PINEHURST The city council's Urban Development and Planning Committee met November 28, after The Stranger went to press, to discuss whether Safeway should be allowed a rezone in North Seattle, which would allow them to build a new "green" store. "The entire store needs to be leveled and rebuilt," says North District Council cochair Renee Staton, who's been a liaison between the city, the neighborhood, and Safeway for the last two years. Staton says the neighborhood is excited about the possible expansion of the store, which would be designed to reclaim heat from the store's refrigeration systems, use local materials for construction, and possibly use nonpermeable materials for the sidewalks and parking lots. So far, the city has been supportive. "We really feel like we've been listened to," Staton says.

SOUTH SEATTLE A California judge's decision to uphold public funding of a Laguna Beach labor center may be a precedent-setting roadblock for South Seattle residents who opposed plans to relocate CASA Latina. In September, right-wing group Judicial Watch—who's provided legal support to groups who opposed labor centers—stepped into the mediation process, at the behest of a few neighbors, which drew the ire of the city attorney's office and neighborhood activists. A Judicial Watch spokesman told The Stranger they're still considering suing the city for funding CASA Latina.