Aimee Curl: Having Drinks Last Night with McIver
Spent happy hour with council member Richard McIver last night. While I likely wasn't the last person to see him before he was arrested early this morning, I'm probably as shocked as anybody that the evening ended with his wife calling 911 to report verbal and physical abuse.
McIver, who has a reputation for being a stand-up guy in these parts, was appointed to the city council in 1997 to replace John Manning, who resigned after being arrested for domestic violence.
We met at the College Club around 5:30 p.m. to catch up on a few things related to stories I'm researching. We had a couple drinks, chatted about policy issues, wrangling over the budget, the upcoming election. After we'd covered all-things Seattle, we talked about our experiences in Washington D.C. (I moved back to Seattle from D.C. to take this job in February.) McIver was there in the late 1970's, early 1980's working for the National League of Cities. He spoke glowingly of his wife of 33 years, Marlaina Kiner-McIver, a graduate of Howard University Law School who moved them to the nation's capitol so she could take a post with the Carter Administration as a lawyer for the Housing and Urban Development Department.
McIver offered to drive me home and seemed in good spirits when he dropped me off on Capitol Hill around 7:45 p.m.
18 comment(s)
Will in Seattle says:
Good thing you didn\'t accept the ride.
Sometimes I\'ve only realized after being in the car, that a person was just a tad more sloshed than I thought.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 10 2007 @ 3:05PM
bob says:
looks like she did accept the ride dofus
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 10 2007 @ 3:24PM
Thor says:
McIver is a good man. His wife is a good woman. They need to patch things up. And they will. End of story.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 10 2007 @ 5:28PM
Seely says:
Aimee got dropped off before 8. He didn\'t make it home \'til after 2. He could have easily been sober at the time he dropped her off. There are six mystery hours in between where he apparently got a little out of joint.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 10 2007 @ 5:30PM
Zorba says:
Your timeline is a bit off, Seely.
Ms. Kurl was dropped about 745pm.
The 911 call occurred at 1208am.
McIver was booked after 230am.
The \"mystery\" hours are only four. And most of those could have been spent by the couple at their home. Both had been drinking before the 911 call was placed.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 10 2007 @ 6:11PM
Maiko Weymiller says:
His wife\'s story is changing by the minute. I think she is full of BS. After she called the police and they called her back she had to act like it was a legitimate domentic problem. I bet she pretended to call the first time to act tough. Moron.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 6:43AM
Seely says:
Zorba, yeah, you\'re right. My main point is that it was very likely that McIver was sober or very close to it at the time he drove Aimee home.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 10:00AM
Guy Smiley says:
Wow, am I reading this right? The WeAkly is actually trumpeting the fact that one of its reporters was actually having drinks with, and accepted a ride from, a source? I\'m sure journalism profs stomachs are turning everywhere.
Not only does what your reporter did seem highly dicey from an ethical standpoint by crossing the reporter-source boundary, but then to have her actually blog on what she did like her pre-arrest outing with McIver is some sort of \"scoop\" is way out of whack.
I know you guys have strayed off course from the kind of traditional journalism that matters, but this is ridiculous.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 10:39AM
J.R. says:
Guy: I\'m sure that you are completely serious, but your comments are idiotic. Political reporters are known to have drinks with politicians, staffers, activists and whoever else they want. That\'s the business. If journalism profs are annoyed, that\'s because most of them haven\'t worked in the field in a couple decades. No harm, no foul, buddy.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 12:19PM
bigyaz says:
\"I\'m sure journalism profs stomachs are turning everywhere.\"
I\'m sure you don\'t know what you\'re talking about. Having a drink (or a cup of coffee, or lunch) with a source is part of doing the job. You know not of what you speak.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 12:48PM
DaveD says:
So 66 y.o. McIver gave a ride to much younger female reporter, goes home, wife learns of it, wife none to pleased, and hilarity ensues.
Might be a good idea to refuse a ride next time.
Unless of course you like the attention of helping to mess up a married guy\'s life.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 1:20PM
Toby Weymiller says:
This is not good journalism. I have tried to bribe reporters with free cars and drinks for years to gain access to their thoughts but I admit that my bahavior has been offensive. I think Curl is trying to sound cool and in the know.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 1:23PM
J.R. says:
Free cars? Now you\'re talkin\'!!!
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 1:52PM
Mark Fefer says:
As any fair-minded reader can see, Aimee\'s post wasn\'t intended to be a breathless scoop, nor did she \"trumpet\" what happened. She stated the facts. Hard to see how it would have been more ethical, more in keeping with \"traditional journalism,\" for her to have written nothing about it and kept the whole thing secret. Although, yeah, I suppose that\'s what Judith Miller would have done.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 5:18PM
Ted N says:
The headline for this posting seems a little self-important and \"trumpet\"ing to me: \"AIMEE CURL: DRINKS LAST NIGHT WITH MCIVER.\" When was the last time SW headlined a reporter\'s observational blog posting with the reporter\'s name? Probably never.
Not saying the whole thing should\'ve been kept secret, but the posting does impart a \"Gee, look at me, I\'m in the know\" attitude.
And aside from the weak Judith Miller non-sequitur, I can totally see how it would be hard to defend a reporter who schlepped a ride home from her source, especially a source who has been drinking and then gets behind the wheel (Before you minimize the potential drinking and driving aspects, please be sure to check your archives on SW\'s breathless coverage of Jane Hague\'s DUI).
But then again maybe I\'m just not a fair minded reader.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 11 2007 @ 5:56PM
bob says:
How does any of this change the fact that this worthless piece of crap grabbed his wife by the throat several times, while telling her she was not a good wife. He scared this woman, who did nothing but call for help. If this piece of crap wants to put his hands on someone, why doesn\'t he try me? The answer, he is a coward who thinks woman are punching bags who need a man or they are doomed. If he stays on the council, Seattle is truely anti woman, and anti justice.
Posted On: Friday, Oct. 12 2007 @ 8:25PM
Tazia says:
Aimee and Richard McIver should move in together, he can be her designated chauffeur.
Posted On: Wednesday, Aug. 27 2008 @ 4:51PM
Tazia says:
Aimee and Richard McIver should move in together, he can be her designated chauffeur.
Posted On: Wednesday, Aug. 27 2008 @ 4:51PM