September 2009

As reported in the Times/News, Gordon Shaw is opposed to using the old library as a senior center.
His message to this senior is "one day in the far distant future we will build a center, do not know where, meanwhile we save money by not doing anything."
(I saved a lot of money this week by not buying a car.)
Gordon continues, "When the center is built one day, it's up to you to live long enough to see it!
"Meanwhile go to Renton, Des Moines, Kent--they have great centers, with lunch programs and great dance floors."
The site of the old library is perfect. Adequate parking and handicapped access. Close to senior housing,, the new commons, stores, new bus terminal etc.
I note that the idea may be only a temporary solution.
As every handyman knows, "There is nothing so permanent as a temporary solution."

Walter McGowan
Burien

After reading Earline Byers's column I felt strongly that she sees clearly what the voters are facing this election.
As a 48-year resident of Des Moines I have seen many councils come and go and most were excellent people who could agree to disagree, discuss problems, and differences and come up with solutions that all could accept.
However, we're seeing a lack of what Earline calls team spirit that we expect from our leaders. Once before a group of people was elected by one man's efforts to encourage only people who agreed with his agenda to run for office. We all know what that did to our city.
Before this November's election, we voters need to talk to candidates, ask hard questions, look each in their eyes and then ask the same of present council members. Will their decisions make our grandchildren and their children want to live and enjoy the uniqueness of Des Moines?
Let's get back to serving on city council as real community service for this city we all want to love, and less for political maneuvering.

Judy Mannard
Des Moines

Some good golf competition and some not so good golf competition graced the fairways of the Riverbend Golf Course as Mount Rainer took on Kennedy in boys and girls action, with the girls final score close as close can be close, 109-108, Rams, and the boys score more along the lines of the line “not even close,” 110-84, in high school opening Seamount League action Tuesday.
Kelsey Berg, a senior and the No. 1 on the Lady Rams, watched her coach, Lance Hepworth, and Kennedy’s coach Kale Dyer do the final tallying of the girls score. When she saw the number she unsurprisingly put her hands to her mouth in an “Oh, my,” expression.
“That’s the way to start it,” said Hepworth.
The Lancers received medalist honors in the name of a senior named Jaden Johnson with a 44 and she admitted she’s shot a little better on this course at 42. And Berg, who likely was a medalist most matches last year in the Seamount, and was actually a top 15 finalist after the first day at state. She shot a 45 to tie with junior teammate Kelsey O’Keefe.

With the lure of tax-free distributions, Roth IRAs have become popular retirement savings vehicles since their introduction in 1998. But if you're a high-income taxpayer, chances are you haven't been able to participate in the Roth revolution. Well, that's about to change.
What's changing?
In 2006, President Bush signed the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act (TIPRA) into law. TIPRA repeals the $100,000 income limit for conversions, and also allows conversions by taxpayers who are married filing separately. What this means is that, regardless of your filing status or how much you earn, you'll be able to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. This provision of the new law doesn't take effect until 2010.
So why concern yourself with this now?
Even though the new rules don't take effect until 2010, there are steps you can take this year if you want to maximize the amount you can convert at that time. If you aren't doing so already, you can simply make the maximum annual contribution to a traditional IRA, and then convert that traditional IRA to a Roth in 2010.

My summer was filled with family.
In July, I picnicked with 65 members of my extended family at my boyhood home in Burien. And a couple of weeks ago, I rented a Lincoln City beach home with Marge's family from New York City.
As a kid, I figured two annual Mathison rituals would go on forever.
The five Ted and Bernadine Mathison kids still get together along with our greatly expanded families to eat, sing carols, and exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. With Dad and Mom gone, the party has moved to older brother Phil's house.
However, the annual Mathison summer picnic with Dad's four siblings and their families petered out after 2002.
Dad moved to Judson Park in Des Moines. And, although his brothers and sisters sailed along in good health well into their eighties and nineties, they all eventually died within a few years of each other.
Phil and Leona occasionally talked to the cousins about reinstituting the picnic.
"We are the oldest generation now," Leona likes to remind me. As the baby brother, I refuse to acknowledge that.
There were reunion obstacles.

(Editor's Note: Tim Robinson interviewed Tom Brandes, a member of Rainier Golf and Country Club, who recently competed in the U.S. Senior Open golf tournament in Indiana. Jerry Robinson added a footnote.)

