Environment, News

Seattle’s Recycling Success Comes With Rising Waste-Collection Costs

July 9, 2012 Michael van Baker

“Pioneers like Portland, Seattle and San Francisco have become so good at waste diversion,” writes the New York Times, “that it is becoming harder to get much better.” End of June, Seattle Public Utilities announced that for the eighth straight year, Seattle’s recycling rate had increased. Overall, more than 55 percent of solid waste is recycled, up almost two percent. But for single-family homes, the rate is more than 70 percent, a fanaticism lightheartedly chronicled in PEMCO’s “Obsessive Compulsive Recycler” ad.

July 1, a plastic bag ban went into effect that, SPU estimates, SPU estimates, will result in 16 fewer shipping containers sent to the landfill each year, besides cutting down substantially on plastic bags blowing in the wind. Grocery store customers now must either bring or buy a reusable bag, which usually retail for about a dollar, or can buy a paper bag for five cents (“must be a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled fiber and the fiber content must be marked on the outside”).

The disheartening reward for this outstanding civic behavior is that public utility rates are expected to climb steadily in the future. (Reborn Publicola has details on electricity rates spiking an average of almost five percent each year for six years, for a total of 30 percent by 2018.) Drainage, sewer, and solid waste services would go up almost four percent each year for the next three years, so twelve percent, cumulatively. (SPU announced the planned increases two days after celebrating the higher recycling rates.)

“Key drivers” of the increase, says SPU, are “decreased revenues resulting from the economic downturn, as well as higher taxes and inflation,” which interestingly are key drivers affecting utility customers, as well. Staff have already been laid off, and SPU is currently trying out a six-month pilot program on 800 households, testing every-other-week trash collection. If adopted, this might result in $6 million in savings annually–the question is, can Seattle stuff two weeks’s worth of garbage, and how bad will it smell?

But SPU has also been investing in new infrastructure: a $50-million transfer station upgrade in South Park, due to open officially this summer, and a $52-million upgrade to the Wallingford transfer station, with design to begin this summer.

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Part of the reason for the upgrades to the transfer stations, as the Times mentioned, is that waste sorting takes up more space than simply dumping everything into a shipping container. But, William Yardley writes, SPU didn’t stop there in its improvements to the South Park facility:

The building puts a bright face on what some people might otherwise deem a dirty industrial endeavor. Old street signs decorate its entrance, a former drawbridge is a sculpture out front, the landscaping is irrigated with captured rainwater, and waste is misted to keep odors down. Windows allow abundant natural light.

Another substantial cost, with nothing to do with recycling, is SPU’s federal-and-state-regulator-prodded efforts to halt recurring overflows of raw sewage and stormwater into Seattle lakes, rivers, and streams. SPU wants to set aside $500 million to pay for things like “retrofits, green infrastructure, and large underground storage tanks.”

Visual Arts

Glimpses: “Seattle Sunset” by shawnmebo

July 9, 2012 Chelsea

The calm before the (actual) storm. Thanks for the lovely capture, shawnmebo.

Business, News, Politics, Sports

Op-Ed: Seattle Arena Proposal Beset by Paid Nabobs of Negativism

July 6, 2012 Michael van Baker

arenamap_540_338 — Proposed site of arena (Image: Sonicsarena.com)

Just days after “private citizen” Peter Steinbrueck delivered his expert opinion that a new basketball arena couldn’t legally be sited in Seattle’s stadium district, he’s been hired as a consultant for the Port of Seattle. He’ll make up to $40,000 per year, reports the Seattle Times, which just printed Steinbrueck’s guest editorial, titled “Why the big rush on Chris Hansen’s Sodo arena?”

There, Steinbrueck also references I-91, the handiwork of lobbyist Chris Van Dyk and his stadium-fighting Citizens for More Important Things, which prohibits the city from spending tax revenue on projects like this without receiving “fair value” for the investment. (At the time, Mayor Nickels asked, rhetorically, what the fair value should be for investing in an opera or symphony hall.) Today, apparently, “fair value” represents about 2.7-percent interest. Investment professional Hansen counters that he anticipates, conservatively, about a seven-percent return.

Art Thiel at Sportspress Northwest, which has become the go-to source for arena news, tackles the I-91 implications here. Oddly, back in 2008, when a “Save the Sonics” proposal that called for $150 million in public and $150 million in private funds was floated, Van Dyk said “he thinks the latest proposal could be a good deal for taxpayers,” according to the Times. It’s unclear to me why he now thinks a proposal that’s 60 percent private and 40 percent public is worse, especially as the tax-funding mechanisms involved are created by the construction of an arena rather than scooping the monies up from elsewhere.

