Lieberman's Northwest connection

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Democratic candidate Al Gore's choice for vice president, is no stranger to Seattle. The senator from Connecticut was here last year for the marriage of his stepson, Ethan Tucker, to Ariela Migdal, daughter of University of Washington professor Joel S. Migdal.

Ethan and Ariela met while students at Harvard University. They're now living in New York City, where he's working on a doctorate at the Jewish Theological Seminary and she's studying law at New York University. This summer she interned at Perkins Coie, a Seattle law firm.

Professor Migdal, chairman of the Jewish studies program at the UW's Jackson School of International Studies, says, "We were aware for quite a few weeks that Sen. Lieberman was a candidate for vice president.

"My daughter and son-in-law had planned to fly to North Carolina on Sunday night for a week's vacation. They waited all day Sunday to hear if they should head to Nashville for Gore's announcement. They didn't hear until after they'd reached D.C."

Migdal says his son-in-law will probably take a semester off to campaign. His daughter, however, may have to continue with her studies.

Will Migdal's plans change?

He laughed and said, "Only to try to get a couple of tickets for the Inaugural Ball."

Weekly's loss: Seattle Weekly Editor in Chief Knute "Skip" Berger had a surprise announcement for his staff last Thursday: He's leaving his post at the end of next month after 10 years with the paper, the last three as editor-in-chief.

Berger says, "It's time to explore life after the Weekly." He stressed that his decision was not related to this summer's appointment of Alisa Cromer as publisher, nor to changes in ownership. (The paper recently was sold to Village Voice Media, the second change of ownership in three years.)

After a couple of months "kicking back," Berger plans to write a book about the Northwest and perhaps continue with the Weekly as a contributing editor.

He joked, "If Bush is elected, I may have to start a left-wing militia."

Asked about a successor, Berger says, "I'm sure they'll look both locally and nationally. The Village Voice hires very good people."

Just kidding: No, it's not Sen. Patty Murray, Microsoft's Bill Gates nor the Sonics' Gary Payton who will appear on stage in "Hopes, Dreams and Paychecks," a musical at the Seattle Children's Theatre tomorrow through Saturday. Instead, it's a group of talented youngsters, ages 10 to 15, who have roles as the local personalities.

One tip: Don't miss 10-year-old Maya Sugerman who sings "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and "Chain of Fools" during the Payton dialogue. They say she has a voice like Ethel Merman.

Macro or Micro: A reader reports spotting a car on Interstate 90 with the license MSFT, the stock ticker designation for Microsoft. What's surprising is the make of car. You'd expect a Mercedes, Porsche, BMW or Jaguar. But no. It's a Geo Metro. One of the world's richest stock tickers on one of the world's least-expensive cars.

Jean Godden appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Phone: 206-464-8300. E-mail: jgodden@seattletimes.com.