Nothing is more visually eloquent than the perfect marriage between architecture and nature. True to this concept, the elegant simplicity of the East is interwoven with the NW design philosophy in this custom-built waterfront view home. Seven bedrooms, 4.5 baths, with sweeping views of the water and San Juan Islands, this home is situated in ever-popular Edgemoor neighborhood of Bellingham and is minutes from Historic Fairhaven. Attention to detail, North Cascade Joinery design and Moceri Construction, creates harmony between nature, craftsmanship and quality. This is a home you will never want to leave.

Amenities

• 2 Fireplaces
• Security System
• Hardwood Flooring
• Mountain Views
• Water View
• Waterfront
• Bay View

For more information please visit:

http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-638-4373662/waterfront-view-home-bellingham-wa-98225

For more information please visit:

http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-638-4373662/waterfront-view-home-bellingham-wa-98225

The bill, HB1946, would create a “work group” composed of representatives of the State Department of Health, local governments and disabled-citizen advocacy groups to produce a strategy designed to curb the “tremendous amount of abuse” of the disabled- parking placards.

Disabled citizens are entitled to park at not only parking spaces reserved for the handicapped, but also in city-operated paid-parking spaces without charge. Seattle officials estimated, for a column I did on this topic two years ago, that 40 percent of downtown and First Hill parking spaces are occupied by vehicles displaying handicapped-parking placards.

Seattle City Councilman Tim Burgess, now a mayoral candidate, told me for that 2011 column that the city’s police department and state transportation people “estimate that as many as 50 percent of the placards are being illegally used,” representing 20 percent of the parking spots in the downtown area.

The measure before the 2013 Legislature made it out of the House Transportation Committee last Friday and now awaits referral to the full House for a vote and, if approved by the representatives, will then go to the State Senate.

Toby Olson, executive secretary of the Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues and Employment, says the filing of the bill, sponsored by Olympia’s two house members, both Democrats, followed nearly a year of meetings with Seattle officials. The goal was to find solutions to reduce the abuse of disability parking placards while strengthening enforcement for violations.

Once approved by both houses and signed by the governor, the bill would immediately require handicapped parking placards to prominently display an expiration date. Using an expired permit would result in a $250 fine.

The second phase of the bill would establish the work group, whose goal would be to add more far-reaching provisions. That group would begin meeting in August and deliver its final strategic plan to the 2014 Legislature.

“There is no shortage of ideas for the work group to consider,” says Olson “But there are consequences to some of the ideas. They’ll need to come up with ideas that are actually workable and take cognizance of state budget constraints.”

The bill makes some specific recommendations to the work group and an interesting one is to explore the extent to which medical professionals, who must certify the disability of those seeking a permit card and auto placard, are aiding the abuse.

The bill would require that the strategic plan include “oversight measures” to ensure that parking placards and special license plates for the disabled are being properly issued.

The strategic plan would provide for a random review by a volunteer panel of medical professionals of placard issuance and possible sanctions against medical professionals for repeated improper issuance of disabled parking placards

The Seattle Police Department says that many physicians distribute parking placards “for reasons that may not comply with state criteria” and a key suggestion is adding the name of the issuing physician on each placard.

A Seattle resident who ran across my previous column on the Internet sent me an email some months ago saying he did a test with his own doctor following knee surgery from which he explained he was “now walking without discomfort.”

“I asked my doctor if I could get one of those permits for disability parking. She smiled wryly and said ‘well..hmmmm…I suppose you qualify’. WHAT! I can walk without trouble and it is that easy to get a permit for phantom knee pain that was corrected months ago?”

Of course, blaming the disabled-parking abuses mostly on doctors would be unfair in an environment where use of other people’s permits or using the placards of those who are now deceased is suspected of being rampant, driven in part probably from the ever-increasing cost of parking.

And while the City of Seattle is looking to the legislature to devise ways to address the abuse, which also brings lost revenue for the cities, some tools are already available.

One is the use of trained volunteers authorized to issue citations for infractions, which was approved by previous legislation in this state some years ago.

In cities elsewhere in the country, trained volunteers are authorized to issue citations for infractions. The Seattle Commission for People With Disabilities, in a report on the problem a year ago, suggested the volunteers could record the license plate numbers of cars displaying expired placards, or operated by drivers who didn’t appear to be disabled.

Some Seattle officials expressed concern that such use of volunteers might lead to confrontations with offending parkers.

To which I suggested to one such concerned official that use of volunteers who were large as well as intimidating in appearance would likely take care of the concern.

