The Negatives of Marijuana by swamibu Despite Seattle's herb-friendly reputation, there sure have been a lot of highly publicized marijuana arrests lately. Every time we refresh the local news sites it seems there is a new headline about an even larger scale bust. KIRO 7 has even started calling them "marijuana raids"--which is so Prohibition Era of them. Apparently, the latest pot bust is even more exciting because the arrest came through a Crimestoppers......

We don't claim to be an expert on male attractiveness, but if forced to rank television personalities by hotness or notness--well, let's just say that Bill Nye, "The Science Guy", would be closer to Willard Scott than to Matt Lauer. Nevertheless, women--even intelligent, attractive ones--are not immune to Nye's charms (whatever they may be). Take the case of Grammy-nominated oboist, former Stanford professor, and author Blair Tindall (at right). Tindall and Nye were married in......

From the PI this morning: "Three shot inside Capitol Hill club." Apparently, a fight broke out on Sugar's dance floor around 1:30am; three people were injured, and police aren't saying much more than that. Someone was firing a gun inside the club, so this isn't one of those ambiguous cases of violence within fifty feet of the club doors. The night's event was Sin Sunday, an 18/21+ weekly event featuring a DJ spinning hip-hop and......

From the papers in Europe, and particularly in England, you'd think that UW student Amanda Knox had already been tried and convicted of sexually assaulting and killing her roommate Meredith Kercher in Perguia, Italy. The source said: "The flat where Meredith was killed was full of evidence, there was blood, fingerprints and other bodily substances. "It was obvious very quickly that those responsible were from a close circuit of friends and we were able to......

A couple of Seattlest haters and their friends went to the SIFF Cinema last night to check out the new Coen Bros. movie, which is still every bit as good as we already said it was when we saw it months ago. Lucky for us No Country for Old Men is more along the lines of vintage Coen masterpieces like Blood Simple and has absolutely nothing in common with the turd-arific misfires of their more......

In December 1992, Kurt Cobain and rock journalist Michael Azerrad began a series of interviews that would eventually become the beating heart of Azerrad's band biography, Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. For that project, Azerrad recorded over 25 hours of the rock star's musings and reflections, but until pairing with director AJ Schnack to make Kurt Cobain About a Son, had never released the tapes' contents to the public. This film, then,......

The article doesn't say exactly when this incident happened, but only that the five teens had just left a football game at Rainier Beach. We'll infer that it was after their home loss to Hale last Friday. Five teens started harrassing some guy on the bus, eventually trying to take his glasses. He retaliated with a knife. Four kids were treated for stab wounds and one had a dislocated shoulder. There's some video of the......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. LAist saw national headlines soar this week with......

The Republicans, learning from the mistakes of the Democrats in King County's Sixth, may decide to run a candidate against Governor Gregoire next fall. The PI reports, in big letters above the fold, that Dino Rossi (the guy who may already be our governor) will probably run for governor. Well, no shit. He's been holding un-official rallies, giving speeches, and raising money (WIIINNNK) for a few months now. Also, everyone in the state's GOP expects......

This afternoon at two o'clock the city council will vote on proposed new nightclub regulations, bitterly opposed by Seattle's entertainment industry. Yet even as the council prepares for the vote, controversy continues to swirl over SPD's nightclub sting op from Saturday, Sept. 8. This morning, The Seattle Times reported on inaccuracies in its article from a week age today on elements of the sting operation, including the disputed claim that a gun made it......

Late summer is berry season, which means it is also bear season. A 51 year-old man mountain biking in Banner Forest (near Port Orchard on the Kitsap Peninsula) was attacked by a male black bear last week. His dogs were running ahead of him, and he heard them barking. He turned a corner, and was face-to-face with the bear, which then attacked him. Attacks by black bears are remarkably rare, which makes the situation all......

According to a report in this morning's Seattle Times, Mayor Nickels has decided to play hardball in his attempt to get all Stasi on Seattle's nightlife. In what appears to be a blatant attempt to politicize Seattle's police force, according to the Times, "Seventeen bouncers, bartenders and other nightclub employees were arrested Saturday night for allegedly violating state liquor laws." Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and City Attorney Tom Carr used the sting to push for......

The Mojo and the Sayso which opened at ACT last night is four actors and a car, but the car is the thing, the main entity. The car is the set, the stage, and the focal character. It may not have any lines, but it stands in for everything that moves playwright Aisha Rahman's story forward. It's the absent child, gunned down by aggro off-duty cops, it's the broken family, being rebuilt from the ground......

Other than June 5th, 1977 and June 1st, 1979, June 28, 2007 has got to rank as the best day in Northwest pro basketball history. The Kiwi & Kangaroo was Seattlest Draft HQ, where Seattlest David, Seattlest me, and our friend Frank kept track of the action and insulted each other. Since ESPN kept showing "must improve" for each player drafted, (example, Spencer Hawes' "must improve" was rebounding) we came up with "must improve"s for......

