These sort of posts almost inevitably get misconstrued as me wanting The Seattle Times to go away. I don’t. More voices are better. More journalism is better. But I think that given The Seattle Times’ turning away from the web, their continuous pissing away their credibility, and the general state of newspapers, it’s not very out there to assume that their day will come. So this post is looking at some of the things that might happen if they went away.

The first, and I think scariest option, is nothing. It’s possible that given the state of the newspaper industry that nobody would want to put out a daily in Seattle. The money making pieces of the newspaper have already been made less so with craigslist and with sports blogs. So perhaps we would just lose the reporting that we get now.

But I think it’s more likely that something would replace them. There is already a lot of solid local reporting on the ground in Seattle. From West Seattle Blog to Capitol Hill Seattle to the blogs of the weekly papers, you can get decent, current, reporting today outside of a daily. It’s no substitute, but I suspect those things would step up, and other online voices would fill any gap left behind.

However, I’m also not convinced that in the absence of The Seattle Times would mean the end of a daily in Seattle. I think it makes a certain amount of sense that one of our local millionaires or billionaires would take it on as an act of good will. They could either buy The Seattle Times outright or they could start their own paper if it went under. This paper might manage to be even more pro-corporate friendly than The Seattle Times currently, if that’s possible.

Another couple of possibilities I’ve been thinking about are a bit more out there. I could envision either The Stranger expanding to a daily if there was no daily or the newspaper guild starting a paper like they did during the strike. I don’t know if there would be any will to make these things happen, but I don’t think they’re outside the realm of the possible.

I hope that we have The Seattle Times for a good long while, and I’m rooting for it to get better as a paper. But it seems reasonable to think about what happens if they go under.

Over the weekend I’m going to send out questions to the City Council candidates who will be on the ballot in November. I could do similar questions to the Mayor’s race, at least 1-4. 5 was less policy and more executive specific. So I could add another policy question or if you think there’s something Council specific that ought to be addressed, that would be fine too.

I should also note that I don’t actually expect anyone to answer them. I’ve made joke endorsements when only one candidate from a crowded field responded (although I have always voted for them if I made the endorsement), but honestly, I know HA, especially post Goldy is low on the list of places to respond to. Two years ago it felt like only one of the races got any serious coverage. Maybe that’s the nature of things when it’s all insider incumbents. Or maybe it was the perceived nature of the candidates. But I didn’t like the powers that be deciding that the challengers don’t really count. This year I think some of the challengers have got better press, so it’s maybe not as important. But I’d like to let people answer the questions in a way that isn’t gotcha or soundbite journalism if they want to.

All this to say, if you have an issue you’d like to see covered that isn’t addressed in the linked questions, let me know. And if you’d like questions asked in any other race, by all means suggest away.

Whenever I have long hair (such as now) I take it off the brush and put it out for the birds. This is something my mother told me to do and I think her mother told her to do before that. Apparently, I’m helping mangle pigeon feet.

“There are a few diseases that damage urban pigeons’ feet… Pox is one, but pox certainly never destroys the whole foot,” Roberts says. “I would say that 99.9 percent of the pigeons with damaged feet I have seen owe the damage to the carelessness of human beings in disposing of their rubbish. It isn’t just guesswork—the cotton, hair, fishing line is still evident after toes and even feet have been lost, embedded deeply into the skin.”

Human hair, I ask? “Human hair is awful. If it tightens around a bird’s foot, it digs in deeply and it doesn’t snap. It is extremely difficult for even a rescuer to get an implement like a seam cutter under embedded hair to remove it, and soaking it doesn’t soften it.”

But how in the world does human hair end up on a pigeon’s foot, I ask? “People are actually advised to leave their hair clippings out for birds to use in nest building. Women with long hair will remove the hair from their hairbrushes and drop it out of the window for the birds (I have seen them do this), thinking it will help the birds. But the damage it does, particularly to pigeons who will turn in circles and therefore get the long hair tangled round both feet, then tightened, is just terrible.”

Although Mudede doesn’t believe it’s the cause — or much of the cause anyway– I’m willing to go with his expert. I will stop depositing my hair on the ledge of my apartment from here on out. I was always worried that they got caught up in a storm drain anyway.

Or maybe it’s time for a haircut what with it being 80 something degrees.

– I’m not sure RT was lying about America, but it is important to get the truth of Russia’s anti-gay horror show out there on a Russian station.

