PEORIA, Ariz. – The Mariners got a major surprise Wednesday when they got news that starting pitcher Cliff Lee was handed a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for what was ruled a pitch thrown intentionally in the area of Arizona catcher Chris Snyder’s head.

    The incident, which took place in the third inning of the Mariners’ game Monday at Tucson Electric Park, caused both benches and bullpens to empty, although no punches were thrown.

    The fine and suspension, which were announced by Bob Watson, vice president of on-field operations for major league baseball, are almost certainly going to be appealed by Lee, although the left-hander didn’t talk about the situation Wednesday.

   Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said he assumed something would happen, but he seemed to think the five-day suspension was a little heavy-handed for a spring-training pitch that hit no one.

    “We’ll just let...

 Seattle Film Guide: March 19-25

Opening this Week

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  Bill White Reviews it for Seattle PostGlobe

The Bounty Hunter  Bounty hunter is hired to bring in his  ex-wife.

The Runaways  His  Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for "Revolutionary Road" is a curse on Michael Shannon, who promised to be one of the top new leading men with his roles in "Bug" and "Shotgun Stories," and is now given to playing eccentrics, such as the scurrilous weirdo Kim Fowley in "The Runaways," which is a pretty good picture about the girl power new wavers led by Joan Jett,  an under-rated force of rock and roll who deserves to be estimated in the same class as Lou Reed.  

Repo Men It's not a remake of "Repo Man."  These guys are coming for those replacement organs you haven't kept up your payments on.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid  From the best-selling illustrated novel Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney comes this comedy of youth's tribulations....

October Country  (NWFF, March 19-25)

The first great horror movie of the decade is a documentary about an American family. “October Country” is eerier, creepier, spookier, and just plain more scary than any common fright film.  The Mosher  family is caught in a cycle of  damnation to rival the lineage of  the fabled Ushers  This is the family portrait  Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist” fell so short of being, the one that  should  shake   us out of our torpor and wake us up to ourselves.

Don, a war veteran whose humanity was shell-shocked out of him in Vietnam, and who spent the rest of his life as an emotionally-challenged police officer, heads the Mosher family.   Hs sister is a lonely and pathetic witch who hangs around the cemetery asking the ghosts if they want to play with her. His wife, awaiting the day when an intelligent person will emerge and escape from this cursed family, is a philosopher of the lost, watching...

As the U.S. economy slumped over the last two years, poor families faced longer waits for spots in state-funded preschools and pre-kindergartens in Washington State, as the number of families on waiting lists soared 263 percent, one group reports. As 2009 closed, the waiting list stood at 3,540 kids.

At the end of 2007, there were 1,246 four-and-five-year-olds waiting for spots in the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program – a state version of Head Start, the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP reported last month, citing figures from the Department of Early Learning. (more)

FURTHER READING 

Looking for early learning answers in K-12 reform: Some places to start

Invest $3.6 billion in early learning, get back $6.7 billion

When police raided the apartment building behind the Wild Rose Tavern in June 2009, we learned that the bust was part of a three year investigation into after-hours gambling spots and a related drug ring distributing cocaine and methamphetamine.   Seattle Crime reports that the investigation has drawn to a close and prosecutors expect to file no further charges.

CHS past coverage:

• Initial post reporting on the Wild Rose Card Room bust  - 6/11/09
• Culmination of the investigation with meeting between undercover cop and a leader of the ring and subsequent arrests (off the Hill at  Joey in South Lake Union) - 6/12/09
• CHS receives a call from the Gambler - 6/12/09
• Probable Cause document in U.S. v Richard Wilson - 6/12/09
• Richard Wilson and his card room(s) inspire a rap song - 6/16/09
• "Operation Big Slick" search warrant documents - 6/18/09

Usually it's enough to put up an event post on CHS for the monthly Capitol HIll Community Council meetings. But this month, like in , the Community Council as some big stuff on the agenda, some of which needs to go to a vote. So I feel it is my responsibility as CHCC president to get the word out far and wide about what we'll be talking about in our general meeting this Thursday (7-9pm, Cal Anderson Park Shelterhouse).

to read more go to: www.capitolhillseattle.com

        PEORIA, Ariz. – Dustin Ackley, the second player taken in last June’s draft, won’t start the season with Seattle.

        The Mariners made that clear Tuesday when Ackley was optioned to the club’s Double-A West Tennessee roster.

        That being said, Ackley made a lot of fans when he was with the Mariners in the last three weeks or so, and it would surprise no one if the left-handed hitting former University of North Carolina star would make it to Triple-A and the majors both later this year.

        Ackley, an outfielder for the Tar Heels who wound up playing first base because of an arm injury, is being converted to second base.

        "I’m very proud of what he’s done so far,’’ general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "He’s worked very hard on his defense, and he wants to...

    PEORIA, Ariz. – The message was clear – Rob Johnson wasn’t alone in this.

    The Seattle catcher got the word from former Mariner shortstop Alex Rodriguez that Johnson’s hip surgeries of the offseason wouldn’t keep him out of games forever.