For sure the representatives of the disabled and the city agree increased enforcement and imposition of harsher penalties are essential, particularly for those caught using a placard issued to someone who has since died.

The issue of stealing handicapped-parking spots, which is of course what cheaters are doing since they are depriving cities of revenue in addition to depriving handicapped drivers of parking places, deserves the attention it’s apparently finally going to get from the Legislature.

Family style dining is the only way to eat out! Bring a group of food loving fanatics out to dine, have each party member chose a different entrée, then pass the plates around so everyone can grab a taste, tapas style.

Chicken has never been more popular. From bloggers nationwide to F.L. Fowler’s parody and recipe book Fifty Shades of Chicken, it is every chef’s challenge to dress up their chicken like never before.

Artisan cocktails have made their way into our homes. With trendy speakeasy bars like The Needle and the Thread, located in the attic of Tavern Law, and other member only/restricted bars in Seattle, the introduction of fine artisan cocktails have made their debut. Rather than a glass of wine or a gin and tonic, have an Aviation or a barrel aged manhattan. Nowadays you will see not only that cocktails are being presented as art, but they are also being crafted in front of you as entertainment. Don’t underestimate this presentation at your next gala.

Not-so-sweet desserts are coming around. Forget your sweet and salty 4th course, this year it’s about less sugar. Try dark cocoa dusted on Love and Quiche‘s new Greek yogurt cheesecake or a chocolate tart. Healthier choices like greek yogurt are higher in protein and provide great probiotics for your immune system; it is the best for your body and your indulgence.

Need more ideas, check out sites like Bon Appetit and The Gourmet Food Blog to see what the best are doing.

2309 N. 65th Seattle, WA 98103

United States

$1,125,000 US

Luxury home in the heart of Green Lake merges classic styling with modern touches. A one-of-a-kind designed home a block and a half from the lake is a short walk to all the fantastic amenities. A grand entry welcomes to soaring ceilings, light-filled spaces, and a magnificent open staircase. The main floor is an entertainer’s dream. A lavish dining room for swanky dinner parties, and a generous backyard is ideal for summer BBQs. Celebrate a magnificent neighborhood with this dream home.

For more information visit:

http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-638-20191148/web-17jpg-seattle-wa-98103

2309 N. 65th Seattle, WA 98103 United States

$1,125,000 US

In fact, one Seattle-area attorney long involved in independent-contractor legal issues, says an attitude “inhospitable to the independent-contractor business model” has become evident at both the state and federal levels.

Employing independent contractors has long been an essential practice in some industries, as with newspapers’ use of freelance writers or real estate firms and their independent agents. But the pressures on business during the economic downturn from which some are still just emerging has made the strategy of using independent contractors rather than hiring employees more common, and with that has come some abuse.

State and federal agencies, upset by what they view as millions in lost tax revenue, aided by labor leaders’ targeting House Bill 1414 as one of their top priorities this legislative session, have tagged misclassification abuses as part of the “underground economy.”

Calling it part of the “underground economy,” which is generally defined as money-making activities, frequently illegal, that aren’t reported to the government, is itself viewed by business interests as part of the overreach by proponents. .

There are several things about the bill, titled “The Employee Fair Classification Act,” that business views as a reach too far by those proponents. The first is that the bill would establish the premise that “an employer-employee relationship is presumed to exist” for anyone who performs service for pay.” What follows is a series of exemptions to that blanket assumption.

Some besides business may find it a cause for concern that the measure would create a new provision making it a crime to retaliate against those who complain to authorities about a misclassification by the employer, with an assumption of guilt. The measure would make violations of the retaliation provision a gross misdemeanor and, in a Napoleonic-law twist, assume the business is guilty of the crime unless it can prove its innocence.

Kris Tefft

Kris Tefft, chief legal counsel for the Association of Washington Business, has led the effort to lobby lawmakers and alert businesses about the bill’s problems. He says his priority in seeking to raise concerns about the bill “is to convince legislators that this is too much of a regulation step to impose on legitimate businesses.”

The bill has made it out of one committee and has until Friday to be cleared by the finance committee for an eventual vote in the House, where passage would be likely since this bill is a top labor priority this session and the House is controlled by Democrats. A companion bill filed in the more moderate Senate has languished in committee so business is hoping that means the measure won’t clear the Legislature this session.

In fact, Tefft’s goal is to keep the measure from even reaching a vote in the House.

“While it is a top labor priority, it has drawn fire from a broad and deep coalition of various industry groups who are all working on keeping the bill from the House floor,” he said. The goal is to “get legislators to go back to the drawing board in terms of addressing identifiable problems with the ‘underground economy.’”

