Last Night
Last Night: At the Rainier Beach Community Center
Last night, I rode my bike down Rainier Ave. S. to the Rainier Beach Community Center (summary: I don't recommend it) for Mayor Mike McGinn's first town hall meeting in the neighborhood. As we reported in Morning Fizz this morning, neighborhood residents lined up to express concerns about public safety, gang violence, police brutality, park-and-rides, and McGinn's emphasis on biking and pedestrian-safety projects.
A few things I didn't have room to mention in this morning's roundup:
• A stellar performance by the Baby Dangerettes, a 5-to-12-year-old girls' drill team, who performed a rowdy, impressively coordinated routine filled with shouts, stomps, choreographed spins and call-and-responses, and perfectly timed whistles. I was in the front row---and therefore too close to get a picture without being reallllly awkward---so you'll have to just trust me when I say they were adorable in their spangled blue-silver-and-orange uniforms with clompy silver boots.
• A cute interaction between McGinn and a little boy in the front row, who said, somewhat timidly, "Hey, Mike!" McGinn asked him his name, shook his hand, and asked him what grade he was in (fifth) before introducing him to one of the half-dozen or so police officers filling the first few rows of the auditorium.
• A trip to the Saar's Market Place at Rainier and Henderson, without which a trip to Rainier Beach wouldn't be complete. I filled a cart with $0.49-cent coconut milk, $3.99 cotija, dollar tofu, and 99-cent spices. The total bill for several large bags of (mostly packaged) goods came to less than $20. There are certain aisles I would recommend avoiding---I've never checked the expiration dates on their perishables, but Yelp doesn't lie---but for packaged foods, Mexican groceries, and produce (if you're selective), I can't recommend it highly enough. Just stay away from the meat "deals."
A few things I didn't have room to mention in this morning's roundup:
• A stellar performance by the Baby Dangerettes, a 5-to-12-year-old girls' drill team, who performed a rowdy, impressively coordinated routine filled with shouts, stomps, choreographed spins and call-and-responses, and perfectly timed whistles. I was in the front row---and therefore too close to get a picture without being reallllly awkward---so you'll have to just trust me when I say they were adorable in their spangled blue-silver-and-orange uniforms with clompy silver boots.
• A cute interaction between McGinn and a little boy in the front row, who said, somewhat timidly, "Hey, Mike!" McGinn asked him his name, shook his hand, and asked him what grade he was in (fifth) before introducing him to one of the half-dozen or so police officers filling the first few rows of the auditorium.
• A trip to the Saar's Market Place at Rainier and Henderson, without which a trip to Rainier Beach wouldn't be complete. I filled a cart with $0.49-cent coconut milk, $3.99 cotija, dollar tofu, and 99-cent spices. The total bill for several large bags of (mostly packaged) goods came to less than $20. There are certain aisles I would recommend avoiding---I've never checked the expiration dates on their perishables, but Yelp doesn't lie---but for packaged foods, Mexican groceries, and produce (if you're selective), I can't recommend it highly enough. Just stay away from the meat "deals."
