March 2008

Will two schools, whose staffs and student bodies are currently divided over the school district's plan to co-locate them, be able to maintain strong academic communities and increase collaboration among its teaching staffs?

Principal of Denny Middle School, Jeff Clark, believes so.

"The academic opportunities that will be possible will further enhance our ability to provide each student with a rigorous and personalized learning experience, as we prepare them all for college and lifelong learning-they deserve nothing less," said Clark.

Based on surveys, more th

With robotic arms extended, cranes are expanding Alaska Junction upward yielding joint condominium and retail buildings, a mini-explosion of residences and shops that will attract even more traffic to the current congestion on Alaska Street, California Avenue, and the blocks that hug them.

Part of the allure of the traffic mania is due to free street parking.

Tom Mitchell has been named Administrator of Skilled Nursing at Providence Mount St.Vincent.

During his four-year tenure with Providence, Mitchell has served as director of operations at Providence Mount St. Vincent and as regional manager, budgets and decision support, for Providence Health & Services.

Mitchell is a licensed nursing home administrator and a certified public accountant.

His professional affiliations include serving as president, treasurer and board member of Rosehedge, which provides housing and 24-hour care to men and women living with AIDS.

Environmentalist Judy E. Pickens might be known by area residents for her stewardship and restoration efforts of Fauntleroy Creek, but the West Seattle author is also getting recognition for her new book.

The book is Guided By the Light, Fauntleroy Church at the Centennial Milepost. Her husband, Phillip Sweetland, helped gather church archives, photos, and did some pre-press scanning of the materials.

Pickens recently gave a lecture to residents at The Kenney near the present-day church. Most attending were Fauntleroy Church members. Some were quoted in her book.

King County Sheriff's detectives are re-investigating a South Park double homicide from 18 years ago.

On January 15, 1990, a neighbor found the bodies of Steven Dorobis, 34, and Eric Hoyer, 36, in their residence in the 1200 block of South Southern St.

Both men were Seattle attorneys who had been shot at close range, probably the day before, with a .38 or .357 handgun. The case was thoroughly investigated well into 1993, but no arrests were ever made.

Replacement of the crumbling South Park Bridge is a top concern for the King County Council as well as urging for salmon recovery, transportation infrastructure, buses and passenger ferries, and health care.

"Replacing the South Park Bridge is a top regional priority and a federal contribution to the funding package would significantly aid efforts to maintain this transportation lifeline for South King County communities," said Council Vice Chair Dow Constantine.

A man decided to fulfill his death wish by lying in the middle of Avalon Way, hoping that a car would hit him. He told officers he was off his meds and repeatedly said, "Why can't I just die?" He was taken to Harborview for a mental evaluation.

A local man who is caretaker for his elderly mother wanted to report her as a missing person. An officer investigated and discovered that the mom had been transported to Swedish Hospital and later released to the care of court-appointed guardian.

More bus service coming

By Larry Phillips

In 2006, voters said a resounding yes to expanding Metro bus service with passage of the Transit Now ballot measure. The first service increases got rolling last year, and 2008 will bring even more service to the streets.

As the representative of transit-oriented Seattle neighborhoods including Ballard, Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, Belltown, Downtown, Eastlake, and South Lake Union, the most common transit request I hear from citizens is for more bus service.

The recent designation of the old John B. Allen School as a city landmark could make it fiscally easier for the Phinney Neighborhood Association to purchase it from the Seattle School District.

The Phinney Association has leased the school from the district since 1981 and plans to purchase it for an undisclosed amount. The non-profit is almost ready to make an offer, said Ed Medeiros, executive director of the Phinney group.

The district plans to sell several of its surplus school facilities that won't be needed in the future to house students.

Mayor Greg Nickels has released $25,000 from a $350,000 fund he'd frozen that the City Council had set aside to aid renters being displaced by condominium conversions, but housing advocates and city council members say they will push for more if the need warrants it.

The temporary hold on the funds was necessary to determine if the funds would be needed to supplement an unexpected loss of about $600,000 in federal funding, according to Seattle City Council central staffers.

The City Council designated the money in the 2008 budget to increase the $500 d