Nigel Aviles

Nigel Avilez, an attorney on Mercer Island who has been involved with the legal issues surrounding independent contractors since before it became a hot issue, suggests government has created “a climate that is intolerant of independent contract misclassifications.”

Avilez, whose Mercer Law specializes in independent-contractor and worker-classification law, describes the current attitude of both state and federal agencies as “inhospitable to the independent-contractor business model.”

The bill, despite its potential major impact on businesses, is only now starting to gain some visibility outside the legislative halls and raising the eyebrows of business owners as they learn of it..

None of the opponents of the measure deny that some businesses, particularly many whose fortunes have suffered a serious downturn in the recent financial turmoil, have become scofflaws, basically trying to be creative in worker relations, and thus creating a problem for legitimate businesses.

And that, according to Avilez, has created “an inflexibility” on the part of agencies toward working with businesses who have merely made a mistake in classification of independent contractors, rather than being guilty of cheating. “Some agencies feel people are cheating the system so they don’t want to cut any slack for any business.”

Avilez did a public-records request and searched the documents to conclude “there is an apparent coordination between the U.S. Department of Labor and state agencies.”

“For example, between 2010 and 2012, public records show that the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) audited close to 140 nail salons, and assessed substantial taxes in many of those,” Avilez said. “The quantity of these audits was far and above most other industry audits, clearly suggesting that the nail industry was being targeted by ESD.”

Five hair salons were found to owe taxes of more than $20,000, not including penalties, with three dozen hit with taxes of $5,000 or more, plus penalties.

As an indication of the historic role of independent contractors for some industries, Tefft noted that “a lot of industries are coming forward with bills that would exempt them from the provisions of the bill should it become law.”

Check out Flywheel indoor cycling classes. They challenge you to transform your body and have fun doing it. Discover the Flywheel experience. Measure your performance, set new goals and track your progress with the most advanced technology indoor cycling has to offer. Check out their world-class instructors who will inspire you to reach personal bests with driving enthusiasm and exhilarating music.

Find them in Westlake and South Lake Union or online at: http://seattle.flywheelsports.com/

Living on the Eastside? try the David Barton Gym

“At the core of the gym is a sea of glittering metal juxtaposing a lavish bathroom you may wish you had at home. However, you can pump iron anywhere and there are many beautiful showers in the world in which to luxuriate. There is something much more extraordinary you will find here though. That is the DavidBartonGym staff, because it is how we engage with our members that distinguishes us. It is how our members feel like a part of a group of people working towards the same goal, to help each other achieve success. We believe that people should lift each other up.” – David

Personal Trainers are one of the very best ways to stay true to making a new you!

Check out Karrie Dutton Fitness. Whether you are a fitness beginner or training for your first triathlon, Karrie will be your coach and cheerleader. Her workouts are designed to build  core strength, lean muscles and flexibility.

After spending years in the sales industry, Karrie’s focus is now on taking clients from a state of mediocricy, to greatness! Everyone has so much potential, think of me as your personal cheerleader, here to support you in any and every aspect of your life. Feel more energy, have better health, have better relationships, your work and life will be better. I look forward to meeting you and making some amazing changes in your life!

Majestic Cascade Mountain views surround this private and quiet County Estate. Main home features 5500 sq ft of thoughtful spaces and finishes, perfect for entertaining family and friends. Beautiful woodwork, hardwood floors, granite and slate finishes make this home a warm and comfortable sanctuary. Large Chef’s kitchen incudesl granite, top of the line stainless appliances, and great room off kitchen which opens to views and vistas beyond. Barn and 5 separate organic pastures on 25+ acres for the passionate equestrian.

• 2 Fireplaces
• Granite Countertops
• Horse Facilities
• Library
• Carriage House
• Hardwood Flooring
• Media Room / Home Theater
• Stables
• Steam Room
• 4 Car Garage
• Mountain Views

11314 227th Ave SE Monroe, WA 98272 United States

$1,695,000 USD

For more information and photos please visit:

www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-638-4425592/11314-227th-ave-se-monroe-wa-98272

This musical satire captures all of the naughty fun of the book in this saucy and hilarious show; Part Chippendales, part Second City…all in one delicious package. This unauthorized parody is set to be the sexiest, funniest, and most exciting show of the year.

SPANK! features an all-star cast of top comedic actors and improvisers. It is written and directed by Jim Millan, whose credits include: The Kids in the Hall, Spiderman on Broadway, Marijuanalogues with Tommy Chong, Larry King Standing Up and Mythbusters Live.

