Seattle Newspaper for the People by the People

Category archive

Headline News - page 45

Regional Animal Services of King County

Yee haw, git along little doggie, we’re headin’ for a Guinea Pig roundup. This is not going to be cheap either. It seems cities have contracted Animal Services of King County to save money. Instead of each city doing their own its all done from one central service. Sounds like a good idea but evidently the fees were not negotiated when the contracts were signed or there were some really STUPID  people doing the negotiating. The bills are coming to the cities now and with the bills are some details of the dangerous animals they have had to contend with. (tongue in cheek) here. The city of Kirkland found out that it cost them $2,496 to have two guinea pigs captured and put in the Kent Shelter. They also, found that it cost them $1,248 to have a bunny captured and housed.  Not sure what the daily board bill will be if any. But the numbers stated above do not include the $379 fee each time an animal control officer had to respond to each of those calls. When you talk about tightening the belt and saving money then you read this kind of stuff.

I didn’t know Animal Control would even “capture” a guinea pig. My goodness they are the size of your hand. Even if one bit you it would not amount to much (I have had several for pets through the years). If I remember right they can’t even hop and their little legs are about an inch long. A gold fish net would do it. Even holding out a carrot would probably entice it to you. Now for the rouge bunny. He could be a little more elusive but with all the pit bulls loose, raccoons all over the place(animal control won’t touch) surely Peter Cottontail would not be that hard of a job to round up.

Anytime you have a service that has a monopoly you will not get a good deal. They make it sound good but with no competition they can charge anything they happen to feel like it. Cities say they are broke but I bet for $100 they could have a bunch of little boy scouts rounding up lost guinea pigs or bunnies. You call the animal control people officers and all sorts of titles that sound like they are experts in their field but if this doesn’t shoot that down nothing will. How they have the guts to even admit to charging such a thing is almost unbelievable. I think people with pet guinea pigs or bunnies should be sure to keep them in. Animal control officers could make a fortune plucking them out of your yard and charging this kings ransom to get them back. A real money maker.

You might be interested in

Sandra Fluke vs. Insurance Companies Not Covering Birth Control

Sandra Fluke is getting her 15 minutes of fame for sure. Of all the important things in this world, poverty, hunger, crime, war our president has found lots of time to talk about Sandra Fluke. She has become a real distraction for him. He hopes people think about her and not the things he should be talking about. As far as I know Sandra Fluke is a single girl who is complaining about insurance not paying for her $9.00 a month birth control pills. Rush Limbaugh did not have to call her terrible names, and I feel that was wrong but it did give Gloria Allard a chance to get her name and face out once more. I think if Sandra wants to take birth control pills,she should go buy them, or ask her lover to split the price which would only be $4.50 each a month. If she has more than one lover then the price would even be less. I have no idea and don’t care who she sleeps with or how often. But her $9.00 should not be on the presidents worry list. Really seems stupid. Why not send boat loads of birth control pills to the nations that cant feed their babies and want us to furnish food while they all starve?

I do care about the President trying to force insurance companies to pay for birth control, abortions or even maternity cases. Back when I was having my three babies insurance did not pay a thing for maternity cases. We were still paying for our first baby when I had the third. To have children is your own choice. No one forces you to start a family or tells you how big a family. That is between husband/wife and your choice of religion. Some religions do not believe in birth control and that where the President got his nose stuck where it did not belong. If you don’t want to practice birth control and you want to belong to the Catholic Church you should not have to pay for it on your insurance. ie. Car insurance, we have to carry liability but do not have to carry collision etc. On home insurance I had to pay extra for earthquake and flood. Health insurance should not make you pay for something you will never ever use. They are dealing with gay marriages at the moment but this article is not about that except for the fact why should this group of people pay a dime for birth control or abortions. There is not as much chance as a snowball in hell of them ever having to use it. Us really old people can barely pay for our puffers to help us breath. Some of these are over $100.00. They have clauses tucked into the Obamacare that makes us pay sales tax when we sell our home etc. Nothing to do with health insurance. Government should not try to take control of our health, our sex life and our birth control pills. Let insurance company’s compete with each other. We will buy where they offer what we need not what the President tells us to pay for when we don’t want it and cant afford it. They say they don’t punish people for not buying it but give us encouragement to buy it by leveling fines. Let us walk into a clinic, pay the door fee, buy our medicine where we get the best deal and they could fire hundreds of people who are doing nothing but making our lives miserable trying to force insurance down our throats that we don’t want and cant afford. But he still has time to worry about Sandra Fluke.

