January 2008

If I was king I would use my vast power to make it illegal to allow the blueberry packagers to use those clear plastic boxes.

Invariably I meet disaster when I try to get the box open and sprinkle some on my puffed hay when I fix my breakfast.

I did it again this morning. The flimsy box defies opening as it has a snap open-and-close system.

The past couple of months, I've been wallowing in nostalgia with fellow Burien old-timers.

It all began with a couple of columns about a 60th birthday trek from my adolescent hangout, Sylvester Junior High, through downtown Burien to my boyhood home.

In the columns, I dropped the names of as many dearly departed landmarks as I could cram in.

That brought feedback from old hands who added other names while challenging me, "Do you remember that place?"

It was all great fun, but through it all was an undertone of sadness mixed with an unsettled feeling

On Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 6 p.m. at Mt. Rainier High School in Des Moines, the Highline School District is holding a public hearing on the possible sale/easement of a strip of district property adjacent to the Westmark Emerald Pointe condo site in Burien.

The 9.8-acre site has no easy vehicle access and cannot effectively be developed unless access is obtained. By purchasing this land/easement from the district, Westmark will finally have easy access.

In your article about the Highline West Seattle Mental Health Center (January 16), Robert Thorpe, representing Westmark developers who are completing the EIS for the Emerald Pointe Condos project on the adjacent 9.8 acre property, stated that "the developers would provide a road, landscaping and sewer service for the mental heath center as part of the project."

I have heard that Westmark will also provide stormwater service for this additional acreage as part of the project.

I read with interest your article on Rep. Sharon Nelson and the work she is doing to protect Maury Island from mining by Glacier Northwest. Very few people know about the mining on Maury Island so it sounds like she is dong a noble thing.

She says that she has fought the mine since she moved there 14 years ago. Glacier has been mining there for over 40 years. Sounds to me like she is a NIMBY.

The city of Des Moines, over the years, has created a vast boating community in the immediate area. The local marina and boat launch were a major factor in buying my home on North Hill. My choice of a boat and a trailer was totally based on the Des Moines launch. I have talked to many local boaters who tell me the same thing.

Now Des Moines wants to tell us boaters and fishermen to find somewhere else to enter the Sound.

Jim McDermott is one of my favorite liberal politicians. He is an independent minded public servant and always available during Congressional breaks. Sometimes his independence gets him into a little hot water. That is fine by me. I and others have his back. Some have suggested that because Jim voted against an overstated resolution about Christmas and the Christian faith, he should be voted out of office. This is part of a calculated political strategy and must be recognized as such.

Let's look at the basics. It is not rocket science. What does the resolution say?

Its interesting to read that Gov. Gregoire is proposing to set a toll on the SR 520 Bridge to raise and "save" these collected funds to replace this span sometime in the future. These funds would be funneled into the state General Fund where they would be "saved" to be spent only on the 520 Bridge replacement project. Right!

Lets see where have I heard this proposal before.