    Johnson was a little concerned when his rehab didn’t go as smoothly as he would have liked, so Seattle trainer Rick Griffin reached out to Rodriguez when Johnson started to question his ability to come back from a similar set of problems.

    Rodriguez answered the call by telling Griffin to tell Johnson that there is sunlight at the end of the rehab tunnel.

    “I didn’t talk to A-Rod myself, but what Rick was told was that I should expect seven good days for every two bad days,” Johnson said Monday. “When you feel good, you feel real good.”

    Johnson’s motions don’t show any holdover pain,...

With more than 2,000 musical acts from across the country and around the world performing on more than 80 stages in downtown Austin, Texas, the SXSW Music and Media Conference is a mind-boggling week of sonic and sensory overload.

Now in its 24th year, SXSW brings together artists, media, managers, promoters and music fans — all in search of new sounds, trends, talent and technology. Hence, the official SXSW slogan: “Tomorrow Happens Here.”

Those attending panel discussions will ponder such topics as: “Global Music Marketing: How to Reach Fans Worldwide,” “Does Rock ‘n’ Roll Belong in a Museum?” and the intriguing “Elvis at 75.”

I’ll be arriving in the Texas capital Tuesday (March 16) with plans to report on some of the key events and offbeat experiences that make SXSW a unique experience for the music lover, whether professional or party animal. There’s a lot to take in, and well-laid plans often get revised multiple times.

Emily...

It’s got free parking, no admission fees and plenty of lower-priced boats. Organizers are hoping that mix will draw the buyers out for this weekend’s 15th annual Anacortes Spring Boat Show. To be held at Cap Sante Boat Haven, the show will feature a variety of boats from close to a dozen exhibitors from the area. And hey, even if you’re not planning to buy a boat, it’s a great excuse to visit Anacortes.

to read more go to: www.threesheetsnw.com

     Cliff Lee (Photo courtesy Artolog via Wikimedia Commons)

    TUCSON, Ariz. – It’s a good bet you can see almost anything in a big league game during spring training.

    One thing, however, you would not expect to see. You wouldn’t expect to see a big league pitcher ejected for throwing at a big league hitter.

    Yet that exact scenario played out Monday in Tucson Electric Park when Seattle pitcher Cliff Lee was ejected from a Cactus League game for having come close to hitting Arizona catcher Chris Snyder.

    Snyder walked slowly but pointedly toward Lee after the third-inning pitch sailed over his head.  Both dugouts and both benches emptied, although nothing else ensued.

    Earlier in the game, Lee was trying to back up home plate when Snyder, moving over from the on-deck circle tried to occupy the same territory. Lee fell to the ground, although he said that incident ha no...

A new report out of New York offers another economics lesson, suggesting every dollar invested in early learning within that state generates $1.86 in new spending.

With New York struggling to cut its state budget, a Leading Edge report offers a compelling argument to spend more not less on early education, saying an infusion of $3.6 billion to give all of the state’s kids access to quality early child care and education would create $6.7 billion in spending on New York businesses.

“Business leaders are sending a clear message to Albany: investing in early education is essential for economic development in New York. The early care and education sector is an often-overlooked area that will immediately boost the economy and create long-term economic security,” John Cavalier, former chief executive officer at MapInfo, said in a summary of the report.

While a number of studies offer estimates on the long-term return-on-investment of early education, this report focuses on many short-term benefits,...

Depending on where you live, you might be seeing TV commercials every few hours warning about the dangers of health care reform. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending millions to stop this legislation. Most people live in districts where the members have already decided. If they’re Republicans, their vote is an automatic no. And, most Democrats are solid on the “aye” side, so the debate boils down to a few dozen Democrats who could vote either way.

 South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is a Democrat who’s on the fence. She said last month: “Since the outset of the health care reform debate last year, I’ve said that any health care proposal must meet the dual goals of increasing access to quality care while decreasing cost. I voted against the House version of the health care bill because it failed to meet these goals for South Dakota.”

 She’s also said the Senate bill doesn’t meet this test. But is that a no? We don’t know. Yet....

The other day the Obama administration's "Chief Information Officer" -- or CIO... isn't that clever? -- was in Seattle decrying a "culture of faceless unaccountability" in government. His boast:

"This is part of the President's agenda: to make sure we’re hardwiring transparency into the culture of the federal government."

What a bunch of horse patootie.

At least that's the way Vivek Kundra's chest-beating looks from the trenches, for me and for other journalists trying to get information from the federal government, and particularly from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

From what I've seen more than a year into the Obama administration's four-year term, the administration isn't interested in answering questions from dispassionate, knowledgeable and professional observers. It's more interested in running the federal government like a political campaign. (more)

Since this is national Sunshine Week, you will see lots of stories about open government and the importance of providing citizens with meaningful access to the activities of their government. Here is a sampling from the editorials across the state highlighting the need for legislative transparency reforms:

• A bad example of legislative 'transparency', Olympian
  "In the waning days of the regular legislative session, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, a Democrat from Spokane, claimed the Legislature is much more transparent than it was when she entered the Legislature.  Brown is wrong . . ."

