May 2007

Yes, Jack, as editor of the Herald, you certainly have a right to express your own opinion, in contrast to the role of the reporter.

But, before downing the vote against the monorail, asking for a "West side transit study now," I don't understand why the wheel needs to be invented again. There is already information out there, much done by your good staff of reporters. Furthermore, it is not just West Seattle that is clogged up; it is the whole city and suburbs.

The 2000 Intermediate Capacity Transit Study already identified those corridors as needing better transit than buses. That study informed the Seattle Monorail Project, and they were largely sound in their alignment choice. Their failures were in limiting their technology choices (and therefore number of bidders) - they wrote in inflexibilities that doomed their project.

Sound Transit was able to adapt because they remained flexible. Build a flexible agency with the same overall goals as the Seattle Monorail Project.

For bus rapid transit to work in the Seattle metropolitan region, bus rapid transit must have their own no-cars, no-trucks lanes to travel in or it will fail big time like the now-dead bus rapid transit line of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Jonathan St. Thomas

Seattle

Charlie Chong died (April 26) and the City of Seattle is poorer for our loss. Charlie and I didn't agree on all political issues, but one always knew Charlie was honest and was always working for what he felt was right.

He brought new life to a City Council that was, and is again, mired in process and hidden agendas. He spoke out, and was often chided by other council members for his honesty and principles.

Hello, my name is Machel Spence and my daughter is a second-grader at Pathfinder K-8 School.

For the past week I have been working with Pathfinder to put in place a protocol of sorts for children with peanut/nut allergies.

The YMCA of Greater Seattle has been a volunteer-driven agency since its founding in 1876. We could not serve our communities as we do without the support of thousands of volunteers who give so generously at the YMCA each year.

Last week, the YMCA honored its Volunteers of the Year from 2006 at the YMCA's annual meeting at Benaroya Hall. These volunteers stand out from their peers because of their dedication and passion for service, and for the value they have added to the YMCA with their time and talent.

We as a region have a chance this fall to expand our regional light rail system by up to 60 miles and give commuters even more alternatives to sitting in traffic on our overcrowded freeways. The proposed Sound Transit 2 package enhances the rail transit system we're building today. This is work the region should have approved back in the 1960s and 1970s.

West Seattle is fondly remembering Charlie Chong, the diminutive Admiral district resident who led a West Seattle uprising against the city's 1994 "urban village" vision of the future, was elected to the Seattle City Council, and made three runs at mayor.

Chong died April 26 of post-operative complications unrelated to surgery. He was 80.

Chief Sealth High School can now be called a "world school" since receiving approval to host the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, rigorous college prep curriculum for 11th- and 12th-graders.

Operated by a nonprofit educational foundation, the program was created as a common university entrance credential with an international focus on diversity and culture.

Students who complete the full two-year program starting this fall would be eligible to enter colleges and universities across the country with sophomore standing, including at the University of Washington.

A little more than two months on the job, West Seattle High's new principal Bruce Bivins has had his hands full with staff and student needs, a budget deadline and issues surrounding the school's block schedule system.

But his biggest charge as principal is to ensure everyone works together on a common direction and vision for the school and the students, Bivins said.

"The bottom line is that students and students' work has to be at the center of every conversation," he said.