A Christmas card masquerading as a holiday note from Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen and his pet columnist Nicole Brodeur casts the duo as members of the "Scab Journalist Association." The card, mailed anonymously to folks including Brodeur, highlights lingering bitterness about well-paid Brodeur's decision to side with Blethen and cross the picket line during the holiday-season strike two years ago. NANCY DREW

'Yes for Seattle' Falls Short

A whopping 32 percent of the signatures supporting I-80, a creeks restoration initiative, were judged invalid by the county last week. I-80 sponsor Yes for Seattle fell about 1,100 signatures shy of the 17,000 needed to make next year's ballot. (The group has until January 14 to make up the difference.)

Last week, Yes for Seattle told the Seattle Times this was "no big deal." But it is a big deal; it demonstrates that the group isn't the grassroots force it claims to be.

Frankly, it was no surprise the I-80 camp turned in thousands of invalid signatures and fell short of such a manageable goal. Yes for Seattle's signature-gathering method--leaving wooden easels with blank petitions around town for folks to sign--is bad organizing. Without volunteers out on the street collecting signatures and generating support, the lonely easels stand as a metaphor for an uninspired campaign that doesn't take itself seriously. Sure, I-80 is grassroots and can't afford paid signature gatherers--but if it's truly a populist cause, there should be volunteers itching to hit the streets.

The campaign's blasé response--"it's no big deal"--reinforces the notion that Yes for Seattle isn't a big deal. JOSH FEIT

Fisher Price

Fisher Communications, the financially strapped Seattle television and radio company, is on the block. Owner of coveted ABC affiliates in Seattle and Portland, Fisher is generating bids from the biggest names in media. Disney, Gannett, and Viacom have entered bids, sources say, along with an unnamed "private equity firm."

Speculation about the latter has focused on Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc., but a Vulcan spokesperson denies interest. Another suspect is Hearst-Argyle Television--66 percent owned by the Hearst Corporation, proprietors of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst has made no secret of its desire to own television stations and newspapers in the same markets. SANDEEP KAUSHIK

South End Endings

The end of the year spelled the end for two South Seattle businesses. Rainier Beach's teen center Best Seafood and Teriyaki closed in November. In Columbia City, ritzy restaurant Salumeria closed last week. AMY JENNIGES