• Sunshine and Clouds in Olympia, Kitsap Sun
  "The bad news is that public access to information and hearings about legislation has been ... challenging. There’s been a flurry of 'title-only' bills introduced and set for hearings, sometimes on short notice, and with no timely public information on their content. Members of the public deserve better than that — and if...

Description: Ethel’s three stepchildren, Titus, Lily Belle, and Samuel Savage, are shocked to find out that their mother plans to set up a memorial fund with the money to fund the ridiculous dreams of people. They arrange to have her put into a sanatorium where she meets several inmates, each having only one minor problem. She becomes friends with them and gains new insight. By the end of the play, you’ll wonder who the crazy ones really are. Not recommended for those age 10 and younger.

And with the great price, it's the best entertainment deal in town.

Tickets: $10 suggested donation (includes dessert during intermission) Group tickets are available by calling 425.355.9330.

Information: 425-355-9330

Website: www.ActsOfGodDramaTroupe.art.officelive.com

    TUCSON, Ariz. – The Seattle Mariners are deep into the second week of the Cactus League season, but it was only Sunday that opening day starter Felix Hernandez got on the mound for the first time.

     The Mariners are being exceedingly careful with Hernandez, who threw 262.1 innings last year, including the World Baseball Classic, spring training, the All-Star Game and the regular season. That total was 42.1 innings more than before in his career.

    Hernandez had flourished in those innings, going 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA while earning enough Cy Young Award votes to finish second to Kansas City’s Zack Greinke in that postseason award race.

    The extra innings are of concern to the Mariners, so they are holding Hernandez back. Before Sunday, he’d pitched against batters just twice, both times in simulated games. And in one of those, batters were instructed not to swing.

    So Sunday’s game was of...

Publicola calls it...

The most important election you’ve never heard of, for a seat on the five-member King Conservation District board, is happening next Tuesday, March 16, at seven libraries around King County. The district gives out conservation grants and oversees land use in rural King County; the decisions it makes determine whether wetlands and habitat are protected or developed into suburban sprawl.

You can vote at the downtown library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle, between 10:30 AM and 7:30 PM. Get info on the candidates here.

As the Seattle Times put it:

The candidates are: Mary Embleton of Seattle, director of Cascade Harvest Coalition; Mara Heiman of Auburn, a farmer, landowner and former real-estate agent; Teri Herrera of Redmond, Realtor; Kirk Prindle of Seattle, ecologist and environmental planner; and Max Prinsen of Renton, former appointed conservation-district-board chair and president of Save Habitat and Diversity of Wetland (SHADOW). For more on the candidates, go to: www....

When we broke the news that the Jimi Hendrix statue would be staying on Capitol Hill, we also learned he would have iconic company in the form of the father of rock 'n' roll, Chuck Berry. Turns out, Hendrix and Berry will be joined by at least a third. 

We saw Elvis being wheeled from his delivery drop point at the construction site on 10th over to his new home at the by way of Nagle Place. Hard to argue too much with the selection of this rock triumvirate -- Elvis, was a hero to most... but we're hoping three more (Run DMC) get added to the scene...

Although I spent a good part of my theater-hopping youth taking in three or more movies a day, my first experience with sitting down in one theater to watch five movies in a row was in 1973, when the former Movie House, now the Grand Illusion Cinema, had an unofficial policy of showing every movie in the projection booth on Sundays.  When they were in the middle of  a Warner Brothers festival, there was usually a wealth of film cans  laying about. A typical Sunday might include Bette Davis in Jezebel,” Edward G. Robinson in “Brother Orchid,” Errol Flynn in “Gentleman Jim,” James Cagney in “Taxi,” and Humphrey Bogart in “The Return of Dr. X.” I remember one Sunday when, five movies not being enough, I zipped over to the Crest for a double feature of “The Godfather” and “Anne of a Thousand Days” after the Warner Brothers pictures ran out.   

There had been other marathon events, such  as the dusk ...

Bill Lucey of The Huffington Post featured InvestigateWest [and Seattlepostglobe] in an article about nonprofit investigative journalism in an age of declining for-profit newsrooms.

Lucey, a former South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporter, began the interview by asking what it was like to watch the Seattle Post-Intelligencer close.  To be frank, it was horrible.  

But I've replaced that memory with a year of hard work... (more)

More here at InvestigateWest

  The P-I stopped publication almost exactly a year ago.

  (Photo and purse by Linda Thomas)

Former Dateline Earth denizen Lisa Stiffler, now digging up all kinds of interesting material on stormwater and other topics for Sightline.org, came out this week with a helpful hands-on guide to  how homeowners can do their part to cut down on stormwater pollution.

The basics: Keep as much rain as you can on your own property. Stiffler outlines how to use a variety of techniques to get the water to soak into the earth right around your castle. (more)

Lisa Stiffler

Despite its diminutive size, the ukulele is a beloved instrument. Among the celebrity musicians who have had a great affection for the uke was Beatle George Harrison.

A contemporary master of the ukulele, Jake Shimabukuro, has done a terrific version of Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” In fact, it made him a YouTube legend.

The Hawaiian musician has been called the “four-string Samurai” as well as the “Hendrix of the ukulele.” (more)

more at