Salon.com > Seattle

Weird news: Bus driver kicked woman and baby off bus for odor

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:10:00 +0000

SEATTLE — Metro Transit in Seattle has apologized but says it won't discipline the driver who asked a woman with a baby to get off a bus because of a stinky diaper.

Metro told KOMO the driver did not violate policy when she acted for the comfort of other passengers.

An apology is not enough for the mother, Nichole Hakimian (hah-KIM'-ee-an), who threatens to sue.

She was taking her 1-year-old son to a clinic Tuesday when his diarrhea became an odor issue. She says the driver insisted she exit.

Hakimian says she found a place to change the baby and caught another bus to the clinic, where her son was diagnosed with a stomach bug.

Metro says the driver is a nine-year employee with an excellent record.

Grand jury resistor Leah-Lynn released from prison

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 19:57:00 +0000

As Salon reported last week, 24-year-old Portland anarchist Leah-Lynn Plante was imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with a federal grand jury. Like two other Northwest activists incarcerated earlier this year, Plante had not been charged or convicted with a crime but was nonetheless jailed for her silence.

Plante's support network announced Friday that she was released from federal prison a couple of days ago after spending a week in solitary confinement. The announcement says that information is scarce and that Plante, having believed she would face 18 months behind bars, is too traumatized to speak to the media. For unknown reasons, the announcement notes, Plante was classified as "different" from the two other Seattle grand jury resistors also taken in to federal custody in recent months. Matt Duran and Kteeo Olejnik remain incarcerated. Little is known about Duran's prison conditions, but it is believed he has been kept largely in solitary confinement. The statement from Plante's support network Friday noted that the freed grand jury resistor "urges people to step up support for Matt and Kteeo on all fronts."

Portland gallery pays homage to TV painter Bob Ross

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:19:00 +0000

Screaming Sky Gallery is opening "Happy Little Trees," a Bob Ross art appreciation show. The gallery is curated by Seattle-area artist Aaron Jasinski, who was inspired by "public television phenomenon Bob Ross." On the website, Jasinski writes:

I'm sure most of us visual artists, a generation of artists in fact, were in some way, large or small, influenced in our formative years by this iconic pop-artist. For this show the invited artists were asked to take that influence and turn it into a work of art. Whether they think Bob Ross is cliche, kitsch, or amazing I hoped they would pay tribute to his style or react against it.

The show features work by 27 artists and will run until Oct. 21. Below is one of the paintings featured, "Revenge of the Ross," by artist Casey Weldon.

The tightrope of gay PDA

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This essay originally appeared on Christopher Records' Open Salon blog.

With my boyfriend’s cousin out of the house on the second day of our visit, we decide to take a public bus to downtown Seattle from Shoreline, where she lives. It’s largely empty, though the space at the front of the bus is occupied by three 20-ish, husky white guys in baseball caps and flannel shirts. They seem around my age and remind me of guys I last talked to in high school but am still friends with on Facebook -- the kind who post pictures of themselves with their arms around each other, captioned “no homo."

They’re already there when we walk in, and as the bus leaves the stop, I wonder whether they paid attention to the way I walked on or to the sweater my boyfriend was wearing. A couple minutes on, my boyfriend reaches for my hand, and I nod him a silent “no” as I shuffle over, putting a few inches between us.

Seattle police arrest woman for sitting down with umbrella

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:35:00 +0000

Umbrellas, of all things, have been a central point of contention between Seattle police and protesters since the city's OWS-inspired demonstrations started earlier this month.

Authorities in Westlake Park -- where Occupy Seattle has taken up residence -- first restricted use of umbrellas about a week and a half ago. Protesters were told that they were not allowed to sit down with the rain gear, as it would then constitute a "structure" like a tent or tarp, which are proscribed under the park's anti-camping rule.

Occupy Seattle, sprung from perch, protests Romney

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:45:00 +0000

Seattle police have finally forced Occupy Seattle protesters to leave their base of operations in the city's Westlake Park after nearly two weeks at the location. The move came on the heels of several days of posturing, during which time Mayor Mike McGinn repeatedly threatened arrests -- camping is illegal in Westlake Park -- while encouraging the group to move to City Hall.

According to Seattle's KING-TV:

About 10 police officers arrived at Westlake around 9:30 a.m. Officers told about 75 demonstrators who had spent the night that the city was enforcing the no-camping rule at the park "starting right now."

Some of the protesters packed up their possessions and moved out, while others simply relocated across the street.

Another group of Westlake protesters decamped to the Seattle Grand Hyatt, where Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was hosting a fundraiser. According to the News Tribune: