Morning Fizz
On Our Backs
1. A bright spot in the city's otherwise grim construction market: Deutschebank is planning to build two large apartment towers at Stewart and Denny, near the new Amazon headquarters, within the next year and a half. That's good news for the city's Department of Planning and Development, which relies heavily on permit fees, and is facing major budget cuts next year.
Update: And here's what they'd look like.
2. Politico reports this morning that a conservative, D.C.-based independent expenditure group, the American Action Network , is spending $750,000 on a TV ad against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray featuring a woman in scuffed-up tennis shoes stepping on people's backs.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37K5Q3yTlH0&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]
The voiceover says:
"Oh, Patty. We had such high hopes. That you were different. One of us. Then, you wore your tennis shoes out on our backs ... You pushed the largest increase in federal spending ever. Raised taxes on small businesses."
The Federal Election Commission reports on the group aren't in yet, but American Action Network was founded by former Minnesota Republican U.S. senator Norm Coleman.
3. Municipal Court presiding judge Edsonya Charles wrote a fairly scathing letter to City Attorney Pete Holmes last week questioning some of the conclusions of his annual report, released last week.
Specifically, Charles complained that Holmes' report inaccurately said the city attorney oversees the city's mental health and community courts ("It is important to understand that the Court is independent from the City Attorney's office"); it didn't accurately describe the reason a municipal court employee who sued the city was fired; and that it found caseloads at muni court have increased, "conflict[ing] with statements you made earlier this year regarding the court's workload."
Earlier this year, the city council, with Holmes' support, cut one municipal court judge position , prompting an angry response from Charles, who said reducing the number of judges would send the court on "the race to the bottom."
4. Utility rates for Seattle Public Utilities customers will be substantially higher in the next two years, thanks to declining revenues from the poor economy and extra expenses in the next few years. In 2011, solid-waste rates will go up an average of 7 percent, wastewater rates will go up 4 percent, and drainage rates will go up 12 percent. The following year, solid-waste rates will increase 3.8 percent, wastewater will go up 4 percent, and drainage will go up an average of 10.8 percent.
5. As we await the latest federal campaign contribution totals (reports for the second quarter are due on Thursday), the PI.com has a sneak peek at some high-profile donations that went to Tea Party insurgent Clint Didier in the U.S. Senate race; Tea Party candidate John Koster, who's running against U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-2, Northwest Washington); and rising conservative star U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-5, Eastern Washington), the fourth ranking rep in the House GOP caucus.
Sarah Palin's PAC gave $5,000 to each. As Joel Connelly reports:
Who Palin didn't give money to is also interesting to the Fizz. Palin didn't write a check to either Jaime Herrera or David Castillo, the two GOPers who are vying for a U.S. House seat against Democrat Denny Heck in the 3rd Congressional District. (Democratic U.S. Rep. Brian Baird is retiring.) Herrera was hand-picked by apparent Palin fave McMorris Rodgers (Herrera's former boss) and Castillo is claiming the Tea Party cred.
6. Lobbyists for the phone-book industry will meet this morning with city council members Mike O'Brien and Richard Conlin, in an effort to convince the two environmentalists to hold off on regulations making it harder for the companies to give phone books to people who don't want them.
Currently, the only way to avoid getting a phone book is to "opt out" by calling the companies, and even that doesn't guarantee you won't get one anyway, especially if you live in an apartment building. O'Brien plans to have Dex come and haul away the hundreds of phone books constituents have delivered to his office in a couple of days—after the lobbyists have had a chance to see the growing pile.
Update: And here's what they'd look like.
2. Politico reports this morning that a conservative, D.C.-based independent expenditure group, the American Action Network , is spending $750,000 on a TV ad against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray featuring a woman in scuffed-up tennis shoes stepping on people's backs.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37K5Q3yTlH0&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]
The voiceover says:
"Oh, Patty. We had such high hopes. That you were different. One of us. Then, you wore your tennis shoes out on our backs ... You pushed the largest increase in federal spending ever. Raised taxes on small businesses."
The Federal Election Commission reports on the group aren't in yet, but American Action Network was founded by former Minnesota Republican U.S. senator Norm Coleman.
3. Municipal Court presiding judge Edsonya Charles wrote a fairly scathing letter to City Attorney Pete Holmes last week questioning some of the conclusions of his annual report, released last week.
Specifically, Charles complained that Holmes' report inaccurately said the city attorney oversees the city's mental health and community courts ("It is important to understand that the Court is independent from the City Attorney's office"); it didn't accurately describe the reason a municipal court employee who sued the city was fired; and that it found caseloads at muni court have increased, "conflict[ing] with statements you made earlier this year regarding the court's workload."
Earlier this year, the city council, with Holmes' support, cut one municipal court judge position , prompting an angry response from Charles, who said reducing the number of judges would send the court on "the race to the bottom."
4. Utility rates for Seattle Public Utilities customers will be substantially higher in the next two years, thanks to declining revenues from the poor economy and extra expenses in the next few years. In 2011, solid-waste rates will go up an average of 7 percent, wastewater rates will go up 4 percent, and drainage rates will go up 12 percent. The following year, solid-waste rates will increase 3.8 percent, wastewater will go up 4 percent, and drainage will go up an average of 10.8 percent.
5. As we await the latest federal campaign contribution totals (reports for the second quarter are due on Thursday), the PI.com has a sneak peek at some high-profile donations that went to Tea Party insurgent Clint Didier in the U.S. Senate race; Tea Party candidate John Koster, who's running against U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-2, Northwest Washington); and rising conservative star U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-5, Eastern Washington), the fourth ranking rep in the House GOP caucus.
Sarah Palin's PAC gave $5,000 to each. As Joel Connelly reports:
Sarah Palin's political action committee gave a modest $87,500 to candidates in the second quarter of 2010, but $15,000 of it went to candidates in Washington State - a Senate challenger, a House incumbent and a House challenger.
The Republicans in Washington have received more from Palin than big-name California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, who received $2,500, or Nevada GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle, who got $2,500.
Who Palin didn't give money to is also interesting to the Fizz. Palin didn't write a check to either Jaime Herrera or David Castillo, the two GOPers who are vying for a U.S. House seat against Democrat Denny Heck in the 3rd Congressional District. (Democratic U.S. Rep. Brian Baird is retiring.) Herrera was hand-picked by apparent Palin fave McMorris Rodgers (Herrera's former boss) and Castillo is claiming the Tea Party cred.
6. Lobbyists for the phone-book industry will meet this morning with city council members Mike O'Brien and Richard Conlin, in an effort to convince the two environmentalists to hold off on regulations making it harder for the companies to give phone books to people who don't want them.
Currently, the only way to avoid getting a phone book is to "opt out" by calling the companies, and even that doesn't guarantee you won't get one anyway, especially if you live in an apartment building. O'Brien plans to have Dex come and haul away the hundreds of phone books constituents have delivered to his office in a couple of days—after the lobbyists have had a chance to see the growing pile.
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