– This has nothing to do with keeping the babies safe and everything to do with a government that has decided that the 4th Amendment is getting in its way and that an expectation of privacy is an anachronism that only a bunch of irrelevant cranks or criminals care about. I don’t see how you can interpret their actions any other way.

– A dual endorsement in the general election is strange, but OK, King County Labor Council.

– I’m fine with the GOP not having Presidential debates on CNN and NBC if they want. But the fact that there’s going to be a documentary on one of the most important people of the late 20th century doesn’t strike me as a good excuse.

– The Snoqualmie Valley Trail bridge looks pretty neat.

– But if you want proof of how silly the whole thing is, it would be hard to do better than simply glancing at the homepage of the Seattle Times online this morning. Even as the world’s leading climate scientists warn of the sea level rising by three feet by 2100, the Times is twisting a debate about the wisdom of coal exports into an election year kerfuffle.

– Macklemore talking about how he gets more leeway because he’s white.

– Is it strange that all I want to do now is move to Asshole Jupiter?

I didn’t set out today to just say nice things about random statewide elected Democrats. I mean I have problems with all of them. But kudos to Attorney General Ferguson for this opinion.

Any public health district in Washington that provides maternity care must continue to offer “substantially equivalent benefits” in the form of contraception and abortion services, even if it contracts with a religious-affiliated medical organization, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in an opinion Wednesday.

“I fully expect all public hospital districts to comply with this opinion,” Ferguson told a Seattle news conference.

The opinion impacts a growing trend in Washington, in which small local hospitals have chosen to affiliate with larger health organizations, including Catholic-affiliated PeaceHealth and Providence Health and Services.

Good work. It’s no substitute for the Reproductive Parity Act, but it’s a good opinion and hopefully it will spur action in the next legislative session (I can hope).

I’m glad that Mike Kreidler is the Insurance Commissioner.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is fining four insurance companies for overcharging consumers in Washington state.

Kreidler’s office said Tuesday that Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co., Hartford Casualty Insurance Co., Hartford Insurance Co. of the Midwest, and Trumbull Insurance Co. have agreed to each pay a total fine of $100,000 split up among the companies.

I’m not sure that would have happened if there were a Republican in that role. Maybe everything would be the same, but I suspect their corporate friendly agenda would have led them to do the minimum if they even bothered with the case at all. It’s important to have strong rules, but it’s also important to have people who will enforce them.

– I don’t know enough about the Frequent Network Plan but it’s worth a look.

– 82% of Americans are correct.

– Goldy is more thrilled than me with the prospect of a State GOP Chair Pam Roach. I think she would be as problematic as before, but with a larger platform.

– Just as was the case before Roe, women’s abortion access in many states across the country is largely becoming dependent on two arbitrary things: where she lives, and how much economic privilege she has.

– Cascade Bikes is asking you to write a letter to SDOT to help complete the Missing Link.

– I think we are on solid biblical footing, in other words, to say that the current effort among House Republicans to gut SNAP is an example of the sin of Onanism. The anti-welfare rhetoric and ideology of the tea party — with its denunciations of “takers” and “moochers,” and the rallying cry of its founding in rejection of mortgage assistance for soon-to-be-homeless families — is a virulent, vicious strain of Onanism

– Anyone going to see Romeo & Juliet at the Sculpture Park? Also, in case you ever have to promote it, it is not “the greatest love story ever told.”

In the current issue of The Seattle Weekly, Ellis E. Conklin has a piece on the Seattle Times-Mike McGinn perpetual dispute. It begins thus:

On February 24, 2011, Seattle Times reporter Lynn Thompson penned a comically snarkish account of how (“Seattle’s most famous bike rider”) Mayor Mike McGinn’s dark-green GT Slipstream was stolen out of the City Hall parking garage. The bike, which McGinn accidentally left unlocked, actually belonged to his wife, prompting the mayor to tweet: “Peg is pissed.”

The story, complete with the requisite “Mayor McSchwinn,” included anonymous e-mails from readers. One sarcastic missive, in particular, drove McGinn through the roof. After suggesting the theft was a publicity stunt by a pol seeking sympathy, the commenter meanly observed, “He has the body of Homer Simpson and apparently doesn’t own a bike himself.”

The city’s since slimmed down chief executive is reportedly still seething about the Homer Simpson crack.

Says McGinn, “We let them know that was inappropriate.”

Not long after the article appeared, an angry Peg Lynch called The Times and canceled the McGinn family’s subscription.

When the Stranger’s Eli Sanders brought the news of Mrs. McGinn’s pique to light more than a year later, Times executive editor David Boardman tweeted, “What kind of mayor cancels his subscription to his city’s daily newspaper? Our mayor. Thin skin, @mayormcginn?