$50 Light Bulb Won The U.S. Governments Contest

Lets not create a stampede at the doors of Home Depot or where ever this winner is sold. The U.S. Government offered a prize of $10 million dollars to the manufacturer that could create a “green” but affordable light bulb. Speaking only for myself here even if that winning light bulb was green it sure does not sound affordable. Of course the government that offered the 10 million dollar prize took that from taxpayers who they expect to buy the $50.00 bulb. It had one string attached in that it had to be manufactured in America. Home Depot is the largest seller of light bulbs and they didn’t want to call the bulb too expensive but said their customers might jump to that conclusion. By next year we are not supposed to be using incandescent bulbs so unless you hoard up a bunch of 60’s and 75’s you are going to be paying more for your light bulb than you did for the beautiful lamp you bought to use it in. Home Depot offers LED bulbs under the EcoSmart label which is assembled in Mexico for $23.97. Another Phillips LED bulb on sale costs $24.97. It was made in China. Or you can buy the ten million dollar prize winner for $50.00. Am I the only one who thinks that 10 million was totally wasted? Comments please.

How Pioneer Square Has Changed

I was downtown today in my old stomping ground in Pioneer Square.  I used to work in this area for a young start-up.  A few of the companies have left the area but considering the hard times and all most of the ones I visited are still there. Our office was across the street from Safeco Field and it was quite an enjoyable place.  Before that we were in the artist area just a block away I would say.  One thing I really miss is lunch.  There was so many great options.  Usually it was Subway but their used to be a quick little pizza place (sold by the slice) which was convenient.  Inside, they had an upstairs area with some nice windows (looking down on the area) and it was quit.  you could just go up there and get away for an hour.  That place was closed up and I can’t even remember its name.  It was almost across the street from Trinity Nightclub.  To get to Subway, we would walk through the brick park (which still stinks) and is full or the homeless. There used to be a bathroom there but it appears that has now been removed.

Other than that is seems about the same and that is pretty impressive considering the hardship many are facing in many of the cities.

Ambers Bar Belltown Seattle

One of my favorite bars when I’m in Belltown partying is Ambers. The bar is setup to be very social friendly. The crowd is attractive yet sometimes filled with to many dudes. I have noticed a few fights but they are far and few in between. Over the pass few years the management of Ambers introduced a DJ. The music is very loud which pretty much ruined the social vibe of the bar. The bar itself is located in the middle of the establishment. The customers circle/surround the entire bar and there is an upstairs area also. The upstairs does get pretty warm at times depending on how many people are up there. Reserved parties are can be arranged in this area. Another bar is located upstairs so sometimes it’s easier just to make a trip up there to get your drink. Some of the bartenders are rude but out of the entire staff, it’s just a few bad apples. It’s a little surprising they are still there every time I visit so management isn’t reviewing that. I would say the drinks and food are affordable considering the area. It’s average in that regards. Tia Lous, for all your dancing needs, is located next door but does have a cover charge. There is no charge for Ambers and rarely a line which is nice.
The security team is respectful at closing which I appreciate. The other bars security in the area can be extremely rude (swearing at everyone to get out).

Ambers is located at: 2214 1st Ave Seattle, WA 98121.
Yelp reviewers have described this bar as 2.5 (average). I would rate is higher for quality, being social, and location.