Rather grandly, Steinbrueck wrapped up his op-ed by saying, “It’s about the future of Seattle, and what kind of city we want to be,” which raises a different question than the one about being in a rush. On the other hand, I’m glad that he raised it.

There’s a class of people in Seattle who make their living by building roadblocks. This is not to be confused with people who lobby against something because they are for something else. This group is more specialized than that. They’re simply anti-whatever. Paycheck, please. I don’t know where Steinbrueck, in particular, stands, so I’ll avoid lumping him in with Chris “What More Important Things Have You Done, Actually?” Van Dyk.

But his public citizen pose is dubious. He told the Seattle Times: “I had no communication with them (the Port) prior to the testimony,” while KOMO News “has obtained copies of e-mail exchanges that show Steinbrueck began communicating with port officials about the arena in April.” Certainly, the Port ought to inspect this proposal carefully, but so far they seem more interested in killing the idea than finding a modus vivendi.

Just as a clock is right twice a day, you can be “agin it” and still be on the side of history occasionally. But think of the opportunities lost. Anyone familiar with ’90s Seattle will likely remember the Seattle Commons plan. It was envisioned as a 61-acre park, extending from where Lake Union Park is today toward downtown via a thinner green peninsula. The cost? $111 million, with Paul Allen chipping in a $20-million loan that he eventually decided might just as well be a gift, if the project went through.

Somewhat incredibly for Seattle, opposition arose to a park, or more specifically, to the “developers” who’d stand to profit. As Washington Free Press argued, small businesses would be displaced, housing costs in the area would rise, and, by the way, “low-income housing plans are an afterthought.” The levy failed.

Today, we have a 12-acre park. South Lake Union has been developed to within an inch of its life, with more on the way. Small businesses have been displaced, and housing costs have risen.

This seems germane to a discussion of “what kind of city we want to be.” Sometimes the fantasy of what we’d like to be can blind us to what we really are. The fact is, there is a stadium district, and its two stadiums already provide congestion for Port traffic that needs to be mitigated. Forestalling a third stadium won’t solve that. The Port’s better hand is to welcome construction of a third stadium, providing they get the dedicated roadways that they need for freight connectivity.

Though Thiel has an informative article on why, if they can afford it, the arena backers don’t just pay for the whole thing, there’s simpler heuristic you can use. The Seattle Sonics have been the Oklahoma Thunder since the fall of 2008. How many whole-enchilada arena proposals has the city entertained in those four years? Right. None. How many NBA teams have approached the city wanting to play in the Key? That is why, though it’s also good to be critical of the arena proposal, it’s worth asking whether each of these objections to it holds water–or are just being raised to muddy it.

In Seattle, the perfect is often quite literally the enemy of the good, but not always because of idealists striving for perfection. It’s just sand poured cynically into the gears. Meanwhile, the future happens anyway.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Catching a Stellar “Trout” at the Summer Chamber Music Festival

July 5, 2012 Philippa Kiraly

The piano has always been a part of Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival (through July 29; tickets) and in both Monday and Tuesday’s programs this week, every work has included it. This may be in part because two well-known Canadian pianists are performing, Marc-André Hamelin and Jon Kimura Parker. Hamelin is a newcomer to the festival. Parker is returning after an absence of several years.

The piano line up this week also includes Jeewon Park, here with her husband, cellist Edward Arron, and the two gave the pre-concert recital of Rachmaninov’s Sonata in G Minor. Composed in 1900, Arron described it as a romantic refutation of those who had decided all melody had already been written and were heading in different musical directions.

Romantic it certainly is, and in Arron’s hands it was almost a love letter to his wife, his playing was so expressive, so warm, so rich, so tender. Throughout the work his cello sang and soared perfectly together and in balance with the piano part. Park for her part stayed easily on top of the busy piano role, with long lyrical phrases and many beautiful moments, though when the music required fast fortes, her hands seemed to lose their flexibility and became more rigid, detracting from the phrase-shaping.

The same happened in the first work of the concert itself, Mozart’s Sonata in A Major, K. 305, for violin and piano which she performed with violinist Andrew Wan. This was rather heavy-handed Mozart. I’d have liked it lighter with more elegant restraint. Wan plays a 1744 Bergonzi instrument from a couple of decades before the sonata was written, but he didn’t allow the instrument to sing, constraining its sound rather than releasing it to bloom.

