Reflecting on Seattle's Bumbershoot: Today So Far

• What does Bumbershoot mean to local artists? You?
• Street parking just got a bit more expensive in Seattle.
• Some local hospitals are going to keep masking rules after the state's mandate ends in April.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for March 28, 2023.

My last big memory from Bumbershoot is R.E.M. performing at Memorial Stadium. That was about 20 years ago. That's to say that I've only checked in on Seattle's big festival every now and then over the years (the exorbitant ticket prices didn't help much). This year, however, is the festivals' 50th anniversary and it has, perhaps, the most impressive lineup in recent memory.

Sunny Day Real Estate for starters is a pretty big deal. Not to mention Sleater-Kinney, Dandy Warhols, Beverly Crusher, Band of Horses ... I could go on and on. King Youngblood is also slated to perform.

"My earliest memory of Bumbershoot, I must have been maybe 3 or 4 years old," King Youngblood frontman Cameron Lavi-Jones told KUOW's Mike Davis. "And my folks were actually playing Bumbershoot. Funny enough, Bumbershoot is the place where I discovered that I wanted to do music for the rest of my life. I was very young. And my parents were in this band called The Song Catchers that was playing Bumbershoot. It was this 20-piece Native American jazz, rock, and blues infused band back in the 1990s. I had gone everywhere with them because me and my folks, we didn't have a lot [of money]. So, no day care or nannying."

At such a young age, Lavi-Jones found himself on stage that day.

"I distinctly remember from that show, and that feeling and emotion from Bumbershoot, that was when I knew that I wanted to do music for the rest of my life."

Mike also chatted with Seattle rapper Sol about what Bumbershoot has meant to local artists. As we look toward the festival's 50th anniversary, what has Bumbershoot meant to you? Let me know at dyer@kuow.org.

Street parking just got a bit more expensive in Seattle. The city takes a look at parking volumes across neighborhoods and adjusts rates three times a year. After looking into data from January, the Seattle Department of Transportation thinks rates need to be hiked up a bit, as much as $1 in some areas. SDOT says it found "an increase in parking activity."

As I've pointed out before in TSF, Seattle manages street parking by raising or lowering prices along various stretches of road. Raise the rate and fewer people will park in a spot, or stay as long, and this will free up the space for more people to park.

I'm personally not sure that people parking in a city like Seattle truly care about 75 cents here or $1 there. And is it just me, or does it feel like the city is forgetting a group of people in this approach? Like, people with jobs. SDOT recently said its parking pricing strategy "supports businesses and helps drivers find parking without circling the block multiple times." That is great for shoppers, and I want them to get where they're going. What this doesn't account for is commuters who are required to be at work for much longer than a quick shopping trip. I won't lie, and I've said it here before, I personally do a midmorning dance whenever I come into the office — run out to my car and move it across the street to park for a few more hours. I see others out there dancing along with me. It feels like the sort of parking plan that would be designed by Sam in "Benny and Joon." I should point out that this assumption is a bit anecdotal. Who knows how many of us are dancing in the streets around lunchtime?

One of the last remaining pandemic emergency mandates is ending in April — the requirement for masks at health care facilities, like hospitals. Some hospitals are going to keep up the requirement, however.

A few Western Washington medical centers have joined together to keep the mask requirement going under their roofs.

"In light of the current situation and local, state, and federal guidance, as an acute care and outpatient clinic health care facilities, our organizations will continue to require masking in patient care areas and strongly recommend or require in public spaces," a statement from 11 Western Washington health care providers said.

Included in that 11 is UW Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Washington, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and Seattle Children's. Check out the full list here.

Note for TSF readers. It will be a brief week for this newsletter. In short, I've heard that Conan O'Brien needs a friend. So I figured I'd fly to LA and see if he's up for a cup of coffee. Shouldn't be too difficult to run into him down there, right? Anywho, just so nobody thinks we forgot to send out TSF later this week.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Roxanne Kostelac at her graduation from King County Drug Diversion Court on March 8, 2023. Lawmakers in Olympia are mapping out changes to Washington state’s drug possession law. Their current proposal contains criminal penalties. It also puts a big emphasis on “diversion” programs designed to help people avoid jail and criminal records. Drug courts or “therapeutic” courts could be one route for these cases. (Amy Radil / KUOW)

DID YOU KNOW?

What would you guess Washington's state fish is?

Yep. We have a state fish. The Legislature made it an official symbol in 1969. It's silver with a gray spotted back, and a white belly. You may have hooked one while fishing in Washington's waters. If you guessed salmon ... you'd be wrong. The steelhead trout is Washington's state fish, though it is commonly mistaken for salmon. It's often found next to salmon filets at the grocery store. And steelhead share many traits with salmon, but it's a trout. Steelhead are part of a fish family called "Salmonidae," which includes salmon, trout, char, whitefish, and others.

Like salmon, steelhead start their life in fresh water. After a few years, they swim out to salt water where they grow rather large. They then return to fresh water to lay eggs.

ALSO ON OUR MINDS

Unions are having a moment. So why isn't union membership booming?

Despite the buzz around what seemed like a labor resurgence — the historic win at Amazon, as well as spirited campaigns at Starbucks, on college campuses and retail stores across the country — the overall picture for unions remains bleak.

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