The State of the Streetcar

The Seattle Streetcar, (formerly called the South Lake Union Trolley, or S.L.U.T.) has been up and running for less than three months amid criticism that it costs too much, is a danger to cyclists, makes existing traffic worse, and no one really uses it. Despite those concerns, the City Council is studying possible new streetcar lines throughout the Emerald City. On the next Connects, a closer look at the streetcar: what's working, what's not, and whether this is the answer to the city's transportation troubles, or destined to be another transit oddity like the Monorail.

Green Watch: Something Fishy

How to choose fish and be eco-friendly at the same time.

Fish is one of the healthiest foods you can eat, but sometimes it's not so healthy for the environment. Some fish species are endangered and overfished. Others are depleted or come from unsustainable fisheries. So how do you know? In Green Watch, a simple way you can find out instantly if your seafood is sustainable, whether you're in the grocery store or at a restaurant.

We all know that eating seafood such as salmon is generally good for you. But it's not always good for the planet. Some fish sold in grocery stores and restaurants are over-fished, depleted or even endangered. Others come from unsustainable fisheries or are caught using questionable fishing practices.

So how do you know if the fish you're about to buy and eat is "environmentally friendly" too? We've discovered a couple of ways you can find out instantly, but texting with your cell phone.

The first is from the Blue Ocean Institute. Just text the word "fish", and the species of the fish to 30644. Within seconds, you'll receive a text telling you about the fish's sustainability.

For instance, when we texted "Fish Chinook Salmon," we received a text response:

"Farm raised salmon (RED) significant environmental concerns; US West Coast (YELLOW) some env concerns; Alaska (GREEN) few env. concerns."

A group called Friends of the Sea offers a similar service. You can text the word "fish" and the name of a fish to 90430, and they'll send you a text back with sustainability information.

We tested this service too, texting them "Fish Salmon," and got this response:

"Alaska salmon is good choice. Atlantic salmon overexploited. Organic farmed is good choice."

 

Here is the information again:

Blue Ocean Institute Fish Phone
Text "Fish" & Species to: 30644

Friends of the Sea Fish Phone
Text "Fish" & Species to: 90430

Happy phone fishing!

Dennys' Destiny

Seattle's Landmark Preservation Board decides this week whether to designate the old Denny's restaurant in Ballard as "historic." KCTS 9 Producer Jenny Cunningham will have the Board's decision, and tell us what's next for the former omelet outlet.

Roundtable

Connects' political experts Cathy Allen and Randy Pepple join Enrique Cerna to dissect this week's primary election and to look at a few heated local races that haven't gotten much attention in the media, but should be on your radar screen for November.

Feedback

After our story last week about the Digital TV Transition, viewers sound off about the government-mandated switch to DTV. And if you're still the least bit confused about what you have to do, we'll have all the answers and resources you need to keep your signal from being interrupted.