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WRITING
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LIFE AND ARTS D1
TOP STORIES
HOT lanes
ready to roll
More than 9,600 drivers have set
up accounts for the new “high-
occupancy toll” lanes on the
Valley Freeway. The state’s first
experiment in tolling car pool
lanes begins Saturday. B1
U.S. frees
journalist
An Al-Jazeera cameraman held for
six years has been released from
Guantanamo Bay. U.S. authorities
suspected he had interviewed
Osama bin Laden, but advocates
said that “supposed intelligence”
turned out to be false. A7
Big decisions
on Arena deal
With six weeks until the scheduled
start of its trial in federal court,
the city of Seattle must decide
whether it’s best to fight the
Sonics owners in court or to seek
some sort of buyout agreement
over the KeyArena lease. C1
ALSO IN
THE NEWS
WORLD/NATION
Warm reception: The Olympic
torch began its relay through Hong
Kong before a crowd that heckled
a pro-Tibetan protester. A3
Delegate defects: A longtime
superdelegate backer of Hillary
Clinton threw his support behind
Barack Obama, saying the
turbulent race is bad for the
Democratic Party. A4
SEATTLE
Cold case: Detectives hope a new
composite sketch will help them
finally identify a young woman
killed more than 30 years ago
south of Everett. B1
Murder trial: In the Jewish
Federation shooting trial, Naveed
Haq’s brother testified that Haq
was unhappy with his religion,
ethnicity – even his name. B1
BUSINESS
A dime for your thoughts:
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says
he knows “exactly” what Yahoo is
worth to him, but did not say how
much that is, or when Microsoft
would announce its next move. E1
Earnings: Jones Soda, which lost
$3.85 million in its first quarter,
says a multiyear transition period
would lead to more losses. E2
INDEX
TODAY’S WEATHER
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© 2008 SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
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BASEBALL MOVIES
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SPORTS C1 WHAT’S HAPPENING
F R I D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 0 8
Even in popular urban areas where the market
is still strong, it’s gotten easier to find a house
Seattle
begins
Home buyers gain
thinking
about
bargaining power new jail
Alternative to
county lockup
needed by 2012
BY HECTOR CASTRO
P-I reporter
Seattle city leaders have
been quietly developing a list of
potential sites for a new jail as
they struggle to decide where to
house misdemeanor offenders
once they are no longer welcome
at the King County Jail.
“We’re just kind of at the be-
ginning stages, looking at all
parts of the city. It doesn’t neces-
sarily mean we would build in
Seattle,” said Catherine Corn-
wall, a senior policy adviser to
the city and lead analyst on the
city’s jail project.
Historically, Seattle and most
other cities in King County
housed misdemeanor offenders
and suspects at the county cor-
rection centers. But by the end of
2012, the county will no longer
accept misdemeanor offenders
and suspects, focusing instead
on housing felons.
Cities have responded in a
variety of ways – through adopt-
ing alternatives to incarceration,
including home monitoring, and
housing some inmates in jails in
SCOTT EKLUND / AP
Amy Lodwig, left, with 6-month-old daughter Anya, and Alexa Martin, with 7-month-old son Noah, follow Martin’s daughter, Nicole Yakima and other areas.
Greenwood, walking Laika and Jada in Ravenna on Thursday. Both mothers praise the neighborhood for its location and walkability.
But most city leaders agree
that eventually new jails will be
needed and that they should be
BY AUBREY COHEN spread around a south and north
P-I reporter BUYER’S OR SELLER’S MARKET? collection of cities.
Most areas of King County have turned from seller’s to buyer’s markets A South King County group
Erin and Andy Mathias started looking for a new in recent months. A buyer’s market of cities decided about a year ago
house around the start of the year on the north side of is one where it would take at least Housing inventory that it needs a jail and is begin-
Seattle because it was convenient to work, shopping, six months to sell all the homes Months it would take to sell all ning the work of finding a site.
homes listed in each area based on “They have one option
listed at the current sales pace.
parks and other amenities. average listings and sales for the they’re looking at, and that’s a
seven months ending March 2008
They found a good selection, but at least as much combined facility in the south re-
4 to 6 months gion,” Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim
competition for anything decent in their price range, up
6 to 8 months Ceis said.
to $350,000. But in the northern region
8 months or more
“We would see a listing the day it came out, try and see Seattle and on the Eastside, one compli-
the house either that day or the following day, have our cating factor has been Seattle
and whether city leaders decide
Realtor check into it and there were already multiple of- to build their own jail or join the
fers on the table,” Erin Mathias said. “It became a little other cities in building and oper-
frustrating after a while.” Bellevue ating a regional lockup.
