October 2009

The Seattle School District Building Excellence III capital program has just released its latest update on the Denny/Sealth campus project.

The full text is below. Click here for past updates on this project.

"As of the end of September, 2009, the new Chief Sealth boilers are complete and awaiting the final report. The installation of the sewer line and water on the north end of the project was completed.

"The old Chief Sealth courtyards have been demolished and the contractor began framing walls and completing mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-in in Chief Sealth High School.

"The contractor is 80 percent complete with the installation of the footings for the new Galleria and Denny International Middle School and 75 percent complete with the underground utilities for the new Galleria.

"The contractor also began erecting walls for the new middle school gymnasium.

Mayor Greg Nickels is looking for qualified candidates to fill twelve upcoming openings on the city of Seattle’s Design Review Board, including two on the Northwest Board, which reviews large-scale developments in the Ballard area.

The volunteer positions will be available April 4, 2010 when retiring board members’ terms expire.

“We are looking for professionals in the design and development fields, who have proven skills and established careers," said Nickels in a statement. "We also need community and business leaders with an interest in shaping new development in their neighborhoods, and a passion for keeping Seattle a great