Tagged: Seattle

Construction began Tuesday on a Ferris wheel that will sit on the end of a pier on the Seattle waterfront.

It will stand 175 high and have 42 gondolas, which will have heating and air conditioning. The wheel will extend 40 feet from the end of Pier 57, so riders on that side will be suspended over Elliott Bay.

Developer Hal Griffith told KING-TV the Ferris wheel should be spinning this June.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn delivered his third State of the City Address today focusing on education, public safety, and the economy – noting that the city was knocked down pretty hard during the recession.

He said Seattle lost 35,000 jobs with unemployment peaking at 8.2 percent. But progress has been made.

In his “State of the City” address, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn made an impassioned plea today for the legalization of marijuana saying in the illegal trade in drugs was fueling crime in the city.

“It is time we were honest about the problems we face with the drug trade. Drugs are a source of criminal profit, and that has led to shootings and even murders. Just like we learned in the 1920s with the prohibition of alcohol, prohibition of marijuana is fueling violent activity,” the mayor said in the written version of his speech.

Portland put its odd side on display last January with the debut of Portlandia. Now, several residents here are responding with a show of Seattle's stranger side. And, in typical Seattle fashion, it's online and called Local Brew.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has declared a state of emergency for an ice storm that landed on top of heavy snow in western Washington, causing treacherous travel, power outages and threats that buildings could collapse. So far, the storm has left more than 200,000 people without power.

Seattle city officials are asking residents to get home before dark, if possible, because they fear even worse icing conditions by night fall.

Ice closed Sea-Tac Airport in the early morning before one runway was reopened. The State Patrol said it had responded to about 2,300 accidents in a 24-hour period ending at 9 a.m. Thursday, roughly quadruple the average number.

One of Seattle’s best known and beloved sons, Jimi Hendrix, is about to get a new park. It’s scheduled to coincide with what would have been the guitar hero’s 70th birthday.

The city of Seattle is asking the Washington Supreme Court to determine whether municipalities can ban people from carrying guns in local parks and community centers where children gather.

Seattle instituted its ban in 2009. Several individuals with concealed weapons permits challenged the ban, and a King County Superior Court judge struck down the ban as preempted by state law governing firearms regulation.

Do you have a high-speed Internet connection?

If you do, you’re pretty lucky ... because many people in the Puget Sound region don’t ... even in relatively big cities, such as Seattle.

As part of a national push, the city has teamed up with the University of Washington to try and bring more private investment to broadband infrastructure.

If you're considering moving into a high-rise condo or apartment in Seattle for the views of Puget Sound, the Space Needle or mountain ranges, you might want to keep this in mind: City regulations do not protect private views, only public views.

This is a lesson being learned the hard way by residents of the Cosmopolitan high-rise in the Denny Triangle, according to a story in Seattlepi.com. Residents there have already had one building go up a mere 18 feet from them and now another tower has been approved for construction.