July 2007

While Burien and Seattle continue the long North Highline annexation process, the SeaTac Planning Commission has recommended its city take a piece of the unincorporated area.

As part of SeaTac's comprehensive plan review, commission members have suggested the city declare the Boulevard Park neighborhood a potential annexation area.

The area targeted for annexation would run from State Route 509 to the Tukwila city limits, and from South 128th Street north to the Seattle city limits.

The citizen commission advises the city on planning issues.

Planning

With the public sale of the first Burien Town Square condominiums not set to begin until July 25, nearly half of the units already have already been spoken for.

According to Kim Sharpe-Jones, marketing manager for Miller Condominium Marketing, earnest money equal to 5 percent of the purchase price has been placed on 52 of the 124 Phase One condos.

Prices range from the $200,000s to the $600,000s.

The units feature five basic floor plans-studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, live-work lofts and two-level stacked townhouses.

Located on the southw

The Hispanic community is the largest and most rapidly growing of all minority groups in Burien.

Since 1995, Hispanics have grown from 3 to 11 percent of the city's population.

The latest Breeders Theater show at Burien's E.B. Foote Winery, Out of the Nest, is more than a fledgling.

It opens with a flock of dancing birds and a cat who struggles with its nature. From there we hear a tale of courage, sacrifice and subterfuge, but mostly of why "love is for the birds."

"Out of the Nest" is billed as a new comedy with music. This is not a full-blown musical, but a show with catchy tunes nonetheless.

The text of the play and the lyrics are by T.M. Sell, with music by Nancy Warren.

Highline Medical Center has been recognized by the Premier healthcare alliance as a top performer nationwide in hip and knee replacement procedures.

One of only six hospitals to receive the 2007 Premier Award for Quality for excellence in the care of patients in this category, the medical center has one of the lowest complication rates for patients undergoing joint replacement surgery.

For the cities of Burien and Seattle-and residents of North Highline-it's d/j

There will be no Miss Burien 2008.

A new Miss Burien was scheduled to be crowned Nov.

Are the residents of Burien going to be silent spectators while the annexation event slowly unfolds?

At one time the Burien City Council stated that they would no longer consider annexation as a viable option if the financial picture came up as a negative. The current Berk report shows that "no annexation" has the smallest deficit, but the council is still hotly in pursuit of the annexation route.

The council seems to have put a positive spin on the report to support their pro-annexation position.

It's good to see the public response and interest in art for the new Burien Town Square. However, I feel that the sculptor whose work was not approved by the city council was demeaned by the method of presentation to the public. The art should have had Council approval before the design and sculpture were made public. Input toward the selection is available through Commission process and prior to the process.

Phillip Levine

North Highline

West Seattle residents are fortunate to have right in our own neighborhood a theater arts program for youth that has the potential to change the lives of the young people performing in its shows as well as the people of all ages who come to see the shows.

This summer young people from ages 15 to 21 enrolled in ArtsWest's Musical Theater Performance Apprenticeship Program are performing Hair, which opened this past week. This production of Hair does justice not only to the award-winning Broadway musical, but also to the social and political context of the late 60s.