Seattle has hired a consul-
Although the Seattle-area real estate market has slowed, tant to weigh the two options.
buyers still don’t have the advantage over sellers in such areas “Whatever we do, it’s going
as North Seattle, West Seattle, Capitol Hill, Lake Forest Park 5 Issaquah to be expensive,” City Council-
and East Bellevue. 90 man Nick Licata said.
Market observers attribute the resilience of these markets A 2006 study by New York-
to less speculative building during the boom from 2004 into based Ricci Greene Associates
2007, and buyers’ increasing desire to live closer to work and Renton projected out 20 years and found
commercial centers. But even in stronger areas, buyers have that Seattle is likely to need
more choices and bargaining power than they did a year ago. about 440 jail beds. The remain-
The Mathiases wanted to live near Woodland Park Zoo, ing cities in the northern and
where they had rented for about three years. Rick Ybarra, who eastern parts of the county
just closed on a condominium in Wallingford after years of rent- would need just under 200 beds.
ing in Seattle, focused his search from Capitol Hill north to 85th The consultants estimated
Street. Source: Northwest Multiple Listings Service SEATTLE P-I
that building a jail to house Seat-
In fact, since the start of September, the area from the Ship tle’s 440 beds would cost about
Canal to the city limits was a definite seller’s market, averaging $110 million. Running it would
4.3 months of housing inventory – meaning it would take that “I haven’t driven since 1990. I pretty much bus it likely cost $18.4 million a year.
long to sell all the homes in that market at its current sales pace. and walk it everywhere. There had to be a bus But whether the city builds
Inventory averaged 5.3 months in Seattle as a whole and line nearby. There had to be amenities nearby.” its own jail or helps build and run
SEE BUYERS, A10 – Rick Ybarra, who just closed on a Wallingford condo SEE JAIL, A10
As gas costs soar, U.S. rushes to smaller cars
SUV and pickup sales suffer – as do big Detroit automakers CONSUMERS SHIFT TO ECONOMY CARS
As sales for the leading pickup truck and large SUV fell sharply in the last year,
the subcompact Toyota Yaris and midsize Toyota Camry had gains.
INSIDE BY BILL VLASIC ficient vehicles has been building in re-
The New York Times cent years, but has accelerated recently Top selling vehicles in U.S. PERCENT
WHO KNEW? with the advent of $3.50-a-gallon gas. CHANGE
By segment, in thousands of cars sold
Some gas DETROIT – Soaring gas prices have At the same time, sales of pickup trucks
stations are turned the steady migration by Ameri- and large sport utility vehicles have Pickup
Ford F-Series -19.5%
encountering an cans to smaller cars into a stampede. dropped sharply.
unexpected In what industry analysts are call- In another first, fuel-sipping four- Midsize
ing a first, about one in five vehicles cylinder engines surpassed six-cylinder Toyota Camry 5.6%
challenge as
sold in the United States was a compact models in popularity in April.
prices rise: Some or subcompact car during April, based “It’s easily the most dramatic seg- Large SUV
older pumps April 2007 -29.4%
on monthly sales data released Thurs- ment shift I have witnessed in the mar- Chevy Tahoe
can’t be set to day. Almost a decade ago, when sport ket in my 31 years here,” said George Subcompact April 2008
charge more utility vehicles were at their peak of Pipas, chief sales analyst for Ford Motor Toyota Yaris 58.1%
than $3.999⁄10 per popularity, only one in every eight vehi- Co. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
gallon. E1 cles sold was a small car.
The switch to smaller, more fuel-ef- SEE AUTOS, A9 Source: Ward’s AutoInfoBank THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
P-A 1 CMYK
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A10 ★★ SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER ❘ FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2008

BUYERS: Close shopping prized
FROM A1
6.5 months in all of King County
during that time. Most experts
consider six months of inventory
the balance point between buy-
ers and sellers. Inventory topped
nine months in Skyway and
Enumclaw, while some suburbs,
such as Graham and Gig Harbor,
have more than a year’s worth of
homes on the market.
