector, private sector. It’s not a thought, it’s a fact. The laid off people have less money to spend, they have less money to save and invest. They produce less economic activity. The argument that paying to not lay people off will make the economy even worse, well that’s at least an argument that acknowledges that there are tough choices. But yes, if we lay off teachers, or state patrol or anyone else in the public sector, on top of losing what they do for us, we also lose some of their economic output.

– Leadership, sure. Courage, well, no, not in Seattle.

– A real charmer at KIRO.

– I thought Al Qaeda’s number 3’s were always killed. Did everyone step up a notch when Bin Laden died?

– But if storms aren’t Jesus telling us things, how could they possibly have happened?

– Bus branding is a concept that I hadn’t even thought of.

– Our smooth universe.

– Tom Fucoloro is mostly right here, but he seems to think The Seattle Weekly might produce good journalism if it wasn’t trying to protect its parent company’s child prostitution notification business.

– KBR is simply godawful.

– What Richard Trumka said.

– People are driving less. Maybe because of low car diets (h/t).

– I cannot tell you how much I like this picture.

– I like The Decemberists (as you’re required to if you’re from the Northwest) and their newest video was directed by one of my favorite bloggers ever (Ken Tremendous, formerly of Fire Joe Morgan).

One of the things that doesn’t get discussed enough in politics is the fact that we don’t know what the future will hold. I think we all know this in the general sense, but we tend to discount it when discussing policy making.

It struck me recently after the debt crisis. We were told the debt ceiling would have to be raised to avoid downgrading US debt and keep the stock market from going crazy. Well, the debt ceiling was raised and the debt was downgraded (by one agency) and the market went crazy. There were also all sorts of possibilities before the vote about what might happen if we had defaulted from it wouldn’t be so bad to it would have been horrible.

So who was right and who was wrong? Well, we know what happened after we passed the debt ceiling, obviously. But we don’t know what would have happened if a better deal had been reached or if we’d defaulted. We can make educated guesses, but in an unprecedented situation like a default, it’s only a guess.

And the same holds true in international affairs. At the start of the Libya conflict, Lee wrote about the potential humanitarian catastrophe there, and “the possibility of a massacre that could’ve taken 100,000 lives” had we done nothing. Not to put any faith in Gaddafi, and certainly not to dismiss the possibility, but we don’t know if it would have been 100,000 or far fewer people. And while the war is hopefully reaching its end now, it was tough to know how it would end a few months ago. We also won’t know for some time how the administration’s arguments about the War Powers Act will be used by the next president.

The point here isn’t that we can’t make decisions or move forward. Of course we can. I just wish we’d acknowledge some uncertainty at the start.

Joni Balter has a column mostly arguing that McGinn should start doing things he’s been doing (and saying he shouldn’t have put the car tabs on the ballot, but I’m here to focus on her lecturing him to do the things he’s already done).

For example, McGinn could return more cops to the street. Budget woes stopped a five-year police hiring program, but any mayor can fund his priorities. He can and he should.

Return to the street implies there are fewer on the street now. It took me all of a couple minutes to find out that:

Despite the fact that SPD hasn’t hired any new officers for more than a year, it increased the number of patrol officers over the past year from 684 to 693.

Now you can argue that Joni meant that we should hire more police, or that trouble may be coming down the pike if we don’t hire police. But she used the phrase “on the street” so I think it’s fair to say she just doesn’t know. And can’t be bothered with a Google search or that pesky fact checking.

McGinn needs to ensure the Families and Education Levy passes. At least supporting schools and students are things most Seattleites can get their arms around.

Yes. The levy doubled in part because of his leadership. And now he is pushing for it.

At several stops, the mayor told neighbors that education was an important way to enhance public safety and that the levy would help ensure that every child in Seattle had an opportunity to learn and succeed. Staff said the mayor delayed a family vacation in Massachussetts so he could participate in the levy kick-off event.

Maybe it’s unfair to expect Joni Balter to know that. I mean who the hell reads The Seattle Times any more? Still, while the media (and Balter in particular) were bashing McGinn as a one issue mayor, he was actually doing other things.

– If Obama hadn’t been biking and golfing, I bet the earthquake wouldn’t have even happened.

– Cascade Bike’s Energizer Stations

– I’m embarrassed about how few of these books I’ve read.

– Both sides are equally Zzzzzzzz.

– Me too, also, too.

– A nice side effect of doing the right thing.