Sooooooooooooooooo: The Seattle Times realizes that Mike McGinn has been the victim of a crime. Rather than just report that, they go for making up nonsense with about as much evidence as a birther. In the process they call him fat using a cultural reference that’s two decades past its prime.

In response to that, McGinn’s wife cancels their home copy of the paper. Their ostensibly straight newsman sees that and tweets that the problem is Mike McGinn. Holy shit. I’m being serious when I wonder: (a) How the fuck did that get into the paper in the first place? (b) How in God’s name wasn’t Lynn Thompson publicly disciplined? (c) How is it that David Bordman thought that was a thing to rally behind? If The Seattle Times were a real newspaper, they would hire him back just so they could fire him for this, that’s how pathetic it makes their paper look to rally around making fat jokes about an elected official they don’t like.

To be clear, I want a Seattle Times to be tough on elected officials. But if they can’t tell the difference between journalism and bullying, they should pack it up because they don’t do the city a service.

– Oh, that Glenn Greenwald guy thinks governments can abuse their authority. Hey, we’ll show him by detaining his partner for 9 hours.

– In case you want to know what the SPD Doritos at Hempfest look like, Mike O’Brien has a picture.

– The fraudulent signature gatherer has been charged.

– I’m not quite sure how I feel about Kitzhaber’s veto of a loophole to Oregon’s law opposing Native American school mascots. Basically, the school could ask a tribe for permission. On the one hand, I suppose with having to do that, they could figure out how to be sensitive. On the other, it seems like just asking one tribe if a thing is offensive is maybe not a substitute for actually being sensitive.

– But while the fire at Med Mix was tragic, it should not be swept aside by just calling it childish or simply criminal.

– Oh, look what’s coming to Cinerama.

I don’t have a TV Box* so nothing is appointment TV for me except sports that I’ll go to a bar for or watch on ESPN3 or MLB’s website. I’ll watch a few shows on the Internet later on, or see clips that make it onto some website, especially what Darryl plays in the Multimedia Extravaganza. And while that’s the far end, a lot of people have TiVo or watch their TV on the Internet in some way. So the schedule is less important than it was even a decade ago, not just for me but for all sorts of people.

So maybe Fox News’s shakeup is less important than it once would have been. But the fact of the matter is it’s coming:

The media world was abuzz last week as Matt Drudge reported a rare prime-time shakeup at Fox News: Rising star Megyn Kelly is moving to 9 p.m., bumping the current inhabitant of that hour, the “Great American” Sean Hannity, to parts unknown.

The domino effect has not yet been revealed, with speculation that Kelly’s move might produce other changes, including hard news star and 7 p.m. anchor Shepard Smith potentially shifting roles, and 10 p.m. host Greta Van Susteren moving hours.

Maybe it doesn’t matter at what point in the day assholes are saying asshole things. Maybe being given time to say nonsense on the TV is important enough, and the rest are just details. Still, the fact that the top brass at Fox News thinks this is something maybe means it’s something, so they’re doing their shakeup.

[Read more…]

I get that a student dying is terrible. And I understand the desire at WSU to keep underage kids from drinking, especially from binge drinking. But I’m not sure telling their parents is necessarily helpful.

With the first day of classes less than a week away, Washington State University has a new plan to reduce binge drinking that includes scheduling more Friday morning classes and calling the parents of drunk students.

WSU has been looking for ways to curb underage drinking since last October when a student died of alcohol poisoning.

Freshman Kenneth Hummel, 18, had a blood alcohol level that was five times the legal limit. His death last fall came after three students were injured in alcohol-related falls from buildings in recent months, two at WSU and one at the University of Idaho.

Among the changes, WSU will call parents the first time an underage student violates alcohol and drug policies.

I didn’t have a drop of alcohol my entire 4 years of college,* but for a lot of people, college is a chance to get away from their parents. I think you can have consequences that treat people as adults instead of going to mom and dad.

[Read more…]

Tom at Seattle Bike Blog is getting reports of trouble on the trail.

I’ve already received one email from a reader who said he had to swerve into the grass to avoid a truck driving on the trail. Last year there were many close calls and several crashes due to Hempfest operations. But organizers say they are working to make this year go more smoothly and better mark cables and hoses.

The Elliott Bay Trail is a vital regional transportation corridor for people biking and walking from downtown to Magnolia, Queen Anne and northwest Seattle. There is no other option available for people biking through the area. With workers blocking the route for a week and a half and people on bikes with no other way through, it’s a recipe for frustration and conflict.

