One-Stop Shopping

Belltown's 13-year-old record store Wall of Sound and its Second Avenue neighbor, indie zine- and bookseller Confounded Books & Hypno Video, got word a few weeks ago that their rents were shooting up 44 percent. "We went looking [for a new space] almost immediately," Wall of Sound co-owner Michael Ohlenroth says.

Fortunately, they found one--and it's big enough for both businesses. On Thursday, May 1, Confounded Books and Wall of Sound will open on Capitol Hill's Pine Street, at Bellevue Avenue. The businesses will split the space and maintain their separate operations, in what's sure to be the coolest addition to Pine Street since Double Trouble opened. AMY JENNIGES


Olympia Budget

Word out of Olympia is that an amended form of senate Republicans' no-new-taxes budget is likely to pass out of the majority Democratic state house as a handful of dissident Dems defect to vote with house Republicans in defiance of the house Democratic leaders. Two 33rd District house Dems, Dave Upthegrove and Shay Schual-Berke, for example, angry that the house leadership did not squelch a pro-third-runway bill, have publicly stated that they will probably buck the house leadership, and now it seems that several conservative Democrats may join them in supporting the Republican senate plan. SANDEEP KAUSHIK


Gas Works Gripe

In the last few weeks, Gas Works Park neighbors have gotten word that the city plans to ax dozens of trees as part of creating a Gas Works "connection" to South Wallingford. "I just heard about it, and sent an e-mail far and wide to let [other people] know," says Katherine Bragdon, who lives near Gas Works in a houseboat. Over 200 people responded to the e-mail campaign, which prompted the parks department to meet with a few neighbors on April 18 to talk trees.

"A number of people are not excited about the parks department removing any trees," project manager Tim Motzer says. "We'll be passing that on to [the landscape architects]." The department is scheduling a public meeting for mid-May, before the designs are finalized. AMY JENNIGES


Sorry, Heidi

Add another contender to the list of "lady-killers"--the pack of challengers targeting incumbent City Council Member Judy Nicastro or Heidi Wills. While Nicastro has drawn the lion's share of the challengers, Wills is the target of the latest hopeful, Christal Wood. Wood, 34, is the unrepentant Nader lefty who made a maverick run for mayor--or "mayoress," as she called it--in 2001. Wood has little hope of winning, but she'll be a pain in Wills' ass. JOSH FEIT