Fauré’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in G Minor departs from his often subtle style, being forceful, almost violent at times except for the calmly beautiful adagio. Played by violinist and Society artistic director James Ehnes, violist David Harding, cellist Arron, and pianist Hamelin, it could be wondered if in 1921 Fauré is writing a response to his thoughts on the first World War. The players gave it intense energy and a full sound, Hamelin nearly overwhelming the strings several times with the power of his part. Fauré gives the viola many opening phrases so that Harding’s fine tone could be heard easily. The swirling tempest that is the last movement turns into a fast flow of inexorable forward motion with eddies, to which the musicians gave full rein.

Given the importance of the double bass in Schubert’s Quintet for Piano and Strings, the “Trout,” it’s surprising how few chamber works include it. It anchors the entire work’s carefree lightness, a state which embodied the performance given by violinist Augustin Hadelich, violist Erin Keefe, cellist Bion Tsang, bass Jordan Anderson, and pianist Parker. It’s impossible to be bored with this entrancing and familiar piece of music, which contains a profusion of inspired moments one after another. The five performers kept the joy, exuberance and vitality to the fore without ever allowing the music to bog down in weight. It was a stellar performance, enthusiastically appreciated by the capacity audience at Nordstrom Recital Hall.

Environment, News, Travel

One-Day Getaway: Whale-Watching in the San Juans

July 5, 2012 Michael van Baker 3 Comments

Seattle, getting its coffee as the Victoria Clipper III departs at 7:45 a.m. (Photo: MvB)

To the San Juans via Deception Pass (Photo: MvB)

You see more than whales on whale-watching trips. This bald eagle lives near Deception Pass. (Photo: MvB)

Before the whale-watching, bird-watching. Bring binoculars. (Photo: MvB)

In any weather, the scenery is striking. (Photo: MvB)

If you're lucky, the Orcas will breach. (Photo: MvB)

An Orca breaches. (Photo: MvB)

Orca-batics (Photo: MvB)

Orcas on parade (Photo: MvB)

This is the kind of scene that whale-watching is most likely to deliver. (Photo: MvB)

A San Juan islands landscape (Photo: MvB)

Friday Harbor (Photo: MvB)

Victoria Clipper III (Photo: MvB)

Post-whale-watching, the scenery continues to delight. (Photo: MvB)

Birds of a feather, apparently (Photo: MvB)

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I used to think there was no better way to go to sea, briefly, than a Washington State Ferry. The hour roundtrip from Seattle to Bainbridge Island? $7.70. Two hours to Bremerton and back? $7.70. But, just back from a whale-watching excursion on the Victoria Clipper, I have to revise that judgement.

We left Seattle at 7:45 a.m., and returned at 7:45 p.m. — having traveled into Canadian waters even — for a grand total of $70, thanks to a July web special. That is about $5.80 per hour. Their San Juan Islands Daytrip package combines a scenic cruise and whale-watching with a two-hour shore leave in Friday Harbor, a welcome break after six hours at sea. That really is the only thing to think twice about, that it makes for a long day, and there’s not much room for tuckered-out kids to nap.

Otherwise, be prepared for changeable weather. No matter what, you’ll want to be dressed for a windy day, as the Victoria Clipper III is a speedy craft and you’ll have a 30-mph wind in your face on the trip up and back. The open top deck has a windbreak at the front but if you’re standing up, it’s a bit of a gale. There are two decks below, with large windows, and seating adjacent them tends to get snapped up. A galley serves package breakfasts (about $7) and Ivar’s clam chowder and hot dogs. If you’re particularly budget-minded, as the boat gets closer to port each time, the hot dogs go on sale for $1.

In its northern journey, the boat makes its way between Camano and Whidbey islands, through Skagit Bay, and then threading the needle of Deception Pass. (Here’s a map for reference.) You’ll likely see bald eagles, seals, gulls, and guillemots — all pointed out by an on-board naturalist, who also notes sites of interest. Bring binoculars, or rent them on the boat for $5 for the day. My 300mm telephoto serves me well enough on land, but with the distances over the water I occasionally wished I had something with more oomph.

After three and a half hours, you stop very briefly at Friday Harbor to let passengers off, and then the whale-watching portion of the trip begins. Because we have “resident” Orca pods, the chances of seeing them on any given trip are high — tour companies advertise that 90 percent of their trips come with whales (not just Orcas, for that matter) spotted. One day that might mean fins in the distance, another, hearing the watery crash of a breach. It’s easy to see how people can get hooked, and make regular trips out. (Kudos to the Clipper people for maintaining a respectful distance from the whales, by the way.)

