This past summer, my wife and I were blessed to visit Atlanta, Georgia. There are many great sights to see in that metropolitan city. It was our goal to see the sights referring to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We were blessed to go to his birth house where we heard stories of how he did not like to take his piano lessons. We visited his eternal flame and gravesite where he is buried. We met and talked with some of the historians in the new King Center, which is a part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site.We also visited Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church that he and his father pastored. We spent time on Sweet Auburn Street and watched films on the movement at the old time firehouse. It was a life-changing experience. I could not help but think of how he was a light in a dark world.The story is told of the Andrea Doria, which was one of the most elegant passenger liners in the world, the pride of the Italian Line. On July 25, 1956, with 1,134 passenger and crew of 572 … [Read more...] about In their view: Radiate the light of God’s love
Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Winter Festival brightens these traffic-ridden, post-holiday weeks
Concert review It may be winter, but it’s still festival time inside Benaroya Hall’s Nordstrom Recital Hall. On Sunday afternoon, Jan. 20, a happy crowd of concertgoers thronged through the recital hall’s jampacked lobby, on their way to a program of chamber gems: a trio, a duo, and a quintet. Artistic director James Ehnes was on hand for the event, the third of six concerts in the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s annual winter counterpart to its longer-running summer festival. Not surprisingly, Ehnes — one of the country’s most highly regarded violinists — and his duo partner, pianist Andrew Armstrong, provided some of Sunday’s most exciting music in a program that extended from Beethoven to Debussy and Shostakovich. The stormy Beethoven Violin Sonata in C Minor (Op. 30, No. 2) of 1802 ranks among some of the finest works in this genre, and Ehnes gave it a noble reading. Patrician in phrasing, powerful in approach, this performance also … [Read more...] about Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Winter Festival brightens these traffic-ridden, post-holiday weeks
Engage to save Seattle neighborhoods
Despite Viadoom, things are still busy in downtown Seattle. Especially at City Hall where the council is charging ahead with sweeping plans for upzones across the city. Officials are disregarding pleas of dozens of neighborhood and community groups that begged for more careful consideration of environmental impacts, displacement and different situations in each sector of the city. Residents should engage in this process. It’s also an election year for seven of nine council seats. The rezone process illuminates whether members prioritize concerns of people they represent or wishes of special-interests that receive immense benefits from more generous land-use policies. Do you have something to say? Share your thoughts on the news by sending a Letter to the Editor. Email [email protected] and please include your full name, address and telephone number for verification only. Letters are limited to 200 words. This is also instructive for other cities in the Puget Sound region … [Read more...] about Engage to save Seattle neighborhoods
The missing gaps in state school funding
Next month, several school districts across Washington state will ask voters to consider funding local levies for public education. As superintendents collectively representing more than 100,000 students and their families across the Puget Sound region, we feel it is imperative to provide additional context on the financial realities school districts are facing. Washington state has dramatically changed its education funding model, known as the “McCleary fix.” The state Legislature has made great strides in increasing funding for public education, for which we are thankful. Part of the fix was to shift a large chunk of property-tax dollars (dollars that used to be under local control) to the state, redistributing them to districts across Washington. Unfortunately, the result was that some districts received more money than others, and many districts now face budget shortfalls. Much of the new state money was committed to increasing teachers’ salaries, which is the … [Read more...] about The missing gaps in state school funding
Why investors should pay attention to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ divorce
Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, may be the first billionaire couple with a huge stake in an enormous technology company to announce their divorce. They won’t be the last. The surprise announcement earlier this month that the Bezoses would divorce after 25 years of marriage instantly raised questions about the future of their 16 percent, roughly $140 billion stake, in Amazon. As its founder, chairman, chief executive and largest shareholder, Jeff Bezos exerts almost complete control over the company he created. The big question is, now what? Will MacKenzie Bezos sell her portion of the family’s vast Amazon holdings? Will she seek a seat on the company’s board? Will she push for big strategic or management changes? The Bezos divorce could have consequences for investors in other companies with billionaire founders — Google, Facebook, Groupon and Snap, to name a few. Unlike Jeff Bezos, who owns Amazon shares with ordinary voting rights, these tech entrepreneurs … [Read more...] about Why investors should pay attention to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ divorce