Key (the site where it is located) has height zoning restrictions.

If a franchise needs a temp spot, they'll use the Tacoma Dome again, I would guess.

In my opinion it is safe to be in any part of downtown Seattle 24 hours a day 7 days a week... unless there is snow; then, stay far away.

I don't follow May Day stuff but I read it's starting up by Judkin's Park, going to the federal building (2nd and Madison, so probably down Yesler or Madison or James), and then they said something about parts of 2nd ave being closed so maybe they are headed north on 2nd after? I doubt it will be super organized.

The buses will be running but I think the biggest impact going downtown today would have on your life is wasting time in traffic.

Good luck and damn the man and all that.

My suggestion is to rename the state "Jackson" and change the flag to a facsimile of the $20 bill.

I would settle for changing our flag from a big ol' scowling Washington head to some other state imagery. We can keep the nice green background.

Other than that, while I would be happy that the state isn't named for a dead white guy and that people wouldn't constantly be confusing us with D.C. (I watched Get Smart as a kid and thought that all the federal spy stuff was happening in Olympia), the name probably has too much historical momentum to change. Plus, SoundsLikePuget is right. Eastern Washingtonians already complain that Seattle is unfairly overrepresented (unsurprising, based on population distribution), and renaming the state "Seattle" would go over very, very badly. Can't blame them, I wouldn't want to rename the state "Spokane" either.

I do think that we should rename Rainier "Tahoma," though. And I've heard that only non-Alaskans call Denali "Mt. McKinley."

Is there another expression or term that might fit?

Did Lewis and Clark come into the Washington State area?

How about Olypmia?

Puget, the state?

Hood?

I'm just throwing ideas out here. Are there any worth considering? Others?

Sure. Name it Salish. If the name "Salish Sea" can be officially recognized to represent the waterways of our coastal area the Strait of Georgia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Puget Sound, then give the Evergreen State a name to represent the indigenous people who were original inhabitants, like "Salish".

No, we should not change the name of Washington state. I understand the sentiment that it's maybe not an ideal name, but it's been "Washington" since 1853 and you don't just go around changing things like that lightly.

Yes, it's a pain in the ass dealing with foreign call centers and stumbling to explain your origins when traveling abroad. I usually just say "I'm from Seattle, Washington. You know, Starbucks, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Boeing? Seattle, Washington?" People usually get it then. I know it's confusing to have two Washingtons in the USA, and there may have been more creative names to give this place way back when, but it's settled now.

And I definitely don't agree that the whole state's name should be changed to Seattle. That would go over like a lead balloon pretty much everywhere outside of King County.

I really think you're writing off Goodspaceguy too quickly. This year his polling is looking... astronomic.

Is this what you were talking about?
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/02/08/currently-marching-or-meanwhile-on-broadway

Anarchists be crazy, yo!

Did WSDOT give an estimate of when the bridge would be opened again?

If not, here's my hypothesis: I'm guessing those people just assumed that the wait would be brief (an hour or so) and therefore not worth the extra time to go around. By the time they'd waited 4 or 5 hours, they probably felt like they should continue to wait, otherwise the time they'd spent sitting there would be wasted (Sunk Cost Fallacy).

Or the cars were gridlocked and they couldn't turn around at that point.

...Did peeps just sit there in their cars and do nothing? Watching local news isn't really a part of my day. So I am not totally sure how stranded people were claiming to be.

I'm sure certain amount of trips might not have been worth the detour. Like shopping trips, or appointments that would have been missed if they took the time to take the detour.

With all due respect, did you read the article you linked to? Joel explained the areas affected in some detail--Patos Island, a bay on Lopez, and some bluffs. Altogether less than 1,000 acres.

Is that actually true?

The Wheedle?

-No, I don't know, but my money would be on someone from the Wright family. That big tourist trap, civic symbol though it may be, was built by private money and influence (the old guard 1%)

It frequently has to do with the rush to be first.
Also, statistically, they can predict at a certain point when they know the trend...based upon standard deviation, but sometimes get surprised.

This often can happen with small populations, where a sub group, or neighborhood, feels strongly on a particular issue, or where campaigning has been particularly effective to sway a neighborhood on an issue that directly affects them.

On SLOG I think they do it b/c they realize it is a different medium with different standards than traditional newspapers. When traditional newspapers do it, it is usually b/c an idiot editor wants a snappier headline when the story only states who is leading the race at deadline the night before. T.V. does it b/c it's like a honey badger.

"why, in a vote-by-mail county, do news media reporters and editorialists have such short memories and are eager to declare a winner when not even the majority of ballots have been counted?"

They want to be first to "break" the news, even if the full details are not available. They believe reporting whatever information is currently available is responsible and preferred by the public.

If they were concerned about long-term responsibility over short-term ratings, we'd have more journalists and less talking heads to begin with.

So, let's clarify something first: unless you are an enrolled member of a recognized tribe with a treaty with the U.S. federal government, you don't have a "right" to hunt or fish. Tribal members' rights, as you may or may not know, were only recognized after a long legal struggle. I don't know whether you are a tribal member or not, but I'm gonna guess not. So that would mean you have a "privilege" to hunt/fish - that's why you have to get a license and pay for tags or whatever. I think it's important to have clarity of language when talking about these issues; plus it's going to be Thanksgiving soon and I'm usually thinking a little bit about the history of Indian / U.S. government relations this time of year.

