October 2009

Dear Editor,

I’m writing in response to Steve Shay’s article about Ref. 71 earlier this week. I want to say that Referendum 71 is not “the latest assault to marriage” as he notes a member of the opposition stated, but rather it is just a continuation of rights that are already in place, rights that should belong to each member of any life-long committed relationship.

Ref. 71 does not change the status of the partnership, but merely ensures that the people within it are protected, as well as assuring that the single-parent families that are “not the best way to raise a child” don’t turn into families with zero parents and kids in foster care while the surviving partner jumps through hoops to legally get their child back.

Lauren Myers
Tacoma

Seattle Parks and Recreation will provide information about the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy and discuss the opportunity for a new neighborhood park in the Greenwood urban village at a community forum on Monday, Nov. 2 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Greenwood Branch Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

The forum is being held by the Greenwood and Phinney Neighborhood councils.

In November 2008, the Parks and Green Spaces Levy passed by a 59 percent vote. The levy provides $146 million over six years, which includes neighborhood and green space acquisitions and more than 50 named development projects.

The goal of the acquisition team is to acquire properties in areas that have been identified in the Parks and Recreation 2006 Development Plan and Gap Analysis as being deficient relative to the city's comprehensive plan.

The development projects provide improved playfields, reservoir lid parks, forest and stream restoration, community gardens and renovated playgrounds throughout Seattle, according to the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department.

Remember when the economy was healthy and many people traveled all over the world without danger of going broke? My husband and I took advantage of package deals, one of which was a trip to the former USSR, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary in the year 1982.

Yes, in its heyday the USSR was made up of 15 republics, 80 percent of which lay in latitudes similar to Alaska. Our trip took three weeks including a cruise that afforded us a rest stop and swim in the famous Volga River.

I remember in my childhood of singing the Song of the Volga Boatmen and visualizing men with heavy ropes walking along the river pulling the boat along. On this trip our cruise ship was mechanized as it sailed past a huge statue of Lenin illuminated by the early morning sun.

A highlight of our stay in Moscow was the subway stations, each decorated with artistic splendor—some with stained glass, others with murals painted on the ceilings. In those days I did not wear sport shoes when traveling and fell heir to aching feet.

I didn’t just dangle my toes into the dating world after separating from my husband, I dove in head first.

I don’t necessarily recommend this tactic, it just seems to be the way I’m doing things these days: with my eyes closed and a cavalier attitude. That is, until I smack my head against cement and say, “Ouch! Why the hell did I think that was a good idea?”

The first crash came quickly and suddenly.

One day I was stating I wasn’t ready to date yet and the next day I walked into a friend’s living room and saw Trouble. My soul sister, and dearest friend who has known me since I was 14, stopped midstride, looked at me, and said, “He’s for you.” And then we both said, “Oh shit.”

It was in the 90s that evening and when not being captivated by what Trouble was saying, I kept thinking, “Why doesn’t he take off his shirt rather than complain about how hot it is?”

He never did, so a few days later, I called him. We hung out a few times, I broke all of my, “I’ll never do that” pre-divorce rules, and I was captivated. Not only by his mind, but by his body, which I thankfully was finally able to see.

First-place Issaquah was too much for the Ballard High School girls soccer team to handle Oct. 14.

Issaquah (7-1-0 conference, 10-2-0 overall) beat the Beavers 3-0, only the second time they have been shutout in a conference match this season.

There are three matches left for Ballard (2-4-2 conference, 3-7-3 overall), and the competition doesn't get much easier with a match against fourth-place Woodinville (5-2-1 conference, 8-2-2) coming up at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 at Woodinville High School.

Woodinville beat the Beavers 9-0 earlier this season when Ballard rested its varsity players.

The Oct. 15 candidate forum at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center opened with a disappointing announcement: Both mayoral candidates had cancelled their scheduled appearances.

