As Hans Blix amped Bush's war cries with a damning January 27 report, Seattle's antiwar movement let everyone know the doves were alive and well.
While Blix's report of Iraq's evasion made Monday's 5:00 p.m. news, peace groups all over Seattle staged antiwar protests. The North Seattle contingent of Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW) made showings at rush-hour intersections like Greenwood and 105th.
On Capitol Hill, about 40 lively protesters waved the ubiquitous "No Iraq War" signs to the approving din of honking commuters. Another 200 peaceniks gathered downtown. MAURICE KING
Getting Centered
One question that went undecided after the bitter monorail election last fall--a question that monorail naysayers predicted would be the first public stumbling block of the new monorail agency--was the route at Seattle Center. Should the Green Line train go through Seattle Center or around Seattle Center?
The answer to that question is worth about $7 million in savings to the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority (SPMA) and about a half-minute quicker trip for commuters if the line runs through the Center. Well, the debate appeared on the way to resolution after the SPMA Seattle Center community meeting on January 28. Seattle Center officials, who had formerly raised serious concerns about a through-route, surprised monorail folks on the day of the meeting by offering up a proposal to, well, run the monorail through the campus.
This was probably a great relief to the SPMA, whose staffers had already advised director Joel Horn that running through the Center was the preferred option. JOSH FEIT
Why I Hate Seattle Part 1
Tampa Bay and Oakland weren't the only rivals at the Super Bowl in San Diego last weekend. Monorail leader Joel Horn and Sound Transit leader Ron Sims (along with their kids) went to the game together, after mutual friend Nate Miles offered up his extra tickets.
Sims and Horn, who spent the better part of last fall working against one another during the monorail election, got along just fine, and even shared a ride to the game on San Diego's light-rail system. How sweet. JOSH FEIT
Why I Hate Seattle Part 2
After spending the day talking about how it wasn't going to roll over and play dead for the mayor anymore, the Seattle City Council returned home from its January 23 retreat and promptly (unanimously, even) approved Mayor Greg Nickels' nominee for director of the Seattle Office of Housing--despite the strong reservations some council members had expressed behind the scenes. JOSH FEIT
