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Friends of the Monorail | 3/9/10 |
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Friends of the Monorail | 3/9/10 |
Monorail agency officially dissolves; cost taxpayers $125 million
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 1/18/2008: The authority's last meeting was a final financial accounting. All 33 properties the authority bought had been sold, all lawsuits settled. The authority closed up shop with $425,963.07 in the bank, which the board voted Thursday to give to Metro for bus service in the communities that would have been served by the line.
The Stranger, blog entry by Josh Feit -- 12/17/2007: For those of you that live in Ballard or West Seattle and work downtown, how long did it take you to get to work today?
Mourning the monorail; looking ahead
West Seattle Blog -- 12/15/2007: So on this Opening Day That Wasn't, you might wonder, what's next for mass transit in West Seattle, considering that Sound Transit light rail isn't pointing our way? Some interesting ideas can be read on the Sustainable West Seattle Transportation Action Group blog; regarding more concrete plans, two public meetings are set in West Seattle next month for the "RapidRide" bus plan (both dates are on the WSB Events page).
Andy MacDonald, Blogger at Sound Politics -- 12/15/2007: For five years I've kept that magnet on my fridge, waiting for our glorious transportation future. Now that the day has finally arrived, where is my monorail ride?
The Big Blog, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 12/7/2007: Not many pieces of history are stuck to refrigerators.
New request for monorail documents is likely
Puget Sound Business Journal -- 11/30/2007: The Washington Coalition for Open Government is considering submitting a new request for records the agency had refused to release, citing attorney-client privilege.
Seattle Weekly -- 11/14/2007: Dead but awaiting final rites, the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority apparently will be allowed to take some of its most treasured internal documents to its grave, as a King County Superior Court judge recently tossed a lawsuit seeking disclosure of the agency's records.
Suit delays shutdown of monorail agency
Authority accused of violating public records laws
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 8/17/2007: In the lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court, the coalition argues the monorail authority violated state public records laws when it refused to release "the vast majority" of 1,007 documents requested by the coalition citing attorney-client privilege.
West Seattle Herald -- 5/29/2007: For private businesses, the law provides a roadmap for shutting down the monorail and creates finality and certainty to Seattle taxpayers that the Seattle Monorail Project no longer exists. It also protects taxpayers from any liabilities and obligations that may arise once the agency is dissolved, and for this reason, the current board of directors remains in place, eliminating the need for and cost of elections for board seats.
Shit’s in the P-I: Who Is Queen of the Viaduct Haters?
The Stranger, blog entry by Dan Savage -- 2/13/2007: And getting back to the monorail: All reasonable people everywhere agree that the failure/assassination of the monorail was for the best. Because now that we’re faced with tearing down the viaduct and living without it out for years—at least five, maybe seven, could be longer, regardless of what we build in its place—the last thing Seattle needs is an efficient mass-transit system carrying people from West Seattle to Downtown and back. I mean, really! What were we monorail supporters smoking?
Failed Monorail project's legacy may be a denser Seattle
The Puget Sound Business Journal -- 2/9/2007: Spurring interest, the sales coincided with a time of unprecedented institutional investment in commercial real estate. Then, too, the public agency's exercise of its power of eminent domain enabled Seattle Monorail Project to assemble certain parcels into larger sites, which has made redevelopment more feasible in some instances, under new owners.
Local News Highlights: The Last Weeks of the Seattle Monorail Project
KUOW -- Local News Highlights -- 1/17/2007: After almost five years, the Seattle Monorail Project is nearing its end. State lawmakers are expected to pass legislation that will allow the agency to legally close it’s doors. Then the S.M.P. board will meet one final time to end operations. KUOW’s Derek Wang has this look at the transit project’s final weeks.
WHERE ARE THE MONORAILS?[video]
AutoChannel.com -- 12/16/2006: In 1997, Dick Falkenbury authored an initiative to 'build, operate and maintain' a forty mile monorail system hat ould span the city of Seattle in a huge "X". With a handful of volunteers and no support, the initiative gathered 18,500 signatures while spending only $2,000--and it won the first election. He served as a volunteer as a member of the Board of Directors without missing a single meeting for six years. In these six years, there were two more successful elections for the monorail in Seattle, and a fourth election approved a tax on vehicles to pay for the project. Inexplicably, the staff padded the contract to the point where 14 miles of monorail, with interest, would cost $11 billion and the Seattle voters rejected the project. Had it come to fruition, it would have been the only transportation system drafted, planned and implemented by the citizens of a city.
Seattle Center's future begins in nod to past
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 12/1/2006: Jan Levy, executive director of Leadership Tomorrow, and co-chairwoman of the committee, said the new group will continue the work of its predecessor, the Mayor's Task Force for Seattle Center Sustainability.
Retro-named panel to make plans for World's Fair site
A running Monorail puts holiday shopping on track
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 11/25/2006: "When the Monorail doesn't empty people into our escalators, we have fewer pedestrians," said Roger Fredericksen, the owner of Millstream.
In Seattle, a Dream From the Past Has a Hazy Future
The New York Times -- 9/25/2006: And during the four decades after the fair, the Seattle Center Monorail, elevated and alluring along its one-mile course to the fairgrounds from downtown, became something more than just a mighty cool mode of getting humans about: it was an aerodynamic dream from the past that symbolized this city's romance with the future.