Six out of the 10 scheduled candidates managed to make it to the event hosted by the Delridge and Southwest district councils; Current Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin was dining with the governor and council contender Sally Bagshaw had another appointment.

For those council candidates who could make it, few seemed prepared to answer when moderators Chas Redmond and Pete Spalding asked questions about West Seattle issues. When it came to traffic, some candidates may not to have been prepared for questions about parking problems in the Alaska Junction and ferry-related traffic.

Others readily admitted so.

“This is not a question that I’ve thought about,” said David Bloom, council candidate running against Sally Bagshaw, when asked about ferry traffic.

Angle Lake waterfront resident will face more restrictions when they rebuild their homes or docks if SeaTac's draft shoreline management plan is adopted.

Mayor Ralph Shape pointed out that if a home that is less than 75 feet from the lake's shore burns down, the homeowner could not rebuild it in within the same footprint under the plan unless the homeowner agrees to mitigation that would improve the shore's ecology.

The city's shoreline management plan consultant, Gabe Snedeker told lawmakers last week that 74 percent of the lakefront homes meet the 75-foot proposed requirement.

SeaTac's current setback regulations allow homes to be within 65 feet of the lake. The regulations would affect new construction.

The council will hold a public hearing on the draft plan on Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers. Lawmakers may also vote on the plan's adoption following the hearing.

Even if SeaTac lawmakers approve the plan, it must be submitted to the state Department of Ecology to make sure it complies with the state shoreline management act.

In SeaTac, Angle Lake is the only body of water to qualify for regulation under the shoreline management act.

Three years after the first cycle of neighborhood improvements, Ballard residents have another chance to compete for city funds for needed pedestrian improvements.

The Neighborhood Street Fund Large Projects started in 2007 and is funded by the Bridging the Gap levy. The fund operates on three year cycles, so the second cycle will start in 2010.

Since 2007, 17 projects, including the recent sidewalk repair on Ballard Avenue, were completed citywide using money from the fund.

This time around, the city wants neighborhood district councils to play a larger part in choosing the projects, Seattle Department of Transportation spokesperson Thérèse Casper told the Ballard District Council Oct. 14.

The Ballard District Council has until Jan. 15 to present the Department of Transportation with its top three projects for the neighborhood.

Ballard will be competing with every other neighborhood for a portion of the fund's $4.5 million.

Five Ballard projects, all the creation of sidewalks, from 2007's applications have carried over to this cycle and were presented to the council as possible projects.

Both the boys and girls Ballard High School cross country teams placed third in the Oct. 14 KingCo 4A All-City meet against Roosevelt and Garfield.

Garfield came in first in the boys race with 36 points and a tiebreaker against Roosevelt, which also had 36 points. The Beavers finished with 48.

Sophomore Alex Bowns led Ballard with a sixth-place finish in 16:45 over the 3.1-mile course.

Seniors Aaron Hamiltion (16:46) and Jesse Bengtsson (16:57) placed seventh and ninth respectively.

The girls team, without its top three runners, came in a distant third with 81 points to Roosevelt's 24 and Garfield's 33.

No Beaver girl finished in the top 10.

Erin Philbeck, Natalie White and Erle Lima were rested by coach Bruce Drager in preparation for next week's KingCo Championship.

Ballard will send its top seven varsity boys and top seven varsity girls to compete in the KingCo Championship Oct. 22 at Lake Sammamish State Park.

This Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18, The Seattle Department of Transportation will be removing and replacing markings in the bus lane eastbound on the West Seattle Bridge from the Avalon Way on-ramp, adjacent to the old steel mill, to the First Avenue South off-ramp, just past the SR99 exit.

In conjunction with the pavement marking work, the crews will also be installing signs.

The work will be carried out between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. Motorists should use caution and be watchful for buses needing to pull out of the bus lane in the work zone.

Seattle Department of Transportation crews will also be closing the westbound, left hand lane on the West Seattle Bridge on Monday, Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This closure will allow the Seattle Fire Department to check the fire suppression system, according to a release from the city.