Seattle Daily Photo

This dog treat was given to me by what I assumed was a Belltown police officer walking down the street on a busy Saturday evening. My dog and I had to look twice because the officer was on foot, unaccompanied by the usual backup officer, and didn’t appear to be sporting 20 lbs. of dangerous weaponry. It was a very heartening encounter. Upon closer inspection it turns out this fellow was just an off duty security officer for a condo building who deals with a lot of dogs.

Culture clash. Downtown commuters find themselves trapped near Lenora as police and emergency vehicles block off the area. Today a shooter wounded 3 women inside a downtown building near the Moore Theatre. You may chalk it up to the area’s ongoing trend of violent and bizarre behavior (see July 4th post). But additionally, there are troubling rumors that federal funding has been cut for mental patient programs in the area. The same for disadvantaged housing programs.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Check local police statistics on violent crime in your area. You may be shocked. No neighborhood counsel meeting can alter the fact that the police department is quite overextended in Seattle. No officer is around long enough to know the people and the neighborhood they work for. Unfortunately it cripples the intent that the police force should be part and parcel, an extension, of the neighborhood they serve. So when local police call annually asking households for donations and funding they shouldn’t be surprised at the apparent lack of charity.

What brings you to Seattle Center? Is it the Science Fiction Museum, Children’s Museum, or our spectacular fountain that draws you? There are plays, live music, festivals, conferences, drumming circles. We all have history here. Walk around any given day and find half a dozen ways to remember the kid you once were. We always come back. The mayor thinks the Center is due for entrepreneurial development. I can only think this hubristic endeavour would create a fundamental disconnect with the community that lives down here and declares the Center “our jewel, our secret meeting place“.

Bite of Seattle ~ more ads, less food! Have you ever wondered if you are a mere populant bumping about in a world built by the likes of Comcast and Kimberly-Clark? It seems strange that there is a law banning phone solicitation but Comcast has a booth at a local fair which decides whom you should date (picture above).

The Spirit of Seattle is aflame. Argosy Cruise Line found one of its passenger ships in trouble today, culminating in a dramatic helicopter rescue. Several passengers were airlifted while many from a neighboring Argosy boat looked on. Those remaining on board were quickly transferred on to a small Coast Guard skiff. Cause of the smoke is unknown.

Sometimes you stumble across a place that makes you feel like you’ve just been sucker-punched by beauty. Arroyo Park in Bellingham, WA is such a place. A mere mile away developers are divvying up Sammish slope on the edge of Chuckanut drive overlooking the lake. I think I would rather see a tree than a house most any day but here especially. Not a place on earth can compare to that view and those trees. My lungs agree.

Man on a crane protests 4th of July. A ski-masked man climbed a construction crane in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood this afternoon. For unknown purposes the man used a cane to steady himself while he dismantled the American flag from the top of the crane. The man then retreated to the end of the crane with the flag and tied himself down while rescuers ascended. Several times the man was lured in by rescuers but retreated again to the end of the crane. Rescuers finally convinced the man to wear a safety line. Shortly after, the man descended to applause of a few onlookers. Mostly oblivious fireworks spectators filled the streets below hunting for the best vantage point. Clearly the best view is from the crane. You just have to field 3 firetrucks, 2 police cars and the SWAT team first.

Pollution creates the deadliest catch. Our fish are sick. Studies show Puget Sound is one of most polluted bodies of water on the West Coast. We have the proof, but local government’s hands appear tied. Why?

Local fish here are loaded with unhealthy toxins pumped into the sound by waterside manufacturing plants, even untreated waste from a hotel in Vancouver, B.C. Fining polluting factories doesn’t work ~ fines are simply added in to the cost of manufacturing and it doesn’t stop habitual offenders. This is not the kind of seafood consumers are clamouring for: it’s wild, native and toxin-free species. In May of 2006 Alaskan Copper River King salmon reached an all-time high of $36 a pound. Most of these fish are already spoken for before they hit the docks in Alaska. The high price underlines the problem of what’s swimming around in our local waters.

“I just would not go in the Duwamish unless I had to — and then if I fell in, I’d get out as fast as possible,” said Jacques White, staff scientist at the environmental group People for Puget Sound.

The problem is it’s all of us. Urban growth is the single biggest threat. Pollution that washes off streets and lawns and farms, gurgles out of failing septic tanks, or flows untreated from flooded storm drains, is taking its toll.

Pollution studies

• A study by Northwest Environment Watch found levels of toxic flame retardants in milk samples donated by nine Puget Sound women at levels 20 to 40 times higher than levels found in European and Japanese women.
• Washington State Department of Health has issued fourteen regional fish consumption advisories and one statewide fish advisory.
• Recent studies have found high levels of PCBs in Lake Washington salmon and high levels of toxic flame retardants (PBDEs) in Puget Sound salmon and harbor seals.
• Levels of PBDEs in Puget Sound orcas are 2-10 times higher than levels found in whales around the whales.

Because of ramped up “consumer demand” for seafood thanks to published studies of its benefits, the oceans around the world are overfished and in trouble. But where there’s a profit to be had….The current administration is pushing to overturn our 1976 Magnuson Act (banning foreign fish mining) to open up our ailing waters to high volume permitting and commercial fishing practices within 1 mile of oil and gas rigs, without conducting the environmental assessment as required by law. Introducing another species and harvesting them from our polluted waters seems to be an exercise only in pulling a profit. And seemingly at odds with Governor Gregoire’s ambitious Puget Sound Cleanup Plan.

California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia must combine and streamline their water quality control measures. We cannot allow federal government “assistance” that leads to further degradation and depletion of our local resources. We cannot afford to ignore the need for an inter-state coastal cleanup. Local industry depends on clean water. Take action, get involved, and assess carefully what you put down our drains (hair dyes, prescription medications, weed killer, grass fertilizer). It all goes into our native fish.

March of the Safety Cones. Lush growth spurred by warm weather heralds “Street Repair Season” in downtown Seattle. Healthy tree roots are no match for crumbling underground drainpipes. The abrasive additives the city puts into our water to combat mineral build-up from hard water is tough on drain pipes. Backed up pipes are very common here. Homeowners are often unaware of their responsibility to maintain the connection from their house to the water main until it’s too late and water begins emanating from the cracks in pavement in front of their houses.

Ballard Farmer’s Market in full bloom. Once an alternative Seattle neighborhood, Ballard has gone WAY upscale. You can find couture cheese by local Mt. Townsend dairy, honey from bees pollinated in California, fresh seafood ~ though luck eludes those seeking the season’s first Copper River Salmon. Here’s a bit of circular logic: apparently every Copper River salmon harvested is spoken for the minute it hits the boat. Locals never see it. The season’s first catch is the most sought after because it is the freshest. Fisherman will charter private planes for the first catch because it commands the highest prices. Every season the media spin the health benefits of salmon consumption. Every year local waters become more polluted and the salmon population dwindles, commanding higher prices. The french have their truffel trade, the dutch had their tulips. Ballard has…artisan breads and lamb sausage on a stick. Oh, and no salmon.