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F EBRUARY 6. 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 18
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
‘Rhythms of the Sole’
Paige Hall, a member
of
Northwest
Tap
Connection’s Totally Tap Kids
and Color Lines Dance
Ensemble, performed Feb. 1
at
the
Paul
Robeson
Performing Arts Center in
“Rhythms of the Sole.” It’s the
annual fundraiser for the
dance school which serves
200
youth
in
the
community.
The funds
generated by the event,
which
featured
dance
performances
by
the
students and instructors,
singing and spoken word,
goes to scholarships, master
classes and helps defray the
cost of travel to national
dance festivals.
SEATTLE (AP) — Thirty cameras are
watching Seattle’s shoreline for security
reasons, but some local residents and the
American Civil Liberties Union say they are
a threat to citizen rights.
``This is another step toward a surveil-
lance society where the government is
increasingly using technology to monitor
people’s actions and movements without
Seattle Police say
there will be strict
controls on who has
access to the
cameras and the
information they
contain
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Effort Builds to Change Pot Laws
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — An effort
is building in Congress to
change U.S. marijuana laws,
including moves to legalize the
industrial production of hemp
and establish a federal pot tax.
While passage this year could
be a longshot, lawmakers from
both parties have been quietly
working on several bills, the
first of which Democratic Reps.
Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and
Jared Polis of Colorado plan to
introduce Tuesday, Blumenauer
told The Associated Press.
Polis’ measure would regulate
marijuana the way the federal
government handles alcohol: In
Shoreline
Cameras
Upset
Locals
states that legalize pot, growers
would have to obtain a federal
permit. Oversight of marijuana
would be removed from the
Drug Enforcement Administra-
tion and given to the newly
state where it’s legal to one
where it isn’t.
The bill is based on a legaliza-
tion measure previously pushed
by former Reps. Barney Frank
of Massachusetts and Ron Paul
‘We’re still arresting two-thirds of a
million people for use of a
substance that a majority feel
should be legal’
Rep. Earl Blumenauer
renamed Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco,
Marijuana
and
Firearms, and it would remain
illegal to bring marijuana from a
INDEX
News ........................2,3
Calendar ....................2
Opinion .......................4
A&E ....................2,5,6,8
Bids/Classifieds............7
of Texas.
Blumenauer’s bill would cre-
ate a federal marijuana excise
tax.
Last fall’s votes in Colorado
and Washington state to legalize
recreational marijuana should
push Congress to end the 75-
year federal pot prohibition,
Blumenauer said.
``You folks in Washington and
my friends in Colorado really
upset the apple cart,’’ Blume-
nauer said. ``We’re still arrest-
ing two-thirds of a million
people for use of a substance
that a majority feel should be
legal. ... It’s past time for us to
step in and try to sort this stuff
out.’’
Advocates who are working
with the lawmakers acknowl-
edge it could take years for any
See POT LAWS on page 3
having a warrant or a specific reason to do
so,’’ said Doug Honig, a spokesman for the
American Civil Liberties Union of Wash-
ington.
The cameras that were paid for by a $5
million federal grant are supposed to help
the Port of Seattle and the city respond to
hazards and emergencies, The Seattle Times
reported in Saturday’s newspaper.
The cameras will give police a sweeping
view of the port facilities, Elliott Bay and
the shoreline, according to Seattle Police
Department Capt. Chris Fowler.
They hope to have the cameras opera-
tional by the end of March, said Detective
Monty Moss, who is in charge of surveil-
lance platforms.
Fowler said there will be strict controls on
who has access to the cameras and the infor-
mation they contain. He said the department
is creating policies that will govern how the
cameras are used, how the information will
be stored and for how long.
See CAMERAS on page 3
No Female Mayor in Seattle Since 1926
SEATTLE (AP) — Despite Seattle’s pro-
gressive self-image and its role in sending
women to the U.S. Senate and governor’s
office, the city has not elected a woman as
mayor in 85 years.
A woman has not even appeared on the
general-election ballot since 1926, when
municipal reformer Bertha Landes became
the first female mayor of a major American
city, The Seattle Times reported.
The trend appears to be continuing.
So far, seven candidates have announced
they’ll challenge Mayor Mike McGinn in
the 2013 mayor contest, but only one is a
woman: Seattle activist Kate Martin who
has raised $133 from herself.
``I do think the time is right. I think the
advantage would be real,’’ Lisa MacLean, a
local political consultant who worked on
former Mayor Greg Nickels’ three mayoral
campaigns, told the Times.
Women have made major gains in politi-
cal representation in recent decades, but the
top U.S. political offices remain male dom-
inated, especially big-city mayor’s offices,
the newspaper reported.
Some major cities including New York
and Los Angeles have never elected a
woman as mayor. Only 12 of the 100 largest
U.S. cities had female mayors as of last
year, according to the Center for American
Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
Women fare somewhat better in smaller
cities, leading more than 17 percent of those
See MAYOR on page 3