aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

Most people would argue that Seattle has lots of rules for builders and developers, but what about guiding principles? The details of the former and the need for the latter are front-burner because of a variety of changes in the offing.City Councilme...

topics: campaign, city-council, environment, health-care, kent

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

In some races, there's an aha! moment when a candidate's rhetoric or personal story finally sweeps you away, or turns you off definitively. For most Seattle voters, that moment hasn't come yet as two virtual unknowns, both political rookies, vie to r...

topics: budget, business, candidate, city-council, election

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

On Beaver Hill in Port Angeles, Washington there's a fine arts center in a wonderful converted 1950s modern home by Northwest great Paul Hayden Kirk. The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center describes itself as the westernmost center for contemporary art i...

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

The Fall issue of Washington Law & Politics is out with a great cover and interesting interviews with its two cover-boys: Gary Locke and Ron Sims. Both Seattle pols are now part of the Obama administration in high-profile positions: Locke as Commerce...

topics: campaign, obama, politics

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

One of the attractions of urban density is the ability for everyone to walk to the store, to have one's commercial needs met within a few busy blocks. We all like the idea of living near a great cafe, a small grocer stocked with locally grown produce...

topics: amazon, business, economy, microsoft, nordstrom

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

The best thing about local politics is that it's usually difficult to look at it through a strictly partisan lens: there's nothing left or right about fixing potholes. Seattle, being close to a one-party town, has candidates who vie for the endorseme...

topics: activist, business, campaign, candidate, city-council

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

Coming off of a terrible August for health care reform, one thing is clear: the effort needs to be re-branded. Recently, Washington's savvy Democratic House Speaker Frank Chopp shared some advice with Crosscut on the subject of branding liberal init...

topics: health-care, house-speaker, liberal

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

In the recent debate comparing Vancouver, BC and Seattle, I quoted Peter Steinbrueck as saying that Belltown was the densest neighborhood in the state. A frequent Crosscut commenter attacked that assertion saying that Belltown isn't even the densest ...

topics: auburn, bellevue, employment, kirkland, tacoma

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

One thing a mossback can like about mayoral candidate Mike McGinn: he's got a full beard. If elected in that state, that fact would make him unique for a Seattle mayor in this century, or the last. In fact, facial hair on our mayors has been out of f...

topics: candidate, elected, mayor

aggregated from: crosscut.com : Mossback

With the arrival of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, religion and values reporter Douglas Todd of the Vancouver Sun has a couple of interesting stories about the state of Islam in Europe and Canada. He reviews the concept of Eurabia, the idea that ...

topics: conservative, environment, environmentalism, sustainability