Spank! is only in town for a couple days and has had raving reviews, so buy tickets here and take a girl’s night out

The Moore Theatre

1932 Second Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

Ticket Price: $35

Don a mask and a black-tie ensemble, marvel at exotic performers and dance the night away during this Venetian night at the Bell Harbor Conference Center. (2211 Alaskan WaySeattle, WA 98121)

‘Venice is Sinking:’ A Venetian Masked Carnival Ball is one of the biggest winter parties in the Seattle area, and a welcome excuse to slip on a gorgeous gown or sharp tuxedo. In its sixth year, the ball boasts musicians and entertainers including contortionists, acrobats, aerialists, burlesque dancers and a belly dancing troupe, lending the night an exotic mystique. A portion of the profits from the ball is donated to Crooked Trails, a Seattle-based nonprofit supporting indigenous people throughout the world with sustainable community development projects.

• Before the ‘Venice is Sinking:’ A Venetian Masked Carnival Ball, you’re invited to glamorous pre-party at Sensa Salon, where you can kick the night off with cocktails and appetizers.
• Then, head to the ball at the Bell Harbor Conference Center—and don’t forget your mask. The more ornate, the better. There are even prizes for the best female and male costumes.

Purchase Tickets through GILT CITY

• Redeem on: Saturday, February 9, 2013
• Formal attire is encouraged and preferred
• A Venetian mask is required for admission
• $50 Men’s Warehouse credit expires on February 9, 2013
• Please note: an RSVP is required for admission to the pre-party
• Must be 21+ to attend

Includes:

• One general admission ticket for ‘Venice is Sinking:’ A Masked Carnivale Ball at Bell Harbor Conference Center on Saturday, February 9, 2013, 8 PM – 1:30 AM
• Admission to the pre-party at Sensa Salon at 6:30 PM with beer, wine, a specialty cocktail, light appetizers and desserts
• Seat on party bus from Sensa Salon to the ball
• Optional $50 credit at any Men’s Warehouse retail location to be used for tuxedo rental on the night of the event

 

ACT- A Contemporary Theatre presents, The Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Written by celebrated British playwright Peter Nichols, this play has been heralded by London’s National Theatre as one of the most significant plays of the 20th century! Brian and Sheila keep their marriage alive by believing it’s better to laugh than cry. Fortunately, they are natural born entertainers. But one night, ten years into bearing up laughing while caring for their disabled daughter, nicknamed “Joe Egg,”  the wheels of their fine-tuned comedy act start to fall off.

For tickets and more information please visit:

http://www.acttheatre.org/Tickets/OnStage/ADayintheDeathofJoeEgg

 Playing through February 17th.

ACT- A Contemporary Theatre

Tickets and more information please visit:

http://www.acttheatre.org/Tickets/OnStage/ADayintheDeathofJoeEgg

]]> http://spotlightseattle.com/2013/02/05/a-day-in-the-death-of-joe-egg-at-act/feed/ 0 http://spotlightseattle.com/2013/02/01/flynns-harp-cable-howses-role-in-helping-key-nw-industries-emerge/ http://spotlightseattle.com/2013/02/01/flynns-harp-cable-howses-role-in-helping-key-nw-industries-emerge/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:32:40 +0000 MikeFlynn http://spotlightseattle.com/?p=12809 Whether it was fate or serendipity that brought Elwood (Woody) Howse and Tom Cable into business together after a decade of crossing paths, the fact is that the firm they finally created became a major factor in the creation and growth of the technology, biotech and medical-device industries in the Pacific Northwest.

It was actually at the urging of their wives that Cable and Howse decided, in 1977, to leave the Seattle securities firm Foster & Marshall and launch Cable & Howse Ventures. But it took two years and almost 200 calls on potential investors before they raised the $9 million to fund the first limited partnership to launch the firm.

Tom CablThe business quickly grew into the largest venture capital firm in the Northwest, eventually raising more than $160 million for five Cable & Howse funds that helped finance more than 100 companies, about two dozen of which they took public. More than half of those 100 were outside the Northwest. Now they’ve been selected as 2013 laureates of the Puget Sound Business Hall of Fame. They, along with retired Alaska Air chairman and CEO Bill Ayer and Gary Oakland, who built Boeing Employees Credit Union into the nation’s fourth largest, will be honored as this year’s crop of laureates March 21 at the annual banquet put on by Junior Achievement and Puget Sound Business Journal.

Woody Howse

Cable and Howse first met and became friends at U.S. Navy nuclear submarine school at New London, CN, following which they parted to serve stints as officers aboard nuclear subs. Next they each wound up in graduate school at Stanford, where Howse got his undergraduate degree, although Cable had been gone a year when Howse arrived.

