Multiple shots were fired near a news conference that Mayor Katie Wilson held last night at Yesler Community Center to announce her plan to offer free breakfast and lunch to all Seattle Public School students, and expand free and low-cost childcare programs in the city. Seattle Times reports that police are presently “looking for three to four people in a dark sedan.” SPD told The Stranger that currently, they have no reason to think the mayor was targeted in the shooting. No injuries have been reported and the Mayor, who was rushed from the press conference, is safe and sound.
Greenwood’s Taproot Theater needs to raise $400,000 to fully repair its HVAC system, a part of which was damaged by copper thieves. If successful, the campaign, called “Together with Taproot,” will “facilitate a comprehensive overhaul of its Jewell Mainstage HVAC system.” If not, the theater, which is presently celebrating its 50th anniversary and is no stranger to hard times, will have to postpone their upcoming shows.
On Sunday, Raymond Kempe, an old friend and bartender at Clock-Out Lounge, told me that Cliff VanHorn, a cashier and institution at Hilltop Red Apple, recently died from an infection. The news came as a complete shock because I had seen Cliff at the grocer, where he worked as an evening cashier, a few days before and he seemed fine, seemed to be the same Cliff I’d known since the late 90s, when he worked at Capitol Hill Red Apple Market (it closed in 1998). He also once worked at the much missed Promenade Red Apple (it closed in 2017).
Cliff, who cut a figure that was immediately striking (particularly his long and straight hair, which gave him, in my mind, the appearance of a rock star from back in the day), was one of those few people around town who, by the originality or force of their personality or appearance, becomes a living local institution. Seeing Cliff meant, for me and others, the world was in order. You could always depend on, anchor your easily lost urban soul to, his face, bearing, voice, and manner of walking, which was always swift and purposeful. Villages need preachers; cities need Cliffs. How can you not be alive anymore?
On Tuesday, the general manager of Hilltop Red Apple Market, Dean Hasegawa, sent me this statement: “Cliff VanHorne a cherished colleague at Hilltop Red Apple, passed away at the age of 64. For over 23 years, Cliff was a backbone of our Grocery team, known for this unwavering dedication, sharp intellect, and friendly demeanor. We will remember Cliff not just for his professional achievements but for his willingness to mentor others. Cliff brought humanity to the workplace, sharing his love of baseball and football. As a Mariners enthusiast and die-hard Seahawks [fan], he shared his love of the game with anyone who would listen.”
At this moment, 5:58 a.m., the sky is mostly clear and the sun is quietly rising behind some distant clouds. Expect a high of 66 today. Also expect to see swallows in a part of Genesee Park and Playfield that’s next to the lake. I always find them there around this time; those marvelously swift little birds eating insects that are here and there in the spring-warm air. All of this brings to mind a little known fact: The people of medieval times actually thought that swallows hibernated in ponds. We sure have come a long way, baby.
One reason why the bird count in Seattle parks dropped a stunning 21 percent over the past 19 years? Because humans were dumb enough to destroy cliff swallow nests on “Building 27 in Magnuson Park.” The result? The whole colony crashed. This, sadly, wasn’t the only avian catastrophe in a detailed report by Birds Connect Seattle. Maybe we haven’t come such a long way after all.
King Donnie plans to put his image in US passports. This has something or other to do with the 250th anniversary of God’s greatest freedom, which is, of course, American freedom. Yes, it just never ends. The ballroom, the pool at the Lincoln Memorial, the 250-foot arch, the Kennedy Center, the gold coins, and so on, and so on. What was once an existential crisis for a whiteness that felt besieged by the growing number of people of other colors is now concentrated in just one old white man.
Yesterday, King Charles basically told Congress that democracy is good and kings are bad. We live in a time that’s on the other side of a funhouse mirror.
We will end AM with an 80s tune, Paul Young’s cover of Hall & Oates “Everytime You Go Away,” I heard at a small and old bar in Lake City, the Back Door Pub. I visited this fine establishment on Monday because a Hilltop Red Apple employee informed me that an impromptu memorial for Cliff VanHorn was held there on April 12. Now, the surprising thing is this: in all the years I knew Cliff, I never once encountered him outside of the grocery environment. Did he have a life after work? Of course he did. He was a regular at this pub, and he had a favorite seat at the end of the bar. Cliff would enter the Back Door after a shift, order a beer, talk about the Mariners or Seahawks with the bartender and other regulars, play a Megatouch video game, and, once done, head home. This was his routine for nearly a decade. After I was shown Cliff’s empty seat, I ordered something to drink, and, as I proceeded to a table next to a large TV screen, became aware of the tune that was pleasantly filling the bar. Indeed: “Every time you go away, you take a little piece of me with you.”
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this Slog AM roundup said that Taproot would have to permanently close its doors if they couldn’t raise $400,000. They would not. They would have to postpone their current programming.