Inventories remain relatively
low in popular urban areas such
as North Seattle, in part because
they started out lower than in
other places. But these urban in-
ventories also have risen more
slowly than those elsewhere.
“The urban locations are still
quite strong,” said Bob Melvey,
assistant manager of Winder-
mere Real Estate’s Ballard office,
whose research shows King
County is a buyer’s market, Seat-
tle on the buyer’s end of a bal-
anced market and North Seattle
on the seller’s side.
Stacey Brower, the John L.
Scott Real Estate agent repre-
senting the Mathiases, said she
sees strong demand for afford-
able homes in the North End of
Seattle, up to 100th Street.
“If it’s clean and livable un-
der $400 (thousand), it moves
pretty quick,” she said.
Buyers say they look for ur-
ban areas with a lot going on.
“(We) just really have en-
joyed the variety of neighbor-
hoods and the close proximity to
restaurants and grocery stories
and the post office, and parks
and recreation,” Erin Mathias
said. “It’s a pretty central loca-
tion to where my husband and I
work.”
Ybarra had his commute in
mind also.
“I haven’t driven since 1990. I
pretty much bus it and walk it ev-
erywhere,” he said. “There had
to be a bus line nearby. There had
to be amenities nearby.”
Many prospective buyers say
they want “walking neighbor-
hoods,” Brower said. “They want
to be able to get up on Saturday
morning and walk to a coffee
shop and get a paper, or walk to a
restaurant on Friday night.”
Melvey also has noticed an
increasing interest in walkability
over the past five years, he said.
“It’s really wanting to be walking
distance to a sense of communi-
ty.”
Deborah Arends, an agent
with RE/MAX Northwest Real-
tors, said she closed 66 sales in
two Ballard ZIP codes in March,
up from 60 in March 2007. In-
ventory has averaged 4.4
months north of the Ship Canal
and west of Interstate 5 over the
past seven months.
“The commute is not getting
The entrance to the Belgrove townhome development in Renton.
any better, so I think people real-
ly want to be closer in to the city,”
Arends said.
Buyers also like that Ballard
has its own sense of community,
she said. “People want to be able
to walk to things.”
Matthew Gardner, a local
land-use economist who works
with developers, said it makes
sense that urban-neighborhood
markets are holding up better
than others.
“Those with more substan-
tive fundamental reasons why
(prices) went up, i.e. proximity
to job centers, are going to be
more protected,” he said.
While some buyers wait to
see how low prices will get in the
slow market, Ybarra was confi-
dent that prices in his target area
would stay strong.
“I picked a good area,” he
said.
The Mathiases started look-
SCOTT EKLUND / P-I
ing at homes unsure they were
ready to buy, but became serious
about upsizing from their one-
bedroom apartment because
they’re expecting their first child
in October.
“I think if we weren’t having
a child, we might have waited
longer,” Erin Mathias said.
They found many town-
houses on the market, but didn’t
like their layouts, small yards
and views of other townhouses.
Most of the traditional houses
they saw needed a lot of work.
They put in an offer below
asking price on one house, but
lost out to a better offer. And
they didn’t even bother trying for
another house because several
bidders already had pushed up
the price.
Eventually, their offer was
accepted on a Greenwood house
on the market for a couple of
weeks (another offer came in af-
terward, too late to compete
with theirs).
“It’s just a really solid, well-
built home and the floor plan
makes sense,” Mathias said.
Ybarra, who found ample se-
lection, said his was the sole offer
during negotiations over and fi-
nancing of the unit.
“We initially went in with a
lower offer than what they were
asking for, then they came back
with ‘absolutely not,’ ” he said.
“But they did contribute toward
the down (payment).”
So what does this all mean?
Some homes still are selling
above asking price with multiple
offers, without contingencies for
financing or inspection. But
those with less-ideal prices and
conditions are sitting much lon-
ger than they would have a year
ago, even in popular neighbor-
hoods.
Despite their relative
strength, North Seattle neigh-
borhood inventories over the
past seven months have dou-
bled, on average, from the same
months a year earlier.
“The sellers that are doing
well are really working with the
buyers,” Arends said. “You can’t
just draw a line in the sand and
expect another buyer to come up
tomorrow.”
P-I reporter Aubrey Cohen
can be reached at 206-448-8362
or aubreycohen@seattlepi.com.
Read his Real Estate News blog at
blog.seattlepi.com/realestatenews.