At 2 p.m., you’re dropped at Friday Harbor for a two-hour excursion. There are restaurants (the Hungry Clam boasts an extensive list of milkshakes) and shops all along the scenic port, and upon learning that you can rent bicycles for an island ride, I made a mental note to come back from an overnight stay. (Yes, the Victoria Clipper people have anticipated that, too.)

The trip back to Seattle is another three hours or so, and takes you from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Admiralty Inlet, past Useless Bay, and then as on the way out. Your chances of running into rougher water are higher on this leg, and you might want to take a precautionary dose of the $0.25 seasickness medication they have onboard.

As we left the San Juans, a seal poked its head out of the water to watch us go, as if on tourism-board cue. That was enough to keep me topside for the rest of the trip, snapping pictures and soaking up the late-afternoon sun.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival Opens Fortissimo

July 5, 2012 Philippa Kiraly

This July sees the first year of artistic director James Ehnes’s stamp on the programming and artists presented at Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival (running through July 29; tickets). The festival is in its 31st season, and Ehnes has been playing violin here for some 15 years: His choices show a continuity which will reassure audience, but also fresh ideas which will enliven the festival.

Among these has been bringing at least one work to each performance never played at the festival before—not easy when one remembers there have been between 12 and 20 concerts in each of 30 years, each with three or four works played, though many have been repeated more than once.

Opening night Monday at Nordstrom Recital Hall included the rarely-performed Variations for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 44, by Beethoven. He sketched it out in 1792, the year he reached 22 and was studying—not always fruitfully—with Haydn, but didn’t publish it for years after.

Although Beethoven had written some well-received works prior to this, the Variations seem more a student work, heavily leaning towards the piano part, played Monday by Jeewon Park. When each instrument has its limelight, the other two are not much more than accompaniment. Nevertheless, the work has its charm, and much of the performance, by Park, violinist Erin Keefe, and cellist Edward Aaron, gave it shape and nuance particularly in the lighter variations, though the musicians tended to be overly forceful when the music called for a forte.

Those who attended the free pre-concert recital had the delight of hearing pianist Marc-André Hamelin give a superb performance of two of his own works: Theme and Variations (Cathy’s Variations) and Variations on a Theme of Paganini—this last a spinoff, or perhaps I should say a takeoff, on other famous Variations on the same theme.

So often, great pianists are not great composers, but Hamelin, definitely a great pianist, has the depth and the imagination and the knowledge to write music which has the components to make it last. Cathy’s Variations, written for his fiancée about five years ago has a gentle flowing melody for a theme, largely in classical-romantic style and tonality, with variations which build and extend and embroider.

My neighbor turned to me afterward, commenting: “After that, I feel I know Cathy,” which seemed an appropriate compliment to the music. His brilliant Paganini Variations were clearly recognizable and impishly distorted, an excellent choice for this musically educated audience which caught all the insertions and nuances and chuckled often.

Ehnes himself with pianist Jon Kimura Parker performed Bartok’s Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano, the heart and soul of the ensuing concert. It’s a work which takes complete attention for the listener to absorb, and judging by the silence between movements, it received that. It also takes thorough understanding by the musicians in order to put it across, and that too it had. This was a stellar performance of a work written in the early 1920s which sounds as fresh and contemporary today, 90 years later, as it must have when written.

Brahms’ Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 34, which concluded the concert, received an intense, vigorous, sometimes even aggressive performance which began startlingly loud and continued that way. While there were many moments of extreme beauty and exquisite soft playing, and a synchronization of bowing between the two violins, Andrew Wan and Augustin Hadelich, which was a marvel to hear and behold, the performance was marred by too much forcing at every forte moment, turning each into an unneccessary quadruple forte.

Strings in Brahms’ time were all gut. Had they played this way in the 1860s when this was composed, strings would have snapped right and left during the performance. The lower registers of cellist Bion Tsang and violist David Harding were less noticeable in this regard, but Hamelin at the piano sounded equally overloud.

Maybe the performance would have sounded less pushed in a large concert hall, but this is chamber music, and Nordstrom holds only 500-plus seats. The idea of using performance practice—an approach to performing music in the context of its time—not only in Baroque music but in all music up to the present day, has been taking hold in many unexpected places, even in one of the last hold outs, the orchestra. Surely it is not too much to hope that chamber music players, particularly those of the caliber always present at Seattle Chamber Music Society’s concerts, could pay attention to this?

The SunBreak

Monthly Archives: July 2012