November 2018

LETTER: Hoping for a revival of spirit

To the editor:

Thought for today:  The Internet and Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates wipe out millions of jobs, newspapers, stores, malls, and they become the richest guys on the planet by making jobs and people (and our connections to each other and our shared humanity) obsolete while we gleefully rub our hands together and celebrate being able to get things 'cheaper' (in every way) and settle for 'virtual' connections and virtual humanity via 'smart' (gag!) phones, and read books on Kindle and become less and less human and connected (until we turn to drugs and booze and addictions to assuage our loneliness and end up, ironically, being 'reconnected' at AA and Al Anon and recovery houses  :-).

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One state where voting matters

By Jean Godden

One thing we learned during the recent Midterms is that we are incredibly lucky to live in Washington state where we have a trustworthy electoral system.  Although we may chafe at having to wait for results of some close elections, we can trust our Secretary of State Kim Wyman and county election directors (In King County, it's Julie Wise) to ensure that each vote is counted.

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Lucky Break Wishbone legal case detailed; Local inventor was proven right

In 2009 Westside Seattle told the story of Ken Ahroni and Lucky Break Wishbone.

At that time the West Seattle resident was embroiled in a legal fight regarding the plastic turkey wishbone he had invented. After breaking one in1999 he wondered why no one had tried to make a plastic one, giving everyone a chance to make their wishes come true (even vegetarians). He went to extensive lengths to develop the product found initial success and then on the verge of going national, one of his potential customers, Sears, began selling their own version. The problem? It wasn't just competition. It was in Ahroni's view, copyright infringement. That legal fight would prove to be both lengthy and expensive. He won, and was awarded a $1.7 million judgement.

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Amanda Knox and Chris Robinson announce engagement in an other worldly way

As marriage proposals go this one was unusual, funny, unexpected and wonderful. Chris Robinson (working with his younger brother Kyle and father Tim) put together a marriage proposal for Amanda Knox on Friday that will likely go down in history. Tim is the Publisher of Westside Seattle. 

They created a meteorite (really a stage prop) that included a seemingly alien plaque upon which the basic idea of the two who have been together since 2015 might enter marriage, though at the close of the proposal stunt Chris pops the question verbally. She said yes. 

There's no ring because she does not wear them and no firm date for the wedding has been set but if it's anything like the proposal you can expect the unusual.

Watch the video for the full, funny and off the wall production.

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Seattle Parks and Recreation announces 2018 Denny Award winners
Annual awards recognize outstanding volunteer service

Today, Interim Superintendent Christopher Williams announced the winners of Seattle Parks and Recreation’s 2018 Denny Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Stewardship. The winners are a cross-section of Seattle’s most creative, dedicated and hard-working volunteers who donate precious time and energy to improving Seattle’s parks and recreation programs.

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