I don’t know what the details are just yet but I’ve just heard about a zillion sirens and a helicopter go past my window here at work. The real time 911 site tells us that it’s a haz mat situation at 8th & Virginia. No other details at the time but since there are about 20 fire department vehicles and a ton of cops on the scene it’s either some serious caution or something scary. If you’re downtown, try to avoid the area.

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presumably this dog has a real name.

The University of Washington’s football team has yet to win a game this season. Perhaps sensing the shape of things to come, the official Husky mascot (an Alaskan Malamute called Whitepaw’s Arlut Spirit of Gold Dust, a.k.a. “Spirit”) suffered a “shoulder injury” and has avoided leading the team out of the tunnel, wandering the sidelines, feigning interest in the game, and napping under the bench. Maybe his absence is the cause of the team’s ill fortunes or perhaps he simply couldn’t bear bear to spend his sunset years watching a losing team.

Either way, the school was already on the lookout for a replacement to replace Spirit upon his retirement at the end of the season. In parallel with the search to select a new dog, the athletics department has been polling fans to choose its new name. My assumption that the name should reflect the actual dog just shows how little of collegiate mascotry I comprehend.

The field has been narrowed down to three names: Spirit, Sundodger, and Dubs. [gohuskies] Although it’s very “the king is dead, long live the king” / “Snowball Two” I have to say that given the options rechristening this new dog with the old one’s name is the least objectionable.

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On my way into work this morning, about 6:00 AM, a cruiser and a couple of motorcycle units passed my carpool on 1st Avenue at Union, and blocked off traffic between 1st and 2nd. An officer on the scene, R. White, reported that someone had phoned in a bomb threat. A follow up call to the Seattle Police Department’s media line, revealed more information.

At about 5:55 AM, a passing bus driver on 2nd Avenue at Union saw what he believed to be an explosion, and called 911. SPD dispatched units to the scene and discovered a small hole in the structure of a parking garage on Union between 1st and 2nd. The SPD Bomb Squad is currently investigating.

At this time, the SPD believes that the only intent was property damage.

Update 9:15 AM: The latest release from Renee’ Witt of the SPD is that officers have completed their investigation of the possible explosion, and no damage has been found. Apparently the “hole” found this morning was unrelated? Witt specified that the parking garage in question is located at the NE corner of 2nd & Union. The SPD considers the investigation closed.

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Among my happy childhood memories, one of my favorites is the times my brothers and I went clamming with out grandparents out on the ocean shores. (And in Ocean Shores, a town I’ve always liked.) Even though I was never very good at it–how embarassing is it to discover you’ve been outwitted by a clam?–I always enjoyed being out in the fresh air and digging frantically to try and capture the wily Pacific razor clam. It’s been years since I’ve gone but lately I’ve been thinking about going again.

It’s not quite razor clam season yet–the last one closed back in May and the next one won’t open til October or so–but it’s never too early to be prepared. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is hosting a series of public meetings in clamming areas to discuss issues relating to clamming–for the public to provide their input into the program, carefully managed by the state, and for the state to reveal their findings about the razor clam stock assessment for the coast. (It’s looking really good. The WDFW coastal shellfish manager says that the number of harvestable clams has increased on four of five beaches.) If you’d like to attend on of these meetings, check the WDFW site for details on meetings in Long Beach, Westport, Ocean Shores, Fife, and Forks.

If you want to learn more about razor clams and clamming rules, regulations, and how-tos, the WDFW offers this information, too, on their razor clam pages. I highly recommend getting yourself a shovel and a stack of sand and practicing the digging technique they illustrate way in advance of going because while it looks easy enough in theory, it takes a lot of practice in practice to capture yourself some clams. (You can also use a cylindrical can or tube but this takes even more practice to get right and I wouldn’t suggest this for an inexperienced clammer.) Razor clams are totally easy to clean and cook and make a tasty treat, as well.

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The first phase of King County’s ban on trans fats in restaurants went into effect May 1, 2008. The King County Department of Health has been inspecting local restaurants for compliance and reports that more than 99 percent of them are using oils with zero trans fat in accordance to the law.

When this law was first proposed, I thought it sounded kind of sketchy for a number of reasons, one of which is that I thought it might change the taste of foods I like, and not for the better. I have to confess that I didn’t even realize that the ban was in place already until I read the county’s press release, so I guess that question’s been answered.

The idea behind eliminating trans fat oils is to improve the health of King County residents by removing from their diet a food that is known to have a contributing effect on medical issues like heart disease. Of the 1,451 restaurants inspected during the months of June and July, only 10 - less than one percent - were found in violation of the trans fat ban. The ban dictates that restaurants refrain from using partially hydrogenated oils, or trans fats, for frying, grilling or sautéing, or in a spread that contain 0.5 grams or more of trans fat per serving.

At the present time, restaurants are allowed to continue using trans fats in deep frying batter or yeast dough, which meant that the elephant ears at Bumbershoot were just as good in the mouth, bad for the body, as ever, but this exemption to the rule expires on February 1, 2009.

The Health Department has a page on the their website all about trans fat and the ban; in the future, restaurants found out of compliance with the ban will be listed on the site.

Food served in the manufacturer’s original, sealed packaging is exempted from the ban.