Finally, they took different routes to get from the Bay Area, where they both had jobs in the investment industry, to Seattle to join Foster & Marshall.

Cable & Howse was a different breed than VC firms of today in that the five partners in the firm acted as a private investment banking firm, working with early stage companies to help them find funding and then immersing themselves in the start-up companies.

Howse recalls that “in those days, no one knew how to put together a thorough business plan and business models, so we worked closely with the managements to get the plans pulled together to staff the companies, and to build selling presentations for investors.”

“A large proportion of our companies were absolutely seed startups when we invested,” Howse added. “Today virtually no local VC funds do seed investing. Individual angel investors, family and friends are the provider of that class of capital now.”

Along the way, they also helped shape the software industry that was starting to emerge in the Northwest in the early ’80s, putting up the money to allow the presidents of some small software companies to start the Washington Software Alliance, which became the industry’s dominant trade organization.

I asked each of them what they viewed as their best investment, as well as their most interesting and most satisfying. Both agreed that Immunex Corp. was the answer to all three but Cable added that the company, one of the Northwest’s earliest and most successful biotech companies, was also perhaps the most frustrating.

The frustration was that by then Cable & Howse, guided by a long-languishing share price as Immunex was impacted by a general investor turnoff on biotech through the middle 1990s, distributed all of its Immunex stock before the picture improvd dramatically.

The Immunex involvement was one of a number of investments Cable & Howse made in the medical arena where, as Howse put it, “we always felt the products were aimed at the betterment of mankind, which always made us feel like we were doing something of value.”

Both, in what some might suggest are their “retirement” years, remain closely involved with medical-related companies. Cable’s last board position is with Omeros, a Seattle-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.

“I think Omeros will emerge, over the next few years, as the dominant biotech company in the Northwest,” Cable offered.

Howse is still a member of four corporate boards, two of which he describes as “rank startups: Stella Therapeutics, focused on a technology targeting an orphan disease that is the worst of the brain tumors, and BeneSol, focused on an interesting technology concerning Vitamin D.”

Both Cable and Howse also were in agreement when I asked them if they recalled their worst investment.

In what Howse refers to as “the low point of naivete for us as investors” and Cable recalls only as an investment “with no logical reason,” they bought Inside Sports from Newsweek Magazine. Since the advertising staff at Inside Sports had sought a share of ownership, which they didn’t get, all the ad people quit.

“We stopped funding after two months of having to print the magazine with no ad revenues coming in,” says Howse. “We originally thought of it as a road to success but instead it was a black hole.”

In 1996, after they proved unable to convince institutional investors of the viability of the Northwest as a place where sufficient new investment opportunities would emerge, Cable & Howse liquidated the partners with an IPO for Applied Microsystem and its distribution.

It’s been 17 years since Cable & Howse closed its doors, but to this day the mark that Woody Howse and Tom Cable made on start-ups in the technology, biotech and medical-device industries remain as visible impacts on the region’s economy.

Building a fort, clubhouse or tent is an adventure of childhood! With imagination as your guide, an old sheet and a kitchen table can become a fort atop a mountain or a clubhouse for friends.

Inside Fort Adventure at the Seattle Children’s Museum, families can work together to imagine, plan and build their own fort, clubhouse or tent.  Supplies abound ranging from tires to stacks of shoe boxes to sheets and blankets.  Working together, the building space inside this exhibit undergoes a transformation.

Building the fort is just one step in the process, stop at our Inspiration Station to play inside a 12-foot teepee, a clubhouse and a giant apple.  Move to the Design Center and use LEGOs®  to create a prototype. Finish your adventure with a book and flashlight and read about other Fort, Clubhouse and Tent adventures.

The Museum stretches over 22,000 sq feet and is a play space designed for kids 10 and under to enjoy with their families.  There are a number of exhibits for you to explore!

Addressing all PARENTS!! The best part of Seattle Children’s Museum is they can coordinate a kid’s party for you  The kids will have a great time, and you won’t spend your time cleaning up sticky finger prints or worrying about keeping the kids entertained! A party at the Museum is a perfect solution for a magical and memorable birthday celebration. Just remember, NO CLEANING for you, no activity planning for you, and a great time for your kids! Plan your next party here.

Admission prices range from $6-$7.50, however pricing goes up after February 1st this year! So hurry in They are operating Monday- Friday from 10 am to 5pm, and Saturday-Sunday from 10am to 6pm.

305 Harrison Street
Seattle, WA 98109

206-441-1768