January 2010

A church plagued by court rulings and lawsuits finally re-opened in a new multimillion-dollar facility in downtown Seattle on Sunday.

First United Methodist Church was on the brink of being broke, but the congregation pulled together to keep going - even when the going was so tough it looked impossible.

Church members celebrated their victory Sunday with a march to the new building. Although the march was short, the road to get there took more than two decades.

"We've had court battles, earthquakes and controversies inside and outside of the church," says the Rev. Sanford Brown.

Members of First Church finally walked into a fresh new facility after struggling to get out of a decaying, old earthquake-damaged building preservationists didn't want destroyed.

Now, after landing a developer willing to save the old building, members used the proceeds from the sale to build a new downtown facility.

"It has been a great hardship and we were not at all sure. I didn't think we would ever make it," says retired minister Paul Beeman.

One of the famous names in science fiction, George Clayton Johnson, will be coming through the Puget Sound area this week to discuss his writings and his time writing scripts for "Twilight Zone".

Johnson has a new book out, Twilight Zone: Scripts & Stories, discussing the episodes he wrote for the legendary TV series.  He also wrote the first Star Trek episode, co-authored Logan's Run and the original story that later became Ocean's Eleven.

He will first speak in the Olympic Room at the Tacoma Public Library on Thursday night, February 4 at 7 p.m., with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. 

Then on Saturday, February 6 at 1 p.m., he will be speaking in the Microsoft Auditorium at the Seattle Central Library.  The doors open for that speech at 12:30 p.m.

For more information, you can call the Tacoma Public Library at 253-591-5666 or the Seattle Central Library at 206-386-4636.

The Seattle Boat Show has dropped its anchor for the week.

Check out more than 1,000 boats and yachts on land and on water...err... Qwest Field and South Lake Union. A shuttle will run every 30 minutes between the two locations.

It's open through next Saturday, February 6th:

Qwest Field
800 Occidental Ave. S.
Monday-Thursday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Fridays 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

South Lake Union
901 Fairview N.
Monday-Thursday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Fridays 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The new Hard Rock Cafe Seattle is looking for local talent.

If you've got a band - or you play solo - submit some material for one of these future opportunities:

Nightly Live Music
Hard Rock Seattle's venue will host live music three to four nights per week, with a focus on weekends.

Monthly Residency Program
Tuesday nights will play host to something Seattle hasn't seen in a while…monthly residencies. Artists will play shows at Hard Rock every Tuesday for a month.

All Ages Sunday Matinee Shows
Sunday afternoons at Hard Rock will cater to rockers of all ages.  Parents will be able to bring their families and young adults under 21 can enjoy music in an authentic rock 'n' roll environment.

Contact Amy Bauer at amy_bauer@hardrock.com to submit your music.

There's no absolute word when the new restaurant on 116 Pike Street will open. But by the looks of the Kurt Cobain-inspired guitar that was put up on the building on Tuesday - we're getting closer!