That was a couple days ago, and with more setup, I’m sure there is more difficulty. I was there yesterday evening for a jog, and it was fine for me. It was drizzly and past rush hour so the traffic wasn’t bad, but there were tents and trucks and a partially built stage up. I can see how it could be annoying, but it didn’t seem like too bad.

There may also be traffic problems for cars according to a press release I got from SDOT.

The 22nd annual Seattle Hempfest expects 50,000 – 70,000 attendees everyday this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Centennial and Myrtle Edwards parks. Saturday evening the Seattle Seahawks anticipate a crowd of 55,000 at CenturyLink Field when they take on the Denver Broncos for the team’s second pre-season game. There will likely be heavy traffic associated with these and many other events taking place throughout Seattle over the weekend, so please see the attached schedule and plan ahead to avoid delays.

The Seattle Department of Transportation suggests motorists join in the effort to reduce air pollution by parking their cars and opting for one of the many alternate modes of transportation available – Metro Transit, the West Seattle Water Taxi, the Seattle Streetcar, the Sounder commuter train, Link light rail, car pool, bicycle or walk, if feasible.

A lot of those suggestions are more football related than Hempfest, given SoDo’s nearness to rail and the Water Taxi. But the warning and some of the suggestions apply to both.

And seeing the press release mentioning the football game in the same paragraph as Hempfest puts the traffic complaints people always seem to have into some perspective. Yes, it can be annoying (although the worst that’s ever happened for me personally is I had to take a different route from Downtown to Ballard one year). But sometimes those sort of things happen in a big city with big events.

– The police distributing Doritos at Hempfest is a bit on the nose.

– RE this, I think Carla Saulter says all the words that need to be said:

Wait, I'm confused. #russellsimmons #wtf

— Carla Saulter (@seattlebuschick) August 15, 2013

– “Sonic Bloom” is a solar-powered work of art created by Dan Corson on behalf of City Light’s Green Up program, which supports the development of new renewable energy sources.

– Could you just move some of the Olympic events if there’s the treat of some athletes being arrested, or simply as a protest?

– We must always be vigilant of capitalism’s inclination for this sort of business, and while we encourage capitalism, be aware of its potentially abusive power.

– When you’re digging yourself into a hole, the saying goes, the first rule is to stop digging. Fortunately, regarding the downtown tunnel, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has taken this aphorism to heart. Unfortunately, it’s only partial, and temporary.

– Wendy Davis is going to be in town. It’s an event sponsored by Washington NARAL, and I’m not 100% sure if your ticket goes to her or to them.

– If you’re interested in Helsing Junction Sleep Over, you probably don’t need me saying it’s coming up, but it’s coming up.

The deadline for applications for PARK(ing) Day in Seattle is coming up.

Create your own park on September 20, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.! PARK(ing) Day happens once a year, on the third Friday in September, and is an opportunity for any Seattleite to temporarily make parking spaces into parks. The event raises awareness about important issues like creating a walkable, livable, healthy city.

I didn’t go last year, but in the past it’s been pretty cool what people have come up with. Seattle has some creative people who really make some incredible things with the limited space available. You can see at the link pictures from past years. Here’s hoping it’ll be dry and warm come September.

Jim Camden at the Spokesman-Review pokes a bit of (deserved) fun at Seattle for how white and male our mayors have been compared to Spokane.

But during the period in which Spokane elected a major, strong or otherwise, it had three women in the job: Vicki McNeill, Sheri Barnard and Mary Verner. (It also elected an African-American mayor, Jim Chase, eight years before Rice, but that’s kind of rubbing it in.)

All three were very different politically. None campaigned primarily on being a woman or won because of, or in spite of, gender. In McNeill’s case, she ran against another woman, Margaret Leonard. Seattle has never had a general election mayoral race between two women.

Spin Control would never use the gender diversity of a city’s chief executive as proof of much of anything. But the next time a Seattle resident gets too over the top about how forward thinking his or her city is, remind them that Spokane has had three times as many female mayors, who held the office six times as long as Seattle. It might keep them quiet for a minute or two.

For my Seattle readers, if someone from Spokane gives you shit, you can mention that even if Ed Murray wins, Spokane will have nearly a decade’s head start in electing a gay mayor. That will hopefully move the conversation to one where we figure out how to get more diversity in our elected officials. Because I think we can all agree that 3 women in several decades, or one woman in 1926, it isn’t a good track record.