Here and Now
Ticket to ride

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If there's a chance you have a traffic or other outstanding ticket or two in Seattle Municipal Court, it's probably worth checking out the court's amnesty program before it expires March 31, when all unpaid fines will be transferred to a new collection agency for more aggressive collection.

The court started its amnesty program Jan. 2. Under the plan, delinquent fines now handled by OSI Services can be paid in full to the court with all collection fees and accrued interest waived. Payments can be made in cash, by personal check, or VISA, MasterCard or debit card at the Seattle Justice Center, 600 Fifth Ave., at neighborhood service centers, by phone at 206-233-7000, or online at www.cityofseattle.net/courts.

Neighborhood service centers can't research your record, but the court can. For help, call 206-684-5600. After April 1, a new agency, AllianceOne, will handle collections for the court.

Today

• Seattle's Marijuana Policy Review Panel will hold its first meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall, and it will be an opportunity for defense lawyers and enforcement officials to discuss how extensive reporting criteria for pot busts should be.

Initiative 75, passed by Seattle voters last September, created the 11-member panel appointed by the City Council's president to monitor the effects of the initiative, which made marijuana possession by adults the city's lowest law-enforcement priority. The panel is expected to establish arrest- and prosecution-reporting criteria for the Seattle Police Department and City Attorney's Office by the end of next month.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will be in Room L280 at City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave.

• The Seattle City Council's Parks, Neighborhoods & Education Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Garfield High School auditorium, 400 23rd Ave., to hear "state of the neighborhood" reports from neighborhood district councils throughout the city. Councilman David Della chairs the committee.
 
Taming gas guzzlers

Interested in learning about alternatives to a gas-guzzling vehicle? You may find answers at the free Alternatively-Fueled Vehicle Rally at Seattle's Discovery Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Besides a variety of alternatively fueled vehicles, such as electric cars and natural-gas-fueled vehicles, local industry representatives will be on hand to discuss advantages of using fewer gas-dependent vehicles.

The event will be in the Environmental Learning Center parking lot at the park's east entrance, at 3801 W. Government Way. Information: 206-733-9434.

Getting around

Metro Transit is consolidating several bus stops along a handful of routes in the Delridge-Ambaum, Woodland Park, Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Green Lake areas in an effort to improve service. That means some stops will be eliminated in places where other stops are nearby. Signs have been posted at bus stops that are being proposed for consolidation.

If you have a comment about a proposed change, call 206-553-3060 or e-mail customer.comments@metrokc.gov before March 12.

Here & Now is compiled by Seattle Times staff reporter Charles E. Brown and news assistant Suesan Whitney Henderson. To submit an item, e-mail herenow@seattletimes.com or call 206-464-2226.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company