Mitt Romney’s Election Attempt 2012

As Mitt Romney continues to rise over the competition with his recent win of both Arizona and Michigan, one has to think will it be enough?  In this election, I personally want to see more of a dramatic change to just the basic principles and way less government in my life.  The only candidate who will provide that is Mr. Ron Paul.  Unfortunately, the public isn’t ready for that yet, I guess.  Perhaps another 4 or 8 years and they’ll be ready to see the light.  As I said in previous posts, the force is strong with Mitt Romney.  His branding is strong enough to convince people to throw votes his way.  He gets the most spotlight out of all the candidates and that combined with Super Pacs/cash I truly believe he’ll get the nomination and eventually take the White House.  Right or wrong, we will see shortly.

Newt Gingrich is about done at this point, finishing 4th overall yesterday.  He should be stepping down soon.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens shortly after March 6th after Super Tuesday (10 states voting).  However, he may do it sooner to save himself from the embarrassment and keep his followers.  Newt Gingrich may take 1 out of the 10 states, his home state of Georgia.  Once there is a clearer picture of who is leading the pack, Newt will quickly endorse them and get reimbursed for his failed campaign.  Ron Paul will hang on longer only to get his message out more.  I believe the public realizes (including myself) he doesn’t have much of a shot but his message is what’s important at this point.

I have been seeing more and more Obama ads on the Internet (YouTube for example).  Like his last election, he will make a strong push for the younger crowd and continue to use the Internet better than anyone else.  He has done well at capturing that audience with him being a social media fan using Twitter.  I’m not confident he’ll have the same younger support this time around though.  I believe the hope and change promised (and over-delivered in his speeches) wasn’t delivered as promised during his presidency.  I’m sure many would disagree with that, though.

Looking forward to Super Tuesday’s 10 states results soon.

Candidates on the debate stage

Update: In the 2012 U.S. presidential election, Mitt Romney was the Republican Party’s nominee running against the incumbent President, Democrat Barack Obama. While Romney won a number of states and received substantial support, he ultimately lost the election to Obama.

In the Electoral College, which is the system used to determine the winner of U.S. presidential elections, Barack Obama secured 332 electoral votes to Romney’s 206. In terms of the popular vote, Obama received around 51% (about 65.9 million votes), while Romney garnered approximately 47% (about 60.9 million votes).

After the election, Mitt Romney congratulated President Obama on his victory and called for political unity to address the challenges facing the nation.

You might be interested in

Photo Of The Obamacare Law. That is a lot of pages!

Obamacare Information

Starting in 2014, Obamacare is a requirement of every American citizen.  Some individuals will get Obamacare through their jobs and

Senator Maria Cantwell

Senator Maria Cantwell

I recently wrote to our Senator Maria Cantwell regarding raising the debt ceiling and the nations over spending habits.  Here is

Arsonist Arrested For Fire At 6710 Corson Ave. Georgetown

The SPD Blotter has reported that the Arsonist for the fire at 6710 Corson Ave. in Georgetown has been arrested. I thought the report should be copied and pasted verbatim, but now want to add my spin to the on going saga with some pictures.  The previous article about the Arson fire was posted the morning after the fire and at that time all the officials that were talking to us all gave me the impression that the building would be torn down. I was standing talking to the owner Allen Hua at the time and I think he thought it was going to have to be bulldozed. They had not let him in to look at it yet. That was then and this is now. I am posting 3 pictures taken 2/16/12. If you look at all three you can see the entire top floor was on fire. The flames were shooting out of the windows until the fireman could get the people off the roof and cut holes in the roof so the fire could go straight up. If you look at the white light in the first picture you can see daylight through a hole in the roof.  The night of the fire I could stand on my balcony (I was very close to the fire and could see the fireman going to the roof from inside). That being the case it had to burn the ceilings all out and I am sure it could not have missed doing damage to the studs or beams or whatever holds a roof up. Partitions are all burned. One fireman told me the entire top floor would have to be torn off at the very least but said he was not a building inspector. That is not happening now it seems.

