Wallingford, Seattle

Every now and then I enjoy a fine, large Shakespeare production with elegant costumes or a novel interpretation. But the Shakespeare that comes to me in small batches, crafted by local talent and staged practically in my own backyard - well, that is something to be savored. If you'd like a taste of micro-Shakespeare, grab your picnic blanket and head to the "upper" part of Wallingford Playfield tonight for a 7 pm double-feature of Shakespearean comedy. The Backyard Bard (a subdivision…

An reader writes: Returned to 4200 block a month ago after working out of state for number of years. Noticed on several evenings and even in broad daylight a scrawny sick looking raccoon in yards who appears unafraid of humans. I am used to urban wildlife but am wondering if this needs to be reported to city/county? Have others observed? I can't speak to the sick / scrawny looking raccoon, but we've had a family of raccoons trooping through our yard…

I spoke with the person who wrote the note featured yesterday, and I want to issue her a public apology for the lambasting. While I still feel the same way about anonymous notes, the public shaming, even if it was anonymous as the note, was a very painful thing for her to experience, and that emotional pain was far out of proportion to the "offense" of writing the well-intentioned note. She's a long-standing and positive, contributing member of the community and…

I miss going to the ballot box. Not voting, I still do that, but the ballot box: you know, when we used to troop over to the local elementary school basement, where we were greeted by elderly volunteers and butter cookies. I remember my father being scolded by a volunteer for taking me into the voting booth and showing me the levers (one person at a time!). There was a pleasure, a mechanical satisfaction in pushing down each of the levers, then…

KOMO is reporting that there was a police shooting death at Gas Works Park last night, at approximately 2:45 am: [Officers] were approached by a security guard who said a transient had attacked him in the park.The guard told officers that the man had lit a small campfire in the park and attacked the guard when he told the man to extinguish the fire and leave the park.A crisis intervention team was called to the scene in an attempt to de-escalate…