October 2006

It's easy to see who the top girls swim and dive team will be this year after still undefeated Seamount League team Kennedy just beat until Thursday undefeated Mount Rainier, 106-84, at the Mount Rainier Pool.

Everything was dominating except the best race of the night in which the Rams' Molly Larson, in the 100 breaststroke, beat the Lancers' Allie Vetterlein so closely, 1:09.90 to 1:09.99.

First places went to the Lancers in all the other races.

"If we're not the fastest team in the state, we are close," said Lancers head coach, Marc Stock, who coaches diving

MEET JOHN DICKOVER

He used to buy airplanes. Big ones. In fact he bought the Boeing SST that was never finished, KC-135 tankers, and scores of others.

He bought them but he didn't own them. He was the Air Force agent in charge of purchasing them.

He even bought 707s for the German Luftwaffe and fuel tankers for the French air force.

Yes, he haggled over the prices and drove hard bargains. He also took test flights to make sure he got what he bargained for.

John lives in Tukwila near the Riverton campus of Highline Medical Center.

It had to be a misprint in our Diversions column.

The blurb noted Lake Burien Presbyterian Church was screening the controversial-to-some movie An Inconvenient Truth with Al Gore sounding the alarm about global warming.

This is the same Lake Burien Presbyterian of my youth where after-services activities were pretty much limited to potlucks with Presbyterian Spaghetti (made with short macaroni noodles so the kids didn't get so messy) and Christmas pageants (I "killed" as Shepherd #3 in the 1958 production).

Thankfully, mainstream churches are now making their v

One of this city's unsurpassed treasures is Des Moines Drug Store, located at 627 S. 227th St.

(Editor's Note: This column, originally printed Aug.

(Editor's Note: This bonus column, originally printed Jan. 25, 2006, didn't win anything. Maybe, I shouldn't have submitted a column on horse sex in the serious general column category.)

Strange sex. Strange sex. Strange sex.

Oh, excuse me.

As a Fire Fighter with the City of SeaTac for more than 14 years, I find it important to comment on the recent failure of Proposition 1.

Yes, this was an expensive proposition. This was not something thrown together quickly or without a great deal of thought. Over the years there have been multiple studies conducted by third party consultants and City staff, all recommended improvements within the Fire Department.

The Lid Lift would have provided for some of these improvements in many areas.

As a resident of North Highline, I've had about enough of the "No Annexation: Keep Burien White" crowd.

Until recently, I did a good deal of my shopping and dining in Burien, but I've taken those signs posted all over town to mean "Keep Out. We Don't Want Your Money." So now most of my dollars are spent in White Center, or just up the road in West Seattle.

For the record, I'm young, white, educated, earn more than the median income, and I love the diversity in my community.

I am writing to urge all registered voters to vote no on Initiative 933 in November.

Initiative 933 is a threat to our community and to any of us who own property in Washington state.

If I-933 is passed in November, you could soon find yourself living next door to incompatible development that lowers your property value.

(Editor's note: This letter was originally sent to Des Moines city officials.)

We are asking for your help in continuing to make Des Moines a beautiful, safe and prosperous place to live. Please restore the Parks and Streets Maintenance budgets.

Please restore maintenance to our parks and trails. Several of our parks are currently "mothballed" and are receiving minimum maintenance.

Please preserve our open spaces. Zenith Park is owned by the Highline School District and they are looking to surplus the property for needed funds.