Recent Stories with tag city

You knew when Kabletown bought NBC that it wouldn't be long before Cablevision went on a shopping spree of its own. The blog paidContent claims--in an exclusive--that a deal is being inked between Cablevision's Rainbow Media and Gothamist, LLC, worth $5 million to $6 million. (As a former editor of Seattlest, I need to run home and check my mailbox for substantial backpay.)

Not to be outdone, Business Insider reports that the two have been trying to hash out an agreement for months, but that nothing is official. So far, no one's commenting on the record. paidContent adds that the price includes "a performance-based earnout," and that Rainbow Media's strategy is to use Gothamist's indie city sites to support its "indie-local franchise for Sundance and IFC."

Since Gothamist doesn't pay its rank-and-file contributors, offering site editors only a small monthly stipend, I'm curious to see what corporate ownership will do to the thrill of writing for an "indie" site for free. Most importantly, how will this affect our viewing of the sluttish American Apparel "lace" models on Seattlest? Only time will tell.

Gun-free summer theatre at Volunteer Park.

U.S. District Court Judge Marsha J. Pechman ruled in favor of the City of Seattle against plaintiff Robert Warden, of Kent, and dismissed his case. Warden had brought suit against the city and Mayor Greg Nickels for banning guns in parks, arguing that the state constitution expressly prevented that limitation. The King Co. Superior Court agreed in February, calling the ban illegal.

But here's where it gets interesting: Warden's success in that case rendered his complaint moot in U.S. District Court. So he couldn't argue the more straightforward claim that the state constitution preempted local law. ("The court was presented only with the issue of state law preemption, and here Plaintiff expressly removed his preemption claim from his complaint," wrote Pecham in her decision. )

So Warden was left arguing Second and Fourteenth Amendment issues. Pechman countered that the Second Amendment does not (yet, there's a case coming before the Supreme Court) constrain the actions of municipalities like Seattle, only Congress. And she did not find Warden discriminated against. Warden was able to cite no inalienable right to carry a gun in a park.

Pechman moved on, though, to give her thoughts as to the legitimacy of the preemption argument anyway. In her view, there's precedent for a parks gun ban:...

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It's fall and web-spinners are out, spinning webs for 3GS iPhone auteurs or just hanging out making you nervous.

Seattle Bubble tipped us off to this CHS story about Seattle's condo auctions this weekend, and KUOW's "condo glut" take. Short story: the auctions are likely to reset condo values lower citywide. Seattle Bubble thinks that a valuation reset is about time.

Mayor Nickels released his budget for 2010, which slashes city staff and raids our rainy day fund. It also raises $600 million for the deep-bore tunnel construction project. The city council sounds ready to rubber-stamp it--except for Nick Licata.

On the SunBreak, Roger reported on a class action lawsuit proceeding against the Oklahoma Thunder née Seattle Sonics ownership group. Jeremy looked into the Twilight future of Forks, and MvB talked with Metro chief Kevin Desmond about technology and transit.

Next week, Publicola is looking forward to The Pink Panther at Central Cinema. Count us in. More than ever, the world needs Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau.