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There's a Friday night dress rehearsal for the Sound-Transit sponsored art installation in the empty lot cleared for light rail construction at the corner of Broadway and Denny. Word from the artist Dan Corson and Sound Transit art program manager Barbara Luecke is the 'rehearsal' will start at 7 PM and run 'until the generator gas tank is empty' around midnight. Same plan Halloween night. There's been some scrambling to complete the installation as weather and some mis-sized fiberglass rods have slowed progress. The installation isn't yet in final form but most of it is in place and there are lasers. What else could you ask for?
Joining the election night celebration on Capitol Hill, the Approve R-71 campaign announced they will be holding their party at Pravda Studios on 10th Ave in Pike/Pine. Mike McGinn's campaign, meanwhile, will be watching the results come in down the street at the War Room.
Approve 71 campaign releases Election Night Party details
When: 7 pm Tuesday, Nov. 3
Where: Pravda Studios, 1406 10th Ave., Suite 200, Seattle
www.pravdastudios.com
For information on other local election night parties visit http://approvereferendum71.org/election-night-party/
Who: Approve 71 Campaign Chair Anne Levinson, Approve 71 Campaign Manager Josh Friedes, the Approve 71 campaign team, volunteers, friends and allies
A Broadway small business has become entangled in business deal involving a wide-ranging Web of businesses and charities that has cost the independent retailer more than $20,000 in losses, according to its owner.
Bliss Soaps' owner Phil Wright tells CHS that he and his co-owner Chuck Sapronetti lost more than $20,000 on a wholesale order arranged with a business called Emperor's Essentials, a health and supplement product provider headquartered in Florida but active here in Washington state. Wright said everything with the deal -- one of the largest they've ever had -- seemed on the up and up until the last few weeks. Nearly three months after Bliss delivered the goods and got paid, Wright says Robert Friend, head of Emperor's Essentials, reversed the charges.
"He paid us. We made the products. Then he reversed the charges three months later. We didn't know which way to turn with it," Wright said.
Friend, it turns out, is not a stranger to financial controversy. He and his wife are involved with a group of charities that has been investigated for its questionable practices. Here is a Seattle PI article about the couple from 2007. Most recently, the activities of the American Veterans Coalition, which lists Friend as its 'registered agent,' were under scrutiny as the Gig Harbor-based charity settled claims in Arkansas and Kentucky. The office of the Washington State Attorney General would not comment on whether it is -- or is not -- investigating any of the charities Friend is involved with. Those include the AVC, the Cancer Assistance Network, the Disabled Firefighters Foundation, and the National Association for Disabled Police Officers. We have also requested information from the AG on any complaints against Friend, his organizations and his company, Emperor's Essentials. None of the organizations were included in the state's recent busts of so-called 'badge charities.
CHS also talked to Rebecca Sherrell, charities program manager for the Washington Secretary of State's office. Sherrell said her office had no documentation of any state actions against the Friend charities.
Back at Bliss, Wright said he didn't know what to do. So he gave Friend -- somebody he says he's known from the business world for seven years -- a call.
"He tries to intimidate," Wright said of Friend." "'I'm so right,' 'you don't have a chance.' I think a lot of people back down from the intimidation."
CHS got a small taste of this when we contacted Friend at his Gig Harbor home through a number provided on one of his organizations' Web sites. Friend answered the phone with a cheery "Emperor's Essentials!" Then he learned he was talking to a reporter. "Do not call me," Friend said. "This is a private residence and I do not want this to happen again."
Later that night, Friend forwarded us this e-mail without additional comment:
Phil and Chuck,
I am going to press criminal charges, a restraining order, and harassment charges, and take this to court very quickly if you do not stop your threats and harassment. Brian and I have been gentlemen to this point. Enough is enough. All your text's are documented and ready to be supplied to the legal authorities as needed. They are in black and white. There is no wiggle room in what you are doing. Some of what you are committing is criminal, and a lot is blat en civil wrongs.
We feel you have miss led us, duped us, and not provided us with what we have paid you for. We also feel you still owe us a sizable sum of money and have caused us large financial losses. Let's let the courts hand down a decision.
I suggest you allow the courts to deal with this and they will decide whom owes whom what. We have everything documented and we will provide it accordingly at the prescribed time. I am sure you are aware that Chase called last night and are leaving the charge backs right where they are, with Emperor's Essentials. They have your documents and they have ours, and they have made their decision accordingly.
We have been trying to be patient with you, but one more action, or phone call like today and we are filing charges.
Be under no allusion, you have been put on notice. Govern yourselves accordingly.
Robert Friend
Wright said Bliss won't back down.
"Yesterday, the intimidation almost worked until we saw the support of people coming out to support us," Wright said. Bliss sent out an e-mail to customers telling them about the situation and announcing a sale to help the shop recoup some of their losses.
"We've made most of it back," Wright said of the response. "We were getting an order an average of every two minutes online."
But Bliss isn't finished. Wright said he expects to report the deal gone bad to the State Attorney General's office and will pursue the matter in court.
"I don't know anything about the process," Wright said. "When you run a super honest business you usually don't care about these kinds of things."
A pirate's life at Miller Community Center (Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)
If you haven't yet figured out what to be for Halloween, maybe these photos from Thursday night's community party in Miller Park will inspire. Looking for something tried and true and surely awesome? Check out the CHS Costume History thread in the comments on this post. How many of your past brilliant costume ideas can you remember?
Update:
I'll be poking around the Hill today for images but please holler if you find anything cool. Like this shot from the CHS flickr pool featuring Slog reporter and man about Capitol Hill, Dominic Holden, a spoon and, apparently, a tiny, camera-toting man inside a pumpkin.
Tom Carr's worst nightmare, originally uploaded by Michael Holden.
Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn is including a Capitol Hill stop in his last weekend of city barnstorming, according to this announcement from his campaign team. We already gave him the CHS endorsement but you can check in with McGinn on Halloween afternoon at 19th Ave's Miller Community Center. The McGinn campaign announced today it is holding its election night celebration at the War Room.
Mike McGinn to host four town halls this weekend.
"We know a lot of Seattle voters are undecided and want more information before making their choice," said McGinn. "Seattleites take voting seriously. We want to give everyone the ability to directly ask questions and this is an opportunity to do just that."
WHEN: 2pm, Saturday, October 31st
WHERE: Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave. E
WHEN: 10:15am, Saturday, October 31st
WHERE: West Seattle Branch of the Seattle Public Library, 2306 42nd Ave. SWWHEN: 12pm, Saturday, October 31st
WHERE: Northgate Branch of the Seattle Public Library, 10548 5th Ave. NEWHEN: 3:30pm, Sunday, November 1st
WHERE: Columbia Branch of the Seattle Public Library, 4721 Rainier Ave. S
A brief post here on the Lincoln Park reservoir work we reported on yesterday that will require a portion of Cal Anderson park to be closed for more than a month beginning on Monday. Seattle Public Utilities spokesperson Andy Ryan said the work is not related to the leaks that occurred in other similar city reservoirs this summer. He's looking into how much of the park will be shut down for the work which is scheduled to last through December 11.
He won our endorsement. On election night, he'll be partying in our 'hood. Mike McGinn's campaign is holding its election night party at the War Room with chow from Skillet Food, no cover and, sweet for the 'hood bloggers in the crowd, all the wi-fi you can eat. You might recall McGinn held his primary election night party at Havana. Whether this Tuesday ends as happily for the candidate will be up to you.
CHS does not condone this woman's actions. But we're also kind of tired of the Hitler thing.
Sunrise from iLike, originally uploaded by firewallender.
Back in August, CHS reported on Capitol Hill startup iLike getting gobbled up by social media giant MySpace for $13.5 million plus $6 million in 'talent retention.' We wondered at the time how long iLike would remain in their Boylston Ave office space after the deal.
The answer? Not long.
We heard that iLike was on the move and we have been asking their PR person for information but never got confirmation. No bother. We saw an iLike employee's tweet about the in-progress move Wednesday morning. The iLike folks are heading downtown to join other MySpace development teams on Western Ave.
Adios, iLike. We'll see if we can get some more info from the iLike folks about the move but given MySpace's investment in their downtown offices, probably not much Capitol Hill could have done to keep them.
Part of the north end of Cal Anderson Park will be closed for more than a month starting Monday while city employees work on the underground Lincoln Reservoir, according to Seattle Public Utilities. We'll try to find out exactly how much of the park will be shut down while crews run what is being called a regular inspection and cleaning of the 109-year-old reservoir.
Still hunting down a map that shows the exact dimensions of Lincoln but Google Maps graphics indicate a very large pool and this image from Wikipedia's entry on Cal Anderson also gives a glimpse of the size of the reservoir.
In July, CHS reported that reservoirs in West Seattle and Beacon Hill were leaking and the same manufacturer and contractor had been involved in the construction of Lincoln. At the time, Seattle Public Utilities told CHS that there were no plans to remove the surface layer of Cal Anderson to inspect Lincoln.
The work could also coincide with the start of construction activity on the nearby Capitol Hill light Rail station site.
The Lincoln Reservoir is a major distribution point for the Cedar River pipeline which provides most of the potable water for central Seattle.
More when we get a chance to make a few phone calls on Thursday.
Project: Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) construction crews will inspect, clean and make repairs at the Lincoln Reservoir as a part of regular maintenance.
Location: Crews will work in and around the reservoir, located at 1700 Nagle Place, Seattle, WA, underneath Cal Anderson Park.
Description of Work: The reservoir will be drained, inspected and washed. Inspections of the reservoir’s roof, hatches, vents and screens will take place. Repairs to the system will be made. Debris will be removed from the reservoir’s perimeter and grounds as needed.
Dates/Times: Work is scheduled to begin on Monday, November 2, and last until Friday, December 11. Crews will work Tuesday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Potential impacts during construction:
• A portion of the park over the reservoir will be closed to the public.
• Noise from power equipment and trucks.
• An increase in truck traffic in the neighborhood.
SPU tries to limit inconveniences to citizens, and safety is our top priority when working in neighborhoods and public facilities.
Maintenance Questions:
Contact Darrin Brown, SPU Maintenance Crew Chief, at (206) 386-1805.