WESTERN BELLEVUE
HAS SLOWED
The strength of neighborhoods
close to jobs and shopping has not
extended to the area in and around
central and western Bellevue.
Inventory in the area – from
Interstate 405 west to Lake
Washington and from Interstate 90
to just north of state Route 520 –
averaged more than 10 months
from September through March, up
from about 3 months in the same
period a year earlier. The East
Bellevue area, in contrast, has
averaged just 5.8 months of
inventory in recent months.
Matthew Gardner, a local land-use
economist, was not sure what
caused the slowing west of I-405,
but noted the median house that
sold in that area in March fetched
$1.2 million – just $7,000 below
the median on Mercer Island, King
County’s most expensive area.
Higher interest rates for big loans,
particularly since August, have
helped slow high-end sales, and
$1.2 million is out of the reach of
many of those seeking a home in
urban areas.
“It can be attributed to pricing,”
Gardner said.
The Northwest Multiple Listing
Service is scheduled to release April
housing statistics Monday.

JAIL: City leaders won’t discuss possible sites
FROM A1
a regional one, Seattle needs to
find locations that could accom-
modate one, Cornwall said.
The other cities in the group
are doing the same thing, she
said.
“We would all need to bring
sites to the table to look at to-
gether,” Cornwall said.
City officials are not pre-
pared to say where any of these
potential jail sites are, or even
how many are being consid-
ered, though Ceis said the list is
in the “high teens.”
“I’m not going to comment
on specific neighborhoods,” he
said. “I just don’t think it’s ap-
propriate at this time.”
One worry for city leaders is
the possible opposition from
neighbors of any new jail. But
the other concern, city officials
said, is financial. They don’t
want landowners raising their
prices if they learn that the city
might want to buy their proper-
ties for a jail.
The basic criteria for any
new jail in Seattle are that it
should be on a parcel 7 acres or
larger and that it should be close
to a major arterial or freeway.
Planners are also likely to
look at environmental concerns,
the proximity of schools or resi-
dential areas, and how far the
site is from courts.
“There’s a long list of crite-
ria,” Cornwall said. “You’ll never
find one site that’s perfect on ev-
erything.”
The city has already hired a
public relations firm, The Keller
Group, which plans to interview
50 community leaders about
Not losing enough
concerns that building a new jail
might raise.
weight or regaining
After the city reaches a deci-
sion on whether to join other cit-
ies in a regional jail, or go it
weight after Gastric
alone, public forums are likely
to follow.
Bypass surgery?
“We’re going to want a lot of
public input on this,” Cornwall
said. Here is a new solution:
Ceis acknowledged that if
Seattle does decide to build a
city jail, controversy will follow.
“It’s one of those facilities
StomaphyX
that everybody knows we need.
A new technique that involves
They would just like it out of No abdominal incisions
sight, out of mind,” he said. “We No internal incisions
really don’t have an option. The
county is running out of capac- Faster recovery than with open / laparoscopic procedures
ity.” Less pain than with laparoscopy
Cleared for use in the US
P-I reporter Hector Castro
can be reached at 206-448-8334 To register for our free seminar or to learn more about this wonderful new
or hectorcastro@seattlepi.com. procedure call 877-815-7774 or go to www.c4wls.com

Monday, May 5, 2008 – 6pm to 8:30pm in Federal Way

Body parts found in concrete at missing man’s home
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CORTEZ, Colo. – Dismem-
bered body parts encased in con-
crete buckets were found at a
missing man’s home, and Jere-
miah Raymond Berry, his
20-year-old son, was arrested on
suspicion of murder, the sheriff
said Thursday. The remains
were found in three places, in-
cluding the family home of Jack
Berry, 42, who relatives said had
been missing for a few months.
Sheriff Gerald Wallace said a
CT scan done at a hospital found
the body parts in the buckets. In-
vestigators were awaiting tests
to determine whether the dis-
membered body was Berry’s. Dr. Myur S. Srikanth MD, FACS
“It’s not like your normal ho- Dr. Srikanth is the first bariatric surgeon in the state
micide where you have a body to have successfully performed this procedure.
lying there, and you can identify
him,” he said. “There were some 34509 9th Ave South #103
body parts in two buckets of con- Federal Way WA 98003
crete.” Wallace said parts of the
body were still missing. www.c4wls.com

Seattle P-I Newspapers In Education Skills for Ever yday Living presents

Global Issues and

Sustainable Solutions
8 of
20
Earth’s Resources
Earth produces everything that human beings need
to survive — food, water, shelter and energy — as
well as the beauty and diversity of nature. Does this
mean that we can expect our planet to keep meeting
our needs forever, no matter how we use its resources?