The place has been nothing but a hot bed of trouble for years. Drug sales, prostitution, fights, and all of us neighbors get to listen to the most filthy talk. It appears the owner is going to just be able to cobble it together, cover the burned stuff with plywood. His last fight with the city at another slumlord complex (he owns 6) he fought on the fact that they were discriminating against a poor Chinese farmer. He lives in a million dollar home in Issaquah and keeps these dumps open because he will rent to people who do not dare fill out a credit check or prove anything. I read where he makes approx $195,000 a year on these so called “low rent” places. We neighbors have no recourse, police, fire department, everyone is aware of the problems at 6710 Corson but do absolutely nothing to correct the situation. I would think after a certain amount of drug over doses, people sitting on the curb hand cuffed, the place would be boarded up. I have had to have bars put on my windows and have always been expecting the place to burn up. You can’t have 11 (single occupancy rooms) with several buddies (visiting) 24/7 doing drugs, fighting, drinking and not expect something bad to happen. One time I thought one guy was going to kill another one (yelling that he was). I called 911 and they arrested the fellow. I ended up with a subpoena to come to court. Wasted a whole day. I got paid $10.00 before taxes and neither guy even showed up.

I do not know how to end the cycle there but felt I should put it in the paper for Independent Thinkers and hope some of  you will get to thinking and leave comments below. LLL

You might be interested in

Arson Fire in Georgetown

During the night of Jan. 22 and morning of Jan 23 there was a huge apartment house fire at 6710 Corson Ave. This fire was ARSON. It is a three story building and the entire top floor was engulfed in flames. This happened right between wind storms or the house right beside it would be gone too. At least 8 people lost their homes and everything they owned. No one got killed. The tenants were lined up across the street for a few hours with nothing but what they had on their backs when they escaped. Approx 3 hours later a red cross car arrived and handed out blankets. Another couple hours later a red cross van came and took them all away.  A photographer took pictures of that so it was basically a Red Cross photo op.

This apartment house has been a hot bed of trouble. It might be what you call low low income people but I want to expand on that a little. These were housekeeping rooms and I believe there were 2 apartments that had their own bath, so there was a lot of people that had to go down the hall and share a bathtub on the main floor or go to the basement or upstairs to share a shower. Lots of street people or people who would park an old motor home on a side street would come and use the facilities. It was impossible to know how many or who really lived there. The police and fireman came at least once a month for drug busts, or over doses or fights, you name it and it happened over there. This was an accident waiting to happen. Why I wanted to expand on low income it appeared to be non working people who paid HIGH RENT because this was a place where the landlord did not do a background check. He got paid double what the room was worth and if you didn’t like it you couldn’t just move because half didn’t even use their right name. One would rent a room and a few buddies moved in. The place should have been closed down years ago but somehow managed to exist. Fights where yelling was I am going to kill you etc. over and over and over. Until the 23rd.

Fireman, detectives, a tenant that lived there, and the owner of the building all have told me it was ARSON. Right on the start they said it was. I am not sure how they could tell immediately but that seemed to be obvious to them all. There have been several versions which is common to any story. But when I asked one fireman if he thought a firebug was loose and we neighbors were in danger he said he didn’t think so. He said this fire was set to hurt or kill someone on the top floor. It was set in the doorway at the top of the back stairs. A fire bug that wants to watch a fire would usually just torch something at the ground level and make a fast get away. Also, a tenant said just before the fire there was a loud explosion which woke them and they all escaped because of that. Of course the detectives, fireman or police are not going to tell any of us neighbors the details and we know that but none the less this was a BIG BIG STORY. That being the case why was it not on the front page of the Times? Why was it not on every TV channel as a leading Seattle news story? KIRO and KOMO had about a 2 second spot of the red cross handing out blankets. No story about how big the fire was, no story about ARSON.  How can that be. It is scary to think you are actually getting the news when you read the only paper in town or watch the local news. If a story this big and important wasn’t mentioned how many other really important things are they NOT telling us. My point completely is we are only told what officials want us to be told.  That is very scary. I am going to try to find out from the times why they did not even mention it at all. Hope all of you readers do too. I am sure you can check with the fire department to know my story is true. At least 3 blocks of Corson Ave was full of fire trucks, medics, etc. LLL

