Thankfully, City Council Member Margaret Pageler failed to scare up enough votes to strip the most important section (Section 4) out of Nick Licata and Peter Steinbrueck's excellent resolution regarding Seattle Center's McCaw Hall.

Sure, it's cool that Licata and Steinbrueck's resolution holds McCaw Hall tenants--the opera and the ballet--responsible for the $28 million loan needed to cover a gap in 1999's opera house levy. But most important was Section 4, which tries to prevent bailouts on the public dime such as this from happening in the future.

The key section states: The "city does not want to be put in the position" of having to "commit significant unplanned City resources to complete major capital projects" when other fundraising sources fall behind schedule. The resolution calls on the department of finance to come up with a strategy to that end.

"We never expected to be making a $28 million loan," Licata says. "And we don't want to be in that position again." Licata withstood Pageler's assault on his smart provision with a 5-4 majority over Pageler's allies: Jan Drago, Jim Compton, Jan Drago, and Richard Conlin. JOSH FEIT

Seattle Central Computer Bug

Graphic-design students at Seattle Central Community College, hailed as "College of the Year" by Time last year, say the school's computer labs sure don't deserve any accolades.

Ever since SCCC upgraded its operating system this year, students--who pay a $29.25 computer-lab fee, plus up to $30 in other technology fees per quarter--have struggled to open design programs during class. "The computers crash as soon as we do anything," one design student says. "There's two weeks left in the quarter, and we haven't learned anything." A few of the 51 graphic-design students met with the college's president to complain three weeks ago.

"IT Services has been working on this on an ongoing basis since the beginning of the quarter," says SCCC Communications Director Danny Howe. AMY JENNIGES

Bugging Out

Seattle monthly Tekbug, billed as a "tech-savvy lifestyle magazine" when it began publishing about a year ago, has announced that the December issue will be its last. The 32-page finale touts a "high-tech holiday gift guide."

The publication set out to chase a young, affluent, tech-friendly "new rich" audience just as the dot-com boom imploded.

Many of the publication's columns will move to Computer Source Magazine, which has the same owner. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

Licensed to Kill

While the Sound Transit board delayed making a decision on whether to sue I-776 out of existence at its meeting last week--the initiative would prevent Sound Transit from collecting the critical motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) that funds light rail--it looks like taking I-776 to court is the beleaguered agency's only hope.

According to a chain of letters (obtained by The Stranger) exchanged this fall between Sound Transit, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL), Sound Transit's hope that the DOL is mandated to collect the tax regardless of I-776 appears to be wishful thinking at best.

The series of letters began with a stern September 4 inquiry from the FTA to Sound Transit that put federal support for light rail on ice, pointedly stating: "FTA has become aware of proposed initiative measures that may affect... the local option taxes that provide funding for Sound Transit. It would be helpful... if we receive representations from the State as to their intent to continue to collect your MVET in the event that... these initiatives were passed." (And boy, did I-776 ever pass!)

A panicky Sound Transit quickly shot a September 10 letter to the DOL, pushing the licensing department to reaffirm their intent to collect the MVET despite I-776. Unfortunately for Sound Transit, the DOL wasn't exactly cooperative. Rather than reaffirming the department's commitment to the tax, the DOL's director, Fred Stephens, referred to possible court rulings and passed the buck back to Sound Transit.

A September 20 letter from Stephens states: "My understanding is that Sound Transit would be the party responsible for any claims that arise alleging lack of authority to continue to collect the MVET on behalf of Sound Transit." JOSH FEIT

Naked Display

Patrons at Linda's Tavern on Capitol Hill got an eyeful on Saturday night, when a naked man came running down Pine Street toward the bar. A friend of the man's tried to keep up, asking passersby if they had seen his naked buddy, who was "shrooming." The naked guy--a tall, skinny fellow in his early 20s--was smiling and being silly, and was let into Linda's through a side entrance. Patrons say the nudist was humping the window.

"Of course it's illegal to have no clothes on in a bar," says Christopher, a manager at Linda's who witnessed the incident. "But a customer thought it was funny and let him in. My server and door guy came up to get him to leave."

A few minutes after the naked man was escorted out of the bar, witnesses say the cops showed up, sprayed the nudist with mace, and pinned him to the ground. He struggled, and the cops apparently fought back. "They punched the shit out of him and banged his head against the wall," one customer said. By then, about a dozen police cars and two ambulances had arrived, completely blocking Pine Street, while crowds of Saturday-night bar-goers stopped to see what was going on. Linda's patrons, who had pressed against the windows to get a better view, were upset about the cops' reportedly harsh arrest. "It did look like the cops were using excessive force, but he lunged at them," Christopher says. AMY JENNIGES

Garfield High-Jinx

A juvenile hoax, or a major crisis? Seattle police took no chances when someone who sounded "like a teenage kid" called 911 just before noon on Tuesday, November 26, claiming he was a Garfield High School student, and saying he had an assault rifle and intended to kill people.

SWAT team officers set up a perimeter, put the school under partial lockdown, and began a search for the culprit. Classes continued, however, as officers found nothing to confirm the threat. The students were eventually sent home about five minutes late after cops secured the school. As of press time, police had not located the caller. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

Garbage Rebellion

Residents of the Olive Crest, an apartment building at the corner of East Olive Way and East Denny Way on Capitol Hill, had planned a smelly protest for the evening of Tuesday, November 26. Ryan Murphy, a tenant for three years, was organizing a mass garbage dump outside the building because residents didn't have access to dumpsters.

Olive Crest tenants used to share garbage facilities with a neighboring building, but that building's owner installed a locked gate on November 18. "I've got garbage piling up in my apartment," Murphy said before the protest--five bags worth.

Luckily, the Olive Crest's management, Ballard Realty, stepped in before Denny Way became a landfill. A Ballard Realty rep said the gate and lock was a mix-up, and Olive Crest residents would get keys in a day or so. AMY JENNIGES