Consider these facts:
• During modern times, half of the planet’s tropical
rain forests have been destroyed or degraded
• On average, three unique plant and animal species
become extinct every hour 1
Variety Is the Spice of Life!
The health of the planet depends on the health of its
many ecosystems. An ecosystem is a community of
organisms (plants, animals, fungi and bacteria) that
function as a unit together with their environment.
The interdependence among diverse organisms and
their environment defines and shapes an ecosystem.
When any species is taken out of an ecosystem, the
entire ecosystem is affected. The variety of life in all its
forms is called “biodiversity.”
Unfortunately, the world’s biodiversity is disappearing.
Each year as many as 27,000 species of animals,
plants, insects and microorganisms vanish forever.2
Mountain gorillas, giant pandas and snow leopards
are just a few of the more well-known animal species
on the brink of extinction. Many scientists believe
that between 20 percent and 50 percent of all species
on Earth could disappear in the next 30 years.3 Loss
of habitat is the main threat to terrestrial species that
are classified as “threatened” or “endangered” by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources.
Beans, Birds and Biodiversity
In the developing world, many farmers cultivate a
single cash crop such as coffee or cocoa rather than
produce staple food crops. In the 1980s, to meet rising
worldwide demand for coffee, forests in Latin America
and other developing regions were extensively cut and
replaced with high-yield coffee trees that grow in the
sun. This resulted in hillside erosion and habitat loss
for many species, especially for birds like the western
tanager that depend on the shade of the forest for
survival. Additionally, the extensive use of pesticides to
maximize coffee tree yields often pollutes nearby rivers
and the lungs of coffee workers.
Agriculture workers in the coffee industry often toil
for long hours in difficult conditions, and many small
coffee farmers earn prices for their coffee that are less
than the costs of production. This perpetuates a cycle
of poverty and debt, as farmers borrow money to get
from one coffee season to the next. Thankfully, of the
25 million coffee farmers in the world, approximately
1 million farming households in the Southern
Hemisphere alone have already improved their living
conditions as a result of sustainable coffee production.4
The United States consumes about one-fifth of the
world’s coffee, more than any other single country.
Fortunately, people in the U.S. can now purchase
“shade-grown,” “organically certified” and “fair
trade” coffee. Shade-grown coffee promotes higher
biodiversity than sun coffee because it can be grown
without clearing forests. Organic coffee is grown
without the use of pesticides, which is a benefit to
biodiversity and farmers’ health.
Fair Trade certification assures consumers that a fair
price is paid to coffee farmers. To become Fair Trade
certified, an importer must pay a minimum price per
pound, provide credit to farmers and offer technical
assistance such as learning organic farming techniques.
The dominant player in
the world coffee market is
Starbucks, holding about 25
percent of the world market
share. Since 1998, Starbucks
has developed programs
to lessen its environmental
impact by promoting
biodiversity and economic well-being. These practices
include ecologically sound growing and harvesting,
reduction of emissions during roasting, use of recycled
Activity
v
materials for the storage and transport of beans
and use of recycled paper coffee cups. A portion
of Starbucks coffees are shade-grown varieties and
purchased at fair-trade prices.
Many other coffee roasters and sellers are also
promoting sustainable coffee production. Some coffee
roasters have gone a step further than buying Fair
Trade certified beans by directly purchasing the beans
from coffee farmers rather than buying them from a
broker. This practice is called “direct trade.”
Purchasing a cup of coffee may seem like a small Take Action!
choice, but consider the millions of cups of coffee v
consumed each day. All of our small choices have a
large collective impact. By making choices to sustain
Earth’s ecosystems, we can help the planet continue to
meet basic human needs.
1 E. O. Wilson, “The Diversity of Life” (New York: W. W.
Norton & Co., 1999).
2 Ibid.
3 Louis Harris and Associates, “Biodiversity in the Next Millennium,” 1998
poll conducted on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History,
http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/crisis/crisis.html.
4 International Institute for Sustainable Development, “IISD Brews Up
Sustainable Coffee Report,” September 18, 2003. http://www.iisd.org/
media/2003/sept_18_2003.asp

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