 

You might be interested in

Seattle Snow Storm On The Way

If you watch the news, you obviously know a big snow storm is on the way.  It is predicted to slam Seattle late tonight and tomorrow.  In the event this storm drops more than 7 inches in a 24hr period it could be one of the top 10 storms of all time for the city of Seattle.  Forecasters are predicting 5-10 inches approximately. In Puyallup, Washington (south of Seattle) I know they are sitting on about 1.5 inches currently.  In the event of 9 inches of snow it would be the most in dropped in 27 years.

Facts:

  • The most snow fall in a 24hr period for Seattle was Jan 31st 1916.  Amazingly 21.5 inches fell.
  • In 1985 – 8 inches of snow fell on Seattle Washington.
  • A snow and ice storm in 1996 shut down the city’s Metro for the first time in its history.

You might be interested in

Mayor Mike McGinn’s Secret NBA Arena Contract

Taxpayer’s get ready to be jumping though the hoops again paying fees, taxes, fines, levy’s or whatever else the city might decide they want to take away from you to build a new Basketball Arena. We lost the Sonics because we the people would not pay for another stadium for them. Of course we the people voted against the other two stadiums but they got built anyway. I thought we had made it clear that we were not interested in building a bunch of millionaires a sports facility so a bunch of millionaire players could earn them some more money. Tickets are out of reach of the ordinary person.

When Mayor McGinn talks about the city slashing, cutting, laying off police and fireman and no money to fix streets. No money for the homeless. Man he says the city is broke. What most of us don’t know about is the fund he has that allows him to spend up to $250,000 without even telling the city council what he is spending it on. To the city that is just pennies, but it had to be taken away from workers to create that fund. In secret he has had a contract with Carl Hersh, a sports- facility consultant. He has been paying him $19,500 a month since July. The Mayor says he is examining the “opportunity” to bring an NBA Team to Seattle. He didn’t even bother to tell the city Council about this. Something is really wrong here.

There was an opportunity to keep the Sonics here but we could not afford to build a playpen for Bennett so he took the team to Oklahoma. The economy has not improved. We can’t afford a stadium anymore now than when Bennett said Key Arena was not good enough but the Mayor is blowing almost $20,000 on this consultant. This is the same consultant that worked for Howard Schultz on how to make the Key Arena profitable. Maybe we need Dr Phil to ask the Mayor, “hows that workin’ for ya”. We were still paying on the mortgage on of king dome when they blew it up to build a bigger, better more expensive arena THAT THE VOTERS VOTED DOWN.

Let the investors hire their consultant, let the investors buy up property, then let the investors apply for permits, pay for everything including the building. Then let them pay their taxes and the city might make some money but not if we are in the business of buildings stadiums and then being made hostage by the millionaires that bought the team wanting more remodeling, more luxury seats. Let all of that be THEIR problem. Not the taxpayers problem. How many more secret things are we paying for that never see the light of day. Why is this such a secret. Is the Mayor wheeling and dealing and by the time we hear about it and say we don’t want it he can say the contracts are signed, we cant back out now like the stupid tunnel that we cant afford. I say whoa nellie. Stop spending money on consultants and lawyers looking at the initiative that taxpayers signed that says the city has to make money from the stadiums. Let the millionaire players build their stadium like the millionaires have to build their own swimming pools etc. No taxpayer money should be used, especially while the Mayor is talking about how broke the city is. Shame on him. If he thought the people would be excited over it why keep it a secret?

You might be interested in

1 … 43 44 45 46 47 … 57
Go to Top