August 2006

This morning from my office window I was watching the West Seattle pedestrian ferry cross Elliott Bay. I thought, "Man, that would be nice to sit in a boat to get work in the mornings."

Then I thought about having a small pedestrian ferry service from South Park Marina to the downtown Seattle waterfront, via the Duwamish. The boat could pick-up/drop-off near the proposed South Park waterfront park. It would leave South Park a couple times in the mornings arriving near the Colman Ferry dock, next to the West Seattle pedestrian ferry.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. So wrote Mr. William S., but I am not so sure he was right about that.

I have been finding, for many years, there is a lot "in a name." When I married, I acquired a new name that would give me a problem.

Back then, no one thought of keeping their maiden name. My maiden name gave me a small problem during World War II and my mother said she had some problem with the German sounding name during World War I, even here in West Seattle.

However, the problem my married name is giving me is quite a worry.

How is it that a Mariners game, a concert at the Key Arena and an exhibition soccer match at Qwest (Field) all be scheduled on the same day during commuting hours? My commute is already two hours (I take the bus), and such events make traffic horrendous. Is there any concern for the general public that just wants to get home after work, rather than sit for hours in traffic?

Also, I find the aforementioned exhibition match a curiosity.

It seems to me these cat lovers wanting to kill off the coyotes in Schmitz Park who have lived there who knows how long should keep their cats at home. How many birds do cats kill? Birds to contribute to plant life growing carry seeds etc. what does a cat do? So far we have made things bad for bears cougars etc. Time we learned we couldn't live without all wild life.

E. Smith

West Seattle

Regarding my August 9 letter to the editor: The views expressed about coyotes were strictly my own and in no way represent the Friends of Schmitz Park. Please visit our website: www.schmitzpark.org

Deborah Mendenhall

Schmitz Park

The Elliot Bay Water Taxi is taking more commuters across Puget Sound waters to and from downtown Seattle than ever before.

Compared with this time last year, twice as many commuters are choosing the 12-minute water taxi journey onboard the Sightseer, rather than battling traffic on the West Seattle Bridge or State Route 99, said Charlie Vogel, a project manager for Argosy Cruises.

Beating a steady boom-boom, boom-boom on wide, shallow drums, Duwamish men, women and children sang to more than 100 people crammed onto Admiral Viewpoint late Friday afternoon for the dedication of the new Duwamish story pole.

The drummers - eight adults and eight youngsters - wore cedar bark headbands.

The Burien City Council wants to explore four annexation options for the North Highline Unincorporated Area, including full annexation, two partial annexation alternatives and no annexation.

One partial annexation option would have Burien annex the area from South 128th Street to South 116th Street, with new north-south city limits along Glendale and Des Moines Memorial Drive.

That is slightly different than the southern annexation option the council looked at before, but still would bring 10,500 people into the city, enough to make Burien eligible for state sales tax sha

What happens if Burien annexes none of the North Highline Unincorporated Area?

The "'No Annexation' Impact Summary" was submitted to the Burien City Council in the wake of recent public opposition to any annexation of North Highline.

Burien officials met with representatives from King County and Seattle to discuss possible solutions to the annexation issue.

Mayor Joan McGilton told the Burien council that Seattle is interested in the fire station and the library located in the unincorporated area.

King County Executive Ron Sims wants to find a joint

While Georgetown residents waved protest signs at passing cars, other people were inside the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 1 questioning city officials about the smells and traffic congestion their proposed intermodal garbage transfer facility would bring to Georgetown.

Seattle Public Utilities sponsored a workshop in Georgetown last week to explain their plans for a truck-to-train garbage-handling facility.