Geniuses of the Week

The major question of election year 1999 was whether Tim Eyman is incredibly arrogant or just incredibly stupid. That issue resolved (he's really both), the same thing should be asked about his volunteers.

Eyman activists were out in force last week, trying to get signatures for Eyman's latest pro-SUV initiative: I-745, which would require 90 percent of public transportation funds to be spent only on roads. Four of these volunteers were seen working a mere 20 feet from Union Station, the headquarters for Sound Transit and the site of a major bus tunnel entrance.

Who knows? Maybe the Eyman movement is counting on all those people who use the bus whenever their Jaguars get nicked from one of those vicious Mercer Island potholes. ALLIE HOLLY-GOTTLIEB


Order in the Court

Seattle Municipal Court Judge George Holifield had a defendant in his courtroom bound and gagged during a June 6 hearing. Asked if that was appropriate, Holifield spoke through an assistant to decline comment. Nothing can be said now because the defendant's case is ongoing, the assistant said.

More information on this issue--such as the defendant's name and exactly why he was bound and gagged--will be reported when it becomes available. PHIL CAMPBELL


And Now, the Bad News

Despite being ranked number one by the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) for having the fewest legal barriers to abortion services last year, Washington state is still on NARAL's shit list. A new study by the group shows that poor women and those living in rural Washington are frequently cut off from said services. ALLIE HOLLY-GOTTLIEB


Yuppie Report

The Rendezvous--a lovable Belltown dive starring surly bartenders and killer hooch--is running into a sad but typical fate in Seattle dot-com. The bar may be run out, because the land underneath is worth more than the business on top. The building housing the Rendezvous was recently sold, and the new owner has renovation plans that may not include renewing the bar's lease, which expires in October 2001.

Most Rendevous employees have worked at the bar for more than a decade, and the regulars seem like they've been sitting at the same bar stool for just as long. News of the bar's potential doom, however, came quickly. "It just happened out of the blue," says Rendezvous co-owner Wayne Schwartzkopf. "I didn't see it coming." ALLIE HOLLY-GOTTLIEB