Since its development in 1982, Victor Steinbrueck Park (formerly "Market Park") has been a melting pot of downtown green-space seeking citizenry and tourists. Just about every class of human being can be seen here on a warm, sunny day. We, being fortunate enough to work near the market, spend many a lunch here. We always bring a book to read, but on a day like today, little reading gets done because of all the people......

In Seattle when your neighbor's dog won't shut up you glare out the window at nobody in particular momentarily before sliding it shut (with authority, because there's no neighborly impropriety on god's green Earth that can't be solved with a slammed window) and that's the end of it. That's not how they roll in Auburn, though. In Auburn they shoot the thing. Three men accused of shooting and killing a Chihuahua on June 11 in......

Seattlest got a Sony Walkman for our 15th birthday, and bought our first couple of cassette tapes with saved allowance: Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms and Eazy-E’s Eazy-Duz-It. As any self-respecting male teen would be, we were offended thrilled by the latter’s raw language and humor. So within a few weeks, we’d procured N.W.A.’s tape, Straight Outta Compton. That’s how we knew what we were hearing Sunday night when we were put on hold after......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

We're trying to decide if we're panicked about the bees. The other day -- sunny, warm -- we were in Volunteer Park in the middle of a patch of clover and it was completely bee-free. It would have been chilling except, like we say, the sun was out and it was in the 80s. We have a lot of respect for bees, and not just because a dead one stuck in some honeycomb took revenge......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

"What's left with character in this city is the Pike Place Market and a couple of stores, and that's it." More classic Seattle grit is closing up shop. Central Loan & Gun Exchange downtown? Exit, stage gentrification. Seattlest expects another round of the ever-fascinating debate on Seattle identity: Greater Seattle vs. Lesser Seattle, mossback vs. booster, REI vs. Macy's, McQ vs. Singles. Lusty Lady vs. Four Seasons (oh wait -- they struck a balance).......

This weekend there are a lot of shows that we recommend you avoid, not that you're going to listen to Seattlest and tear up your tickets or anything, but if you previously had no idea these were happening this weekend you can pat yourself on the back for successfully avoiding any mention of them so far. First Fishbone is playing Studio 7. Stay away. Second, Jello Biafra is in town. Not there's anything wrong with......

Monday CALL 911! CALL 911!: Political and economic commentator and White House strategist during the Nixon administration, Kevin Phillips talks about his book, American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century. Phillips traces the set of related causes that caused the downfall of historical world powers. That same combination of ills he says -- global over-reach, militant religion, resource problems, and ballooning debt -- is......

Vitals: 40 year old RHP. Born in Melbourne, FL. 6-2, 204 lb. 151-135, 4.21 career. 0-1, 1.50 this year. Signed as a free agent in 1995. $4 million salary. Arsenal: Knuckleballs, almost exclusively. He'll only throw his low-80s fastball if he's ran to three balls on a hitter. He has a curve, but he almost never throws it. Recent Battles: Back when Josh Bard was still trying to catch Wakefield, the M's played him.......

Well, so much for the ol' "jury of your peers" principle, because we're pretty sure if any skiers, snowboarders, or general outdoor sports people were on the jury at this trial, they would not have awarded Kenny Salvini $31 million because he crashed off a jump at Snoqualmie. That's the amount of the original award from the jury, yet somehow the judge decided that $17 million was the amount relevant to Salvini's role in the......

Spring practice is underway (the Huskies start April 9), so here's an early look at the Pac-10 in 2007 --Arizona: After scoring in single digits four times last year, Coach Mike Stoops fired almost his entire offensive coaching staff and brought in a guy from Texas Tech to run the Air Raid offense. Think multiple formations, short passes, backs running routes in the flat. Often teams will defend it by dropping linemen back into......

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing-- what's going on in the World of the -ist's? Bostonist dug deep to uncover Barack Obama's unpaid parking tickets, their Governor's latest ethical lapse, and a plagarizing sports writer. Chicagoist had everything in twos: two views on having the Olympics, losing two members of their Super Bowl team, and two music festivals. DCist put their noses in legal books as......

SNOW: Alpental got 4 inches at the base Saturday while we were up there, and the snow was light, with plenty of wind fill if you know how to seek out the good spots. We were jealous of our friends staying up in Lot 3, whose alarm clock this morning was the rumbling, gun-shot sounds of avalanche blasting. All day // Your favorite resort // It ain't cheap DANCE: The New York Times once......

"Quick, Marge, get my gun! There's one of them nutria swimmin' in the river over there!" Oh wait, it was actually a person snorkeling. You know, probably about a 5' 10" dude, with flippers, and a snorkel sticking out of the water. As opposed to say, a two foot long, sometimes aquatic rodent. In case you were too busy reliving Anna Nicole's glory days with Guess?, some guy down in Reedsport, OR just shot some......

Barack Obama has hope, but Mike Daisey has the audacity to sit down just one hour prior to his one-man show, Stories from an Atlantic Night Café, and write an outline that will be his only guide when he steps on stage. Seattlest chatted with Daisey via e-mail as he made the cross-country trek from his home in Brooklyn to Seattle prior to his performance at CHAC on Sunday night. One hour before the show?......