Hi Folks! I've got some bad news (or good, depending on how you get along with my writing): I've decided to put Wallyhood on potentially permanent hiatus. The recent dust-up, where Steve Questad (aka E30 Memorial) wrote to all of our sponsors asking them to cancel their support because of Wallyhood's "racist bigotry" (original in all caps), wasn't alone what did it, but it did give me the nudge to revisit why I've been writing Wallyhood. I started Wallyhood in January…
I started writing for Wallyhood this past spring when Jordan took off because I valued a Wallingford community site and wanted to explore writing as a creative outlet. I was also hoping to form constructive relationships with the city in getting good things to happen for Wallingford. Constructive relationships with the city proved impossible, largely because the city no longer has anyone assigned to support neighborhoods. It's all downtown meetings based on city functions without visits to neighborhoods when making plans.…
Harley spotted this sign in front of the towering sequoia tree near 46th and Eastern (by the old Bittman house): I'll leave with with this quote, which is somehow appropriate: My dad once gave me a few words of wisdom which I’ve always tried to live by. He said, “Son, never throw a punch at a redwood.” ~Magnum, P.I.
Ducks are returning to our streets as of today. Ducks were approved for road use during World War 2, so due to inertia they remain street legal today. The fact that their new mission is to amuse tourists and that they're going to crush Wallingfordians instead of Nazis and their allies is irrelevant. The specifics of the accident on Aurora are being addressed, just like specifics from several previous fatal accidents have been addressed. These are the latest changes: The vehicles…
I'd like to apologize for language I used in an article I posted here this morning. It was offensive and hurtful to the community. The article used a pejorative term for Japanese people when spoofing how people spoke during World War 2. I had never heard the term used outside of World War 2 documentaries and should have done a better job researching it. While I knew the term had a racial component (see internment camps), I believed that the term was primarily…
The Wallingford Community Council will hold an Urban Village, Seattle 2035 and HALA informational meeting on: January 20th, 2016, 7:00 – 9:00 PM at the Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, in the Chapel on the 4th floor. The Wallingford Community Council wants you to know of major changes proposed in our neighborhood. Mayor Ed Murray will soon finalize recommendations to the Seattle City Council to revise the basic planning laws that govern what can be built on your and…
People think telling politicians their ideas is how to make things happen, but that's just a test of how well a politician can fake empathy. If you really want your idea to happen, you need to go through a city funding process. The Neighborhood Park and Street Fund submission deadline is 2/8. The fund provides for small-scale improvements to streets and parks, up to $90,000. Last year we held a vote on Wallyhood and the winning project got funded. Projects are chosen by the…