Posts — Page 103

I want to experiment with filming in a empty train interior.

We have a maternal mortality rate of zero. We believe that the combination of our services can eliminate the maternal mortality crisis. We've seen very low prematurity rates and less hypertension. In Washington State, Indigenous maternal mortality rates are more than seven times higher than rates for white mothers. The majority of these cases are preventable through better access to culturally responsive medical care and support services. ~ A 150-mom pilot got maternal mortality to zero at about $45,000 a family. Everyone agrees the crisis is preventable, and this is still being run as a pilot.

These fake cobwebs are an environmental hazard. Please avoid. Thank you!

If you’re taking the 2 Line next weekend: trains will still run from Downtown Redmond to South Bellevue every 10 minutes, but shuttle buses replace trains beyond South Bellevue from Saturday, Oct. 17 through the end of service Sunday, Oct. 18. Wednesday evening: Seattle Now & Then is at the Redmond Library, 6–7:30 p.m. Jean Sherrard and Clay Eals are talking about the old-photo/new-photo history column. Free, and no registration is listed. Saturday for the dog people: Redmond Howl-O-Ween runs noon–4 p.m. at Redmond Town Center. Free pup parade, costume contest, treats, and an after-party. Dogs need to stay leashed. I put together Redmond Beat, a free weekly email with more local things worth knowing. This week’s roundup is here. Anything else coming up that should be on people’s radar?

This hasn't come up in about a year, and City Council had been making rumblings about passing a law to deal with it, so in case anyone was wondering if the megaphone preachers had responded by dialing the volume down - they haven't. The first recording is from the Mariners game on 9/26. (The preacher is a guy who goes by John.) Standing a few feet from him, the decibel readings hovered consistently around 100; moving to the sidewalk on the other side of the street; the readings hovered around 90 but still occasionally crossed 100. The second recording is from the Seahawks game on 10/11. (The preacher speaking goes by Ron.) Walking past him (in the same path as the people going to the game, from the same distance), the readings hovered around 100. At both events, people walking past the preachers often had to plug their ears, or were trying to cover their baby's ears. (The noise measurements in these videos were with an app called "Decibel X", on an iPhone 15, so take that for what it's worth. But the law appears to put the limit at 70 decibels, so it's pretty likely they're going over that!) The loophole they might be exploiting is that Seattle Municipal Code 25.08.410 says "It is unlawful for any person to cause sound... to intrude into the real property of another person whenever such sound exceeds the exterior sound level limits established by this subchapter" and maybe they could argue that doesn't apply to sound waves passing over public property. While I think the city should pass a law to close that loophole, I'd also be against a law that prohibits any "amplified noise" outside events. There have been protests outside events (e.g. when Jordan Peterson came to speak at the Paramount) where protesters wanted to talk to groups of people in line, and up to a certain decibel level, you are allowed to do that. You can hit that decibel level by yelling, or you can hit it by speaking in a normal voice amplified by a megaphone; the latter comes across as less confrontational. And there are marches through the streets all the time that use amplified noise, where the goal is to be heard , but not to hurt people's ears -- however the decibel level at the noise source is comparable to what the preachers are putting out. If a poorly written law simply said "No noise above decibel level XYZ", then the preachers could argue that if it's enforced against them, it would also have to be enforced against street protests too. If the goal is to prevent obnoxiously loud noise and/or hearing damage while respecting people's free speech rights, then I think the law should: apply to noise above a certain decibel level, and should be neutral as to whether it's shouting or speaking-through-megaphone. prohibit inflicting the noise on non-consenting people, but should not apply to someone who participates in (for example) a protest and knowingly chooses to stand/march near the speaker (that's still bad for your hearing, but you're choosing to do that). That means you could bring a rolling PA system on a march, but it would be surrounded by a buffer of enough distance that it couldn't hurt the ears of anyone who wasn't participating in the march. Obviously the homophobic and Islamophobic and everything-phobic stuff that the preachers say is also bad, but under the First Amendment we can't pass a law against that. But a law limiting the noise level would make it easier to ignore.

I tried Starbird this afternoon. I got the chicken tendies and fries. I was pretty impressed for fast food chicken.

Now I know we aren't exactly known for good drivers, but come on people, surely we can do better than whatever this was

Have a group of 6-8 people, half from out of town, coming and need to accommodate for dinner. There is 1 vegetarian but flexible! Looking for somewhere middle of the road - not bar food, but not super fancy that could easily accommodate this group or have not a crazy wait for a table. Areas: Fremont, Ballard, Queen Anne, Wallingford, Phinney, trying to stick around that central-ish area TYIA!

SDOT has issued a proposal that Queen Anne Ave N between Galer and McGraw will be paid parking ($4/hour during most of the day) in early 2027. If you think this is an unnecessary overreach that will hurt local businesses, push people to park in the neighborhood, and generally make Queen Anne less hospitable, please let them know here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=RR7meOtrCUCPmTWdi1T0G9l66rG2gXtLjcsu2rWvOp1UQkI4WTRVNEsxV0pOMDhWMjAyV1pQRVo3VC4u&route=shorturl More info about the proposal can be found here: https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/parking-program/community-access-and-parking-program/queen-anne-ave-n

Hi! Any suggestions for a first time visitor who has two full days to see what already looks like a beautiful place? Places, required advanced reservations/tickets, dining spots? I’d love for it to be walkable, but I have a car and if your public transportation is good, that’s okay too. Also, what’s your early November weather, generally? It’s generally in the mid 60°s to 50°s where I live that time of year. I can obviously research online but I’d love suggestions from locals. Thanks!