If that's riled you up, chill - cause National Conservation areas are set aside to conserve (save) land for hunting and fishing and other recreation, now and in the future. You might face more restrictions in what and when you can hunt or fish, because I think the land will be more actively managed to conserve the flora and fauna, and you might have to pay an extra access fee to the feds. Here's Salazar's press release about this proposal (with links if you want more info) - you'll notice he specifically lists hunters and fishers as interested parties.

I'm not sure if there are any federal lands where hunting/fishing is completely restricted, but some national wildlife refuges have more restrictions to protect endangered species. I should know, since I'm from Alaska and this is a huge issue there, but I'm more of an urban Seattle-ite now.

I think we need both completely protected areas and managed areas where people are permitted to fish/hunt/gather within limits. I hear what you're saying about sustainably harvesting wild resources, but there are just too many people on the planet - you're one of 7 billion, and you're part of a history of environmental exploitation by our species whether you acknowlege it or not. People have a shitty history when it comes to respecting wild areas, so I think it's wiser to manage what we have before habitats completely collapse.

You might want to check out an organization like Washington Wildlife Federation - they work with governments to help conserve land for hunters, fishers, and people who just like to hike around wilderness areas. Groups like that usually have good perspectives on federal proposals like this.

Now I'm going to try to not daydream about wild Alaska blueberries the rest of the day.

Here's the info from their FB page:

Rally, open mike at Sylvester Park, we march to the North Steps of the Capitol, leaving Sylvester around noon, we take over the from the Arc of Washington rally at 1:00 pm on the north steps, we go inside the rotunda at 3:30 to deliver our legislative package to the Governor. We can do alphabet shirt messaging from the third and fourth floor until the building closes at 5:30. We join and support the Arc of Washington candlelight rally on North Steps from 7 pm to 9 pm. Rally for Public Schools may also join us for the day.

PARKING & Dash: Plenty of free parking behind the Olympia Farmers Market,at the end of Capitol Way. http://www.olympiafarmersmarket.com/Directions/ Then take Dash to Sylvester Park and/or Capitol Campus. Dash operates every 15 minutes . Buses travel between the Visitor Parking Lot at Maple Park, through the Capitol Campus and to the Farmers Market. http://www.intercitytransit.com/traveloptions/dash/Pages/default.aspx

and the link: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=269721526398632

Here you go: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/default.aspx

I saw this on the West Seattle blog, but didn't see the comments on the Herald page till now. Very sad.

I think the investigation for the actual murder/suicide was finished within a day or two - looks pretty straightforward, the murderer is dead, and it sounds like the police were familiar with the situation. Also I think when older people die there's not much investigation unless something seems weird or the family really pushes police to look at other possibilities.

If there is any investigation, it might be why Adult Protective Services didn't do anything for the wife in this case. They may have offered her help, but if she turned them down I think there's not much they can do unless there was evidence of physical abuse.

I've also had older relatives who stayed in abusive relationships, and when I was younger I didn't understand it. Then I was briefly in an abusive relaionship myself, even though I thought I was too smart for that. Fear makes you do things that seem really stupid to outsiders, but when you think your life is in danger and you don't have any way out you default to survival mode. I think that's why a lot of people stay in abusive relationships.

As a society we like to think that people (usually women) who are in abusive relationships can just walk away. But in reality it's difficult and very expensive and there aren't a lot of agencies that can help you find a place to stay if you don't have access to a lot of money, or have kids, or have health problems. Agencies that support people leaving domestic abuse situations need more funding.

If you want to be nosy, you can see comments from the son and others who knew the couple here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/node/182751

It would appear (if these are legitimate comments) that the father was quite a piece of work and the son says he tried to get protection for his mother from the police long before this happened.

I did exactly the same thing, tore the upper edge of the outside envelope, reclosed it and sent it in. It was counted as valid and has been accepted.

To be sure, go to the King County Elections page and click on the ballot tracker.

I'll add a NO vote; Bite me, Costco... ten thousand times!!

Your security envelope will show that the ballot has not been tampered with. Actually ballots returned without the security envelope are counted normally as well. I would just seal it in the security envelope (with your signature in place) and then in the mailing envelope, sealing it by whatever means will work and make it mailable.

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From the FAQs page of King County Elections:

"What happens if I have sealed or returned my mail ballot in the mailing envelope without the security envelope?"

"As an alternative, you may use a regular mailing envelope instead of the security envelope to ensure the secrecy of your ballot. However, that is not required. Regardless, return your ballot, it will still be processed and counted with other mail ballots."

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But for all other ballot damage issues the official word is:

If you lose or damage your ballot, contact the Elections Office right away.

Elections Office at 206-296-VOTE (8683)

WhoSigned.org and KnowThyNeighbor.org are working to make a searchable database of the Referendum 71 petition signers available to the public.

The Seattle Weekly had the public records available for download on their site briefly, but the post has been removed (it's still in the Google Cache) and the link for the compressed file is no longer active.

As the more than 30 requestors who have received the records made public by the WA Secretary of State have discovered, these records in their current TIFF image form are difficult and extremely time consuming for the public to use. That's why the WA Public Disclosure Commission provides a searchable database of political donors with links to scans of the original records for the public. The PDC knows that it's hard to call something a public record when it's inaccessible and unusable.

It will take several weeks to transcribe the released records and make them accessible and usable by the public.