The Terrible Beauty

Oct. 24, 2010

West Seattle-based environmental photographer Daniel Beltrá has been named Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year for 2011, the most prestigious international honor of its kind, largely thanks to a photograph of oil-soaked pelicans from the BP-Gulf of Mexico oil disaster published alongside a Pacific Northwest article about Beltrá on Oct. 24, 2010.

In the award notes, one judge called the pelican image "really beautiful and shocking at the same time," an apt description of Beltrá's entire body of work, much of which promotes conservation.

The award is presented annually by London's Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine. Beltrá received a check for 10,000 British pounds, or roughly $16,000.

— Tyrone Beason

Seattle's First Neighborhood

Jan. 23, 2011

People versed in Pioneer Square's history and challenges say the area could use more residents to deter crime, boost local business' sales and create a sense of community.

The square was left out of the real-estate-development bonanza — until now. After years of delays, a major mixed-use development broke ground in CenturyLink Field's north parking lot this past fall. The project is expected to create 700 apartments, 444 of them in the first phase being built now.

Despite the hope that brings, Masins Fine Furnishings & Interior Design is looking for another Seattle location where customers will not get so many parking tickets. "We love the area, but it's not convenient for our customer base," said Bob Masin, whose family's business has operated in the square for almost 80 years.

— Melissa Allison

He Can Has Fun

Jan. 30

Ben Huh's stature as the mastermind behind the Cheezburger Network of online humor sites — home to kitty-centric I Can Has Cheezburger? — has only grown since we profiled the Seattle entrepreneur Jan. 30. Huh was recently named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in media and entertainment for the Pacific Northwest region.

The network's fan base has grown to 20 million unique users each month, up from 16 million in January. And the third volume of I Can Has Cheezburger? captioned cat pictures, "How 2 Be Awsum: A LOLcat Guide 2 Life," was published in November. Huh, who's often photographed in cat-inspired attire, has even become a style icon of sorts. GQ magazine named him one of the 15 worst-dressed men in the tech industry. But in the upside-down world of online humor, even a dubious distinction like that can be worn as a badge of honor.

— Tyrone Beason

Life on the Edge

March 13

She's approaching 91 now, but mental-health advocate Eleanor Owen is still feisty as ever. "I've been on a high!" she said recently. Working on a memoir of growing up in a "chaotic Italian immigrant family" during the Depression, Owen says she's been encouraged by a literary agent and aims to finish a manuscript this month. "It's tragic, it's funny," she said of the book. Knowing Owen, you can be sure of it.

For years, Owen was known as The Barracuda, a 100-pound dynamo who rallied parents of people with mental illness and bullied officials into improving the way they all were treated. Her son, Jody, diagnosed with schizophrenia, was her motivation, her obsession. He was also a prime example of how a troubled system could lead to tragedy — another man's death in 1977.

Jody, now 56 years old, living in a house he helped renovate and working for a furniture maker, had been worried about sharing his story. But "everything that came of it was very supportive," he said.

— Maureen O'Hagan

Yesler Terrace: A Different Kind of Rich

March 20

The mixed-income makeover of Yesler Terrace, Seattle's most storied subsidized-housing project, was supposed to get started this past summer with the City Council working on zoning changes needed to realize the vision of high-rises sprouting on the south side of First Hill. But that work was delayed by the complexity of the Seattle Housing Authority's $300 million proposal and the council's biennial budget duties.

The council is now supposed to take up Yesler early in 2012. Meanwhile, the housing authority got some good news for its sweeping plan to add up to 4,500 apartments and condos, most of them for affluent residents. Yesler won a $10 million grant from the federal government to start redevelopment. Though less than the $27 million the housing authority sought, the money will help construct 100 new apartments just east of Yesler's 32 acres. Current Yesler residents will move into those new apartments when bulldozers begin Yesler's phased redevelopment. The feds supplemented the grant with $560,000 a year in additional rent subsidies for residents.

A $1.5 million chunk of the grant will be targeted to help Yesler's youth. Seattle University will oversee "cradle-to-college" academic support. The idea is to provide a spectrum of educational aid.

— Bob Young

The Hometown Band Made It Big

July 3

Pearl Jam, the fateful intersection of five musicians from several different bands, celebrated 20 years together in 2011.

The anniversary events kicked off with the release of two remastered albums, "Vs." and "Vitalogy." There was a documentary directed by longtime friend Cameron Crowe, who also created an accompanying soundtrack. And, over Labor Day weekend, some 30,000 fans gathered at the Alpine Valley Music Festival to celebrate the community they had formed through the band, the music, the tours and the activism that all show no sign of stopping.

Frontman Eddie Vedder tried to capture it all on the second night at Alpine Valley, when he took the stage, alone, to play a song he had written just hours before:

" . . . Couldn't have told me back then that it would someday be allowed to be so in love with life, as deeply as we are now," he sang as the crowd cheered. "Never thought we would. Never thought we could. I'm glad we made it. I'm so glad we made it. I'm so glad we made it 'til when it all got good."

— Nicole Brodeur