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9:44 PM UPDATE: Foss’s appeal document added, after coverage of 75 speakers at Port Commission meeting, followed by commissioners passing both motions – as Shell drillship Noble Discoverer arrived in Everett)
12:58 PM: Just as Seattle port commissioners are about to start their meeting on the controversial Terminal 5 lease to Foss/Shell, we received that photo of one of the Shell offshore-drilling rigs that is expected to wind up here for a while: The
Noble Discoverer, which, as we reported earlier, entered Washington waters early today.
Jason Mihok photographed the ND (and Foss tugs) as they passed Port Townsend – he was on board the Victoria Clipper. Meantime, we’re at Pier 69 (steps from the Clipper’s HQ, in fact), where the commission chambers are overflowing – we in fact are sitting on the floor in the back of the room. We’ll be chronicling the meeting as it unfolds.
Breaking news: Cities are crowded and loud. If you enjoy tearing your hair out in frustration at interminably slow back-and-forth battles of urban planning, run-don’t-walk to follow the new “Tales from the Seattle Hearing Examiner” Twitter feed, which documents NIMBY complaints to the city. Most of what you’ll see are a real eye-roll, with neighbors who somehow think that a major city is obligated to provide them with the same level of privacy, nature, and quiet as the country; but there are also a few more nuanced grievances, like the city’s plan to kill a 100-year-old tree that’s rendered a sidewalk impassable.