Land-Use Bill Sparks Angry Skirmish in Senate, Sonics Beat Grizzlies without Durant: SeattleIAM

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Skirmish in the Senate over Land-Use Bill

Rich over at Eye on Olympia reports on the recent “angry skirmish” over what supporters called “a modest plan” to assist cities like Spokane in cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. Senate Bill 6580 attempts to “lay the groundwork” for some local land-use rules that will reduce greenhouse gases. One of its components is that “it encourages denser development linked with mass transit as a way to reduce traffic.” The bill is “purely voluntary” claim proponents. “But Republicans see the bill as a slippery slope leading to more restrictions and fewer housing choices.”

Sponsor of the bill state Sen. Chris Marr, a Spokane Democrat, says the bill would direct the state “to find a way for cities and counties to gauge how land-use rules affect greenhouse gas emissions” and sets up grants for those cities that “want to get a jump-start on land planning aimed at reducing emissions.” Marr insists that residents have a “moral obligation to future generations to protect the planet… [and] Sprawling development… is a key factor in greenhouse-gas pollution.” State Sen. Bob Morton, R-Kettle Falls, responded to Marr angrily. “You city slickers are going to… tell my farmers and ranchers what size tractor they can have to till the land that produces food for all of us? Such planning didn't work in the Soviet Union and it won't work here.” Majority Leader Lisa Brown, of Spokane, said the republican’s worries are overblown and that it “is purely for cities and counties that want to do such planning.” According to the post, the bill passed 31 to 18 and now goes to the House of Representatives.

Sonics Pull it off in Third Quarter Against Grizzlies

From Super Sonic Soul, our blogger gives a quick review of the Sonics win last night against the Grizzlies (108-101). Kudos go out especially to performances by Wally Szczerbiak and Earl Watson. Said Szczerbiak, “I think tonight was one of those games where I got an opportunity to show what I can do down the stretch.” Kevin Durant was unexpectedly absent due to “flu-like” symptoms.

The Sonics had a “lousy first half” and were outscored 62-48, but a great third quarter made up for the deficit. In addition to Szczerbiak and Watson, “Jeff Green had a nice effort as well, and Chris Wilcox proved - once again - that anyone who thinks he is ready to become an above-average power forward is sorely mistaken.” Wilcox only contributed  6 points and 4 rebounds in more than 30 minutes, “while his counterpart, Hakim Warrick, finished with 22 points on 18 shots.”

Seattle’s Blist gets $6.5 million Boost

On John Cook’s Venture Blog, Cook reports that Frazier Technology Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures have dropped $6.5 million into Blist, a Seattle startup that is “developing new online tools that allow consumers and small businesses to quickly set up searchable databases on everything from wine collections to sales leads.” Over 10,000 people have already signed up since last month, when the company “took the wraps off at the DEMO conference in Palm Desert, Calif.” The company is now “rolling out additional functionality -- including the ability to import data directly from Microsoft Excel.”

According to the post, there will be a full product launch in the next few weeks. Chief Executive Kevin Merritt states that the “ultimate goal is to create an ‘online social database’ that appeals to mainstream users.” Scott Darling, a general partner at Frazier Technology Ventures, was attracted by the user-friendliness of the product. Darling has joined the Blist board and says “he used the tool to establish an online database of e-mail addresses, phone numbers and photos of more than 50 people in his extended family.” The company’s consumer offering will be free and an “offering for small businesses will cost $13 to $19 per month per user, with those organizations receiving corporate branding, unlimited storage and other features.”

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