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How did these cars come to their sad fate?

A) Dinner reservation-having people trying to plow through a Critical Mass ride.
B) 20 cent bag tax-induced rage.
C) Free valet service at Bumbershoot did seem a little suspect.
D) Add your take to the comments:

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the merce cunningham duo, last year.

We’ve already told you what to see [sat :: sun ::mon ]; so now it’s time to haul out the advice that we post every year . We like to think of it as a classic, just revised with slightly-new content and under the assumption that surely we must have picked up a few new readers and Bumbershoot must have enticed a few first-time visitors since last time. But not a lot changes about Bumbershoot from year to year; so why not re-recycle? It’s good for the environment and for preserving our fingers for typing fresh stuff later. So, in the spirit of eco-friendliness and with thanks to everyone who ever contributed, here’s the revised and updated guide for 2008.

After the jump, our hints. Any of your own to add?

Read more

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Today, the Department of the Interior granted the Hanford Reactor B, which produced plutonium for the “Fat Man” nuclear bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki and currently sits on the site of the largest nuclear waste storage area in the country [wiki], National Historic Landmark status. This, from an administration that threatened earlier this year to cut cleanup funding by $600 million. [p-i]

But hey, locals are happy about this development, but I admit that I barely understand most of the words in this sentence: “Local officials have been seeking the landmark designation for years, hoping to save the reactor from being permanently cocooned as part of the cleanup of the highly contaminated site.” [times]

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That’s the only conclusion I can come to upon reading their new rules governing city council members blogging.

Yes, they’re less restrictive than what was rumored at yesterday, but still, they read like some antsy lawyers got in the same room with the group of IT guys up there who’ve never been near the Web (and probably wish it was all written in Java so they could understand it.)

Here’s a gem:

Links to external content should open in a new window: Hyperlinks to external content should open a new tab, or “spawned” browser window. Visitors should be advised that pop-up blockers may interfere with this action.

First off, “spawned” windows? What do these people think this is, Team Fortress 2? Secondly, there are considerable arguments against popping open new windows every time you click on an external link. Most notably, everyone using Firefox (roughly 1/3 of all users) is running a pop-up blocker by default. And thirdly, do they think us readers are stupid and can’t tell the difference between a city website and, oh, a local newspaper?

Here’s another beauty:

To ensure that information is secure, access is easily available, and personal information is protected, avoid referencing or linking to sites that:
….
ii. Require subscription or registration. When this is done, label these links “registration required”.

Yes, please avoid linking to the New York Times, city council member. But maybe council members are a little new at this computer thing. I’m sure Jean Godden will figure out those pesky punch cards in no time, though!

iii. Attempt to install malware on a visitor’s computer.

Wait, council members have to be told to note sites require registration because they don’t have experience with this, but now you’re expecting them to know what malware is, much less figure out which sites are carrying that payload?

Somewhere in the thousands in taxes, parking fees, and forthcoming bag fees, is any of it set aside for virus protection software? You know, the kind that keeps sites from installing malware on city computers???

x. Include content that would be identified as inappropriate to be linked to a City site by the Office of Ethics and Elections.

And they would know that… how? By the presence of malware? Registration? Link shorteners?

If the problem, in the end, is making sure council members are blogging appropriately, why doesn’t the city host blogs for them? What, you think it’s going to cost them money? Wordpress, ExpressionEngine, and the open source version of Movable Type are free. All you need is a database — oh look, MySQL is free! — and space on the servers they probably already have. Oh, and some people up there who know how to create websites, people with web design, web development, and web production experience. (Hint to the city’s IT department: None of these skills require Java, and no, you can’t create a web page in Java, and please try not to.)

I mean, what’s it going to take, City Hall? A couple thousand, at the very most? That’s what the city probably drops on wining and dining corporate muckymucks at Canlis in a month. And think about it — if you actually used a real platform, you could have comments, from local citizens, talking about what’s in the post. Constituents could actually try to engage and interact with blogging city employees and council members.

This is what open, transparent democracy looks like. Having council members like Burgess and Harrell and Clark blog — and interact with their readers through commenting — means more access to government.

And all you have to do is grab some people who know how to blog and get them to help you. Let’s start with getting actual bloggers to help you rewrite these rules so they are usable and sensible. I’m sure if you looked really hard you might find some local bloggers in Seattle. Check your punch cards, Ms. Godden.

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In an effort to reduce drive-alone commuting, King County teamed up with REI and the Cascade Bicycle Club to encourage biking to work by offering 200 free bikes to participants who meet the requirements of their pledges.

The program, which is offered through businesses to employees (and which employers had to sign up for by August 4th), allows commuters who reduce their drive-alone commutes by 60 percent to earn ownership of an REI Novara bike or a free bike tune-up. In addition, Cascade Bicycle Club is providing safety training and bike mentors.

Thus far, the program seems to be going well, which isn’t surprising considering how bike-friendly Seattle is, and the upward trend of gas prices over the last year.

“We have had an enormous response!” said Susan Whitmore, Commute Trip Reduction Services Training Specialist. “We currently have nearly 250 participants registered.”

The brand-new project was funded by a grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation, and may continue in future years if additional grant funding is secured. For more information about how to get yourself or your employer involved, see the Green Bike Project web page.

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