July 2010

Hot Button: Class Struggles

In pursuit of excellence and equal opportunity, Seattle Public Schools has to convince parents that

Seattle Public Schools will reverse a longstanding tradition of allowing parents to choose their kids’ schools when it phases in a new “neighborhood school” student assignment plan in September for students in kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades. The district rewrote its 30-year-old boundaries and is now assigning students to schools closer to their homes. The…

Trend: Test Drive The Tesla Sport Roadster

Seattle drivers are among the early adopters of all things green, so we took electric cars for a spi

Plug ’n’ Play To anyone who has opened up a Christmas present only to be stymied by “batteries not included,” I present the 2010 Tesla Sport roadster. Through the generosity of Tesla Motors on Westlake Avenue, I opened up a Tesla on the Alaskan Way Viaduct the other day. About 6,800 lithium batteries—the kind that…

Scoop: Bluegrass Festivals

Seattle may not be known for its bustling bluegrass scene (yet!), but fans can attest that the North

Seattle may not be known for its bustling bluegrass scene (yet!), but fans can attest that the Northwest string scene is thriving—with a staggering number of locally grown bluegrass bands and festivals throughout the summer. This month, the 70-year-old musical genre is in full bloom, with a bounty of area festivals showcasing recent subgenres like…

Scoop: W.C. Afield

If nature calls while you're in the Wedgewood neighborhood, make use of Seattle's first public compo

W.C. AfieldGardeners at Wedgwood’s Picardo Farm P-Patch have new cause for relief—a composting toilet. Similar to toilets installed on U.S. Forest Service land, the Clivus Multrum M54 Trailhead single-station model arrived on the scene in April, acquired and installed with the help of a $15,000 City Neighborhood Matching Fund award. Dubbed “the Picaloo” by the…

Road Trip: Steveston

Wild salmon awaits you in Steveston, B.C.

WHERE: Steveston, a picturesque fishing village in Richmond, B.C., south of Vancouver. WHY: The 65th annual Salmon Festival takes place July 1 (aka Canada Day). DON’T MISS: The parade of floats, marching bands and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, plus carnival rides, belt-sander drag races and the massive salmon bake (1,200 pounds of wild salmon…

The Must List: July

Our Top To-Do's For July

See the Rockets’ Red GlareFourth of July FireworksThanks to the initiative—and donations—of Tom Douglas, Dave Ross and countless local citizens, Seattle’s last remaining in-city fireworks show was rescued in April after nearly fizzling out from a lack of corporate sponsorship. Time to enjoy the star-spangled fruits of our labors! We recommend walking or biking to…

Scoop: Coops De Ville

Seattle Tilth's city chicken-coop tour showcases a flock of fowl dwellings

You’ve probably spied members of Seattle’s burgeoning urban chicken population clucking, pecking, preening and strutting their stuff—and you’ve probably wondered: Where do they live? How do they live? As a sort of MTV Cribs for the fine-feathered set, the garden gurus at Seattle Tilth present the third annual city chicken-coop tour, showcasing the lifestyles of…

Feature: Mike Mcginn’s Eco Trip

Seattleites thought they had an environmentally progressive mayor in national magazine poster boy Gr

Mike Mcginn’s EcoTripMike McGinn has a habit of pausing before he speaks. Whether he’s responding to a question or about to address a large group, he will take a moment that is a bit too long, squint his blue eyes slightly and stare. It can seem as if McGinn is an alien intelligence, wondering whether to…

Editor’s Note: The Outsiders

If you aspire to be “an outsider” but fall in the clueless category like me, this is the issue for y

The Outsiders We all have that friend—the one we admire for his or her ability to do something for which we are completely missing a gene. It may be the friend who effortlessly throws lavish dinner parties. Or the one who remembers every special occasion and every birthday. For me, it’s my friends who are…

Bar Hop: Downtown’s Diller Room

There’s more than delicious coffee percolating Downtown since Rob Wilson added The Diller Room to th

The Diller Room There’s more than delicious coffee percolating Downtown since Rob Wilson added The Diller Room to the back of Stella Caffe in April (1224 First Ave.; 206.624.1229; dillerroom.com). During Prohibition, the space was a speakeasy accessed from the once luxurious—and later unsavory—Diller Hotel. THE VIBETourists, executives, first-daters and pre-funkers frequent the inviting “come…

Best Camping Spots: Going Rogue

Best Camping Spots: Going Rogue

Car camping on out-of-the-way Forest Service Roads

For many of us, spending the night in a crowded car campground, even in a beautiful locale, feels like camping in a mall parking lot. Likewise, unless you’re an Ironman, backpacking miles and miles in for a little woodland solitude is out of the question.  The solution? Get out your gazetteer and find your own…

Best Camping Spots: Not-so-Roughing It

Best Camping Spots: Not-so-Roughing It

In case sleeping on the ground is more than you can stomach.

GLAMPINGStructurally, it might not be so different from the accommodations at that overnight camp you went to as a kid, but, nowadays, staying in a canvas-walled platform tent is referred to as “glamping” (short for glamorous camping)—at least as far as us pampered grownups are concerned. And pampered you will be if you get your…