Seattle Monorail: Transit bargain?
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board -- 9/5/2006: A contributor to the Seattle P-I's online "Soundoffs" weighed in with this: "There is zero possibility that we could replace this transit corridor with any different transit system (or road construction) that would move as many people for $4.5 million. ... Let's also compare the Monorail with the South Lake Union Streetcar that the mayor so proudly supports: SLU Streetcar -- $50 million, 1.3 miles, expected to carry 350,000 passengers in the first year; Seattle Center Monorail -- $4.5 million, one mile, regularly carries 2.5 million passengers annually (when running)."
A Case of Voter Overkill
The death of Seattle's monorail plan is a telling tale
Governing -- April 2006: I suspect the Seattle monorail would have been a great asset to its city and region if city leaders had allowed it to live. But that's not the only reason I believe Mayor Greg Nickels and his allies in the business community made a mistake when they helped kill the populist transportation project last November. In working to shut down this grassroots movement, Nickels and allied business leaders were also shutting down democracy and civic engagement. And in the long run, that's more important to a healthy city than any specific transportation project.
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steel costs
by raia1us on 4/11/05 |
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M may catch reduced steel prices afterall - So many of these mills produce steel reinforcing bars, called rebar in the construction business, that China has gone from a shortage to a glut. Its bars are now being exported all over the world, including the United States. "We bought some rebar at pretty good prices in China and brought them to the United States" in January and again in February, said Nicholas Tolerico, the president of ThyssenKrupp Steel Services in Richburg, S.C. FULL STORY HONG KONG, April 8 - After years of running large trade surpluses mainly with the United States, China is now exporting around the world at such a rapid rate that other countries find themselves racking up large bills to China as well. The resulting boom for China is certain to step up trade frictions elsewhere and increase pressure on Beijing to let its currency appreciate. Advertisement If the trend of the first two months continues, China would run a trade surplus with not only the United States but it would also turn its deficit with the rest of the world into a surplus. This could lead some of China's trading partners in Europe to join the United States in stronger demands for trade restrictions on China. China had a trade surplus with the world of $33 billion in 2004. But if trade with the United States is excluded, China actually ran a deficit of $47 billion with all other countries combined. Yet, with 36 percent more exports landing on foreign shores in January and February, China ran a $10.9 billion trade surplus with the world in the first two months, compared with a $7.9 billion deficit for the period a year ago. While toys, clothing, furniture and television sets from China have dominated the shelves of American retailers for years, these and newer products like portable electric lamps and even radio navigation equipment are being shipped in growing quantities to countries ranging from Britain and Spain to Brazil and Indonesia, according to recently released Chinese customs data. At the same time, China is entering global markets in which it previously played little role. It is becoming a large exporter of commodities like steel and chemicals, with steel exports nearly quintupling in the first two months of 2005 compared with a year ago. China is importing fewer cars and less heavy machinery as more of these are made in China, and companies make plans to export more cars and machinery. By keeping China's currency tightly pegged to the dollar, which has declined in the last three years, Beijing authorities have made Chinese goods even more competitive in countries using currencies like the euro that have appreciated rapidly against the dollar. This has helped China export more, while discouraging businesses in China from importing. But China's currency policies have angered Washington, where the Senate is considering a bill to impose a 27.5 percent tariff on Chinese exports unless Beijing revalues the renminbi, currently pegged at 8.28 to the dollar, within six months. While the bill is not expected to become law - the Bush administration is strongly opposed - consideration of the proposal shows growing attention in Congress to the trade relationship. This week, the Bush administration began considering whether to place restrictions on textile imports from China; European Union officials have set up import alert levels, which could result in restricting Chinese textile imports. The Commerce Department plans to release trade figures on Tuesday, and experts expect that the nation ran another big deficit in February with China. But statistics already released by Beijing show that Chinese exports to the United States climbed 36.8 percent in the first two months of this year, while American exports to China fell by 9.7 percent. Chinese exports to many other countries rose even faster, while its total imports increased by only 8 percent. Exports to Britain rose this year by 42 percent; to Germany, 44 percent; to Canada and Italy, 59 percent; and to Spain and Indonesia, 75 percent, compared with the period last year. So much freight is leaving Chinese ports that exporters struggle to find ships and containers to carry it all. One big shift in trade is starting to take place in global steel markets. China has become the world's largest steel consumer. But Chinese steel production has risen even faster, as practically every province has erected steel mills. So many of these mills produce steel reinforcing bars, called rebar in the construction business, that China has gone from a shortage to a glut. Its bars are now being exported all over the world, including the United States. "We bought some rebar at pretty good prices in China and brought them to the United States" in January and again in February, said Nicholas Tolerico, the president of ThyssenKrupp Steel Services in Richburg, S.C. |
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RE: steel costs
by chadman_98126 on 4/11/05 |
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The Times ran a similarly interesting article a few weeks back. Metal market continues to heat up, but commodities like rebar are falling once again with China coming online. [the original article had a nice graph, can't find it now, but showed rebar beginning to drop down to normal levels] Hot Metal Market http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=metals20&date=20050320 |
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