What was your first time? Your first date, your first day on the job. Maybe the first sale you made? Your first recital or possibly public speaking? You were nervous.
Now double that and you have amateur golfer Tom Brandes at the U.S. Senior Open golf tournament in Carmel, Indiana early in August.
"Oh man," Brandes remarked. "I was told be ready for the crowds.
"Honestly it was difficult. You have fear of letting them down. I felt like I was running the gauntlet."
With daily crowds of 25,000 spectators and as many as 5,000 people surrounding a particular hole, the task of making a good golf shot can be daunting.
Even for a 15-time winner of the Rainier Golf and Country Club championship.
Brandes, 53, qualified for entry into the senior tournament by besting the field at Bellingham Country Club last June.
"I shot 37 on the front nine and felt like I was out contention," Brandes said.

After residents in Magnolia and Greenwood said they spotted a cougar yesterday, today Seattle Parks and Recreation will close Discovery Park on a recommendation from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife,

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is on site at the park setting a live trap for a cougar that has been sighted in the park. It's unknown whether this was the same one seen by residents the previous day.

The department intends to capture and re-locate it to a more rural setting, according to the parks department.

To avoid any interference with the trapping operation, the park will be closed until Monday, Sept. 7, or when the animal is captured, whichever comes first.

If a member of the public sees the animal during normal business hours, please call (425) 775-1311. If the cougar is spotted before or after normal business hours, call 9-1-1. For more information about cougars, visit: http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/cougars.htm#facts.

On Sept. 3, the family of Kevin Black, a University of Washington scientist who was killed on Feb. 4 while bicycling to work, filed a civil action against the driver whose Ford E250 van struck him, according to a release from the lawyer representing the Black family.

Black, 39, was riding in the bike lane in the 6400 block of 24th Avenue Northwest in Ballard when the van’s driver attempted a U-turn into the path of his bicycle.

The suit against Jonnie Lynn Wilbur of Gig Harbor seeks damages on behalf of Black’s family, including his two daughters, ages 13 and 10.

“Mr. Black was a respected and popular molecular researcher, and an avid cyclist,” said the family's attorney, James S. Rogers.

Rogers said the suit is being filed at this time because the police investigation just recently concluded.

He said, according to the investigation report, police found negligence on the part of the Wilbur, who was making a U-turn on a street that is not meant to accommodate them.

In the days following Black’s death, friends, family members and fellow bicyclists erected a shrine and held a vigil near the scene of the collision.

Dear Editor,

Lately the tennis court lights near Lincoln Park have been shutting down around 9 p.m. I don’t know if this is going on across Seattle but it is really annoying.

Last night they went out at 8:30, the week before it was 9:30. Many people have kids and other responsibilities during the day and for many, the only time they can play tennis is later in the evening. There is no sign or policy posted or noted near the tennis courts that I am aware of.

I realize the economy is bad and there are actions to save money but there can be creative ways to keep the tennis lights on, so people can play tennis later in the evening. Give us some options instead of just turning the lights off.

They could set up a coin operated system to pay as you play instead of just shutting off the lights. For example a quarter could pay for 10 minutes of play. It could generate revenue when the weather is nice. Many of us can’t afford to join a health club or a tennis center so tennis is a great outlet for us.

Tim Lovold
Lincoln Park

Couth Buzzard Used Books, the former Greenwood bookstore, has plans to rise again, phoenix-like, this fall.

The used bookstore lost its lease on its Greenwood Avenue location in September 2008, but recently the former owner and former manager have teamed up with Lynwood's Espresso Buono Coffee and Cafe to reopen a few blocks south of the old location.

The new Couth Buzzard will be a bookstore and cafe with a space for community meetings and live events. But, it is keeping the old name to build on years of customer goodwill, said Theo Dzielak, who managed the old store for five years and is co-owner of the new one.

"We were open for 20 years," Dzielak said. "We were a local brand name."

He said Couth Buzzard had to close when it could not find an affordable space to move into last year. Now, with the economy going the way it is, they were able to, at 8310 Greenwood Ave. N., Dzielak said.

Dzielak said he is hoping Couth Buzzard can help fill the hole left in the Ballard used-book market by the closure of Epilogue Books and the departure of Abraxus.

He said he was friends with Nathan Heath, owner of the now-closed Epilogue, and was very sad to see the business go.