Microsoft, Meet Your Maker

Just because pro-business Republican President George W. Bush appointed the new antitrust enforcer at the U.S. Department of Justice doesn't mean Microsoft should get comfortable. According to an exclusive August 13 interview in Business Week, Bush's guy, Charles A. James, agrees with many of the Clinton antitrust efforts against Microsoft.

Surprising many in the Bush administration, James hired Philip R. Malone, one of the first Clinton lawyers to advocate suing Microsoft. More important, James seems to get it himself. With an eye on Windows XP, James told Business Week, "The standard formulation on remedy is that it ought to cure past violations and prevent their recurrence. That's what antitrust is all about." PAT KEARNEY

Ticked Tenants

Residents of 21 units at the Seattle Housing Authority's Yesler Terrace public housing complex on the south end of Broadway must move within the year to make way for a new community center. At an August 3 meeting, the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) told tenants that they were eligible for moving assistance--$750 for one-bedroom units and up to $1,200 for four bedrooms.

Usually, low-income tenants are eligible for $2,000 in relocation assistance. However, apartments owned by the SHA are exempt. AMY JENNIGES

Bummed Incumbents

Two political challengers got boosts last week from the 46th District Democrats. King County Council Member and mayoral hopeful Greg Nickels scored the key northeast Seattle endorsement with a whopping 36 votes out of 44. Incumbent Mayor Paul Schell got zero votes, while City Attorney and mayor wannabe Mark Sidran--who was supposed to have blue-collar Dem support in the north neighborhoods--got just three votes. Five folks voted to endorse no one.

Meanwhile, city council hopeful Curt Firestone split the 46th District vote with incumbent Jan Drago. Neither candidate got the nod.

"It is infrequent that an eight-year incumbent does not get the endorsement of her own political party against a challenger from within the party," Firestone boasts. JOSH FEIT

Blade Runner Blimp

Last Saturday, at around 8:00 p.m., Seattleites witnessed a reenactment of the opening scene from the sci-fi epic Blade Runner. There, up in the night sky, maneuvering around downtown skyscrapers, was a blimp with a giant television screen projecting bright, colorful advertisements for all to see. The blimp, owned by Goodyear, was in town for Seafair. PAT KEARNEY