Sonics Claim They Add no Economic Benefit to Seattle, Legislators Question Wisdom of Building New UW Branch: SeattleIAM

This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from SeattleIAM where you will find the best blogs from Seattle, Washington as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Is Support Waning for a North UW Campus?

David Postman, blogging on his Postman on Politics, gives us the latest on the proposal for a new University of Washington branch campus and it seems that enthusiasm is waning. The Seattle Times reports that advocates for a new campus “packed an Olympia hearing room Thursday to argue whether an urban Everett location or a more spacious Marysville campus would be the best site.” But according to the UW’s chief lobbyist, some legislators are “beginning to question the wisdom” of building the new campus “given the cost projections and what appear to be concerns about how this really fits into the entire higher education system.”

Postman points out in his post that the university has also requested “$150 million in state money to start work a new Husky stadium.” He jokes about running into a legislator “who suggested UW could finance the stadium by selling off all its branch campuses.” Could the north campus actually be aided by the stadium push? Postman finds it would be a “tough sell” for the Legislature to agree on “$150 million for a new stadium in Seattle while telling Snohomish County that it’ll have to wait to get its branch campus.”

Sonics Say They Provide no Economic Benefit to Seattle

A recent post on Super Sonic Soul points out the complete irony of the argument made in the Sonics’ legal papers filed in US District Court. The papers were filed in order for the Sonics to break their Key Arena lease. According to an article in the Seattle Times, the papers state that “Seattleites will not reduce their entertainment budget simply because the Sonics leave.” Meaning, there is no economic benefit to having the Sonics in Seattle, “the same argument anti-stadium activists have been making for the past two decades.”

Our blogger points out in the post that “the Sonics argued the exact opposite in all their previous utterances,” so this is obviously “rhetoric designed to convince the courts the Sonics are not an integral part of the city’s fabric, and that the judge presiding in the case will allow the team to flee to Oklahoma City.” Even more ironic is that the city of Oklahoma is “being asked to spend $100 million on refurbishing their new stadium so that they might enjoy the economics benefits of a pro basketball team.”

Ports of Tacoma and Seattle Partner up to Reduce Toxic Emissions

Kelly Kearsley, blogging for Biz Buzz, reports that “the Port of Tacoma commission reiterated its partnership with the Port of Seattle on environmental projects” yesterday. During their meeting, they approved a resolution “reaffirming the port's environmental stewardship policy and collaborative partnership on environmental issues with the Port of Seattle.” For the past year, they have been working together on the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy “an effort to reduce maritime emissions that also includes the Vancouver, B.C. Port Authority.”

The port’s director of environmental programs, Sue Mauermann, said that this strategy “focuses on reducing Diesel Particulate Matter and greenhouse gases.” Kearsley states in her post that “diesel emissions are considered toxic, and exposure to them can worsen asthma and contribute to increased rates of lung cancer and respiratory illness.” Goals included in the strategy are to reduce “particulate matter emitted by ships at berth by 70 percent and from cargo-handling equipment by 30 percent by 2010.”

Rep. Marilyn Chase Proposes String of Bans on Consumer Products

Over at Sound Politics, our blogger reports on the recent movements of Rep. Marilyn Chase (D). Chase has “been busy.” She recently proposed a ban on plastic grocery bags and proposed a carbon tax that would be used “to subsidize other businesses.” In addition, she has proposed a ban of plastic water bottles and non-recyclable food packaging.

Our blogger sarcastically states in the post, however, that a “personal favorite” is the proposal “requiring retailers of small-scale gas-powered equipment to give equal or greater shelf space and signage to electrical or battery alternatives.” In addition, this proposal requires all state government agencies to purchase the non-gas alternatives. To top it off, it levies “an additional six percent tax on all such gas-powered equipment.” Our blogger wonders about people who have enough land to make battery equipment impractical or the affect on stores that sell more gas equipment because “there's many more gas models and no one wants the others.”

About SeattleIAM

SeattleIAM is part of a groundbreaking network of city-focused blog aggregation, user generated media and social networking websites currently rolling out across North America. Each IAM website filters and organizes blog content as well as offering video upload capabilities, social networking, blog authoring, favourites lists and rumours. The IAM Network is a division of SoMedia Networks Inc which also operates Inveslogic.com, Greenedia.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com. For more information or to register an account, visit SeattleIAM.com.