Local NAACP Speaks Out

On April 16, James Bible, president of the Seattle chapter of the NAACP, stood in front of a bank of microphones and television cameras at City Hall to chastise the Seattle Police Department for "misconduct, racial profiling, and a separate system of justice." Capitalizing on the recent controversial arrest of Rajnii Eddins, an after-school drama instructor at Rainier Beach High School ["Teaching While Black," Brendan Kiley, April 12], Bible called attention to two other African-American Seattleites who have had their lives "disrupted by the police department."

Michael Brooks was arrested for an assault and attempted rape on Capitol Hill before he was released 72 hours later without charges, and Anjonet Hill was allegedly hit by an officer in Pioneer Square, dislocating her jaw, while she was attempting to break up an argument between her friends, according to Bible. She was, Bible says, also "patted down in an inappropriate way by all male officers."

The Seattle Police Department would not comment since the accusations are being investigated. JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE

Nightlife Legislation

City Council Member Sally Clark seemed likely to preserve at least some of the mayor's nightlife license legislation last week, after a meeting with City Attorney Tom Carr, liquor board and law enforcement representatives, and neighborhood activists convinced her some sort of new regulation was necessary to keep clubs in line.

"We need some leverage to make the existing rules work," Clark said after the meeting, which erupted briefly when Richard McIver demanded to know whether the owners of now-defunct black clubs like Chocolate City—one of several black clubs targeted as "problems" by the city—had been involved in the process of drafting the legislation. "The victims [of club shootings] were African American," Carr protested. "We are protecting that community."

Regardless, not one member of the mayor's nightlife task force was African American. ERICA C. BARNETT

Sonics

For the third year in a row, the Seattle SuperSonics/Storm failed to convince the state to sign off on legislation subsidizing a new arena. With less than a week left in the session, the Democratic house caucus did a vote count on April 16 and didn't find enough support for the subsidy.

Go figure. Last two times, the owners were seeking about $250 million to renovate KeyArena—which had been revamped by the city just 10 years ago and which the public is still paying off. Here's a bright idea: Ask for more money. Indeed, this time, brand-new, anti-gay owners from Oklahoma, who bought the team for $350 million last summer, wanted taxpayers to subsidize a new $500 million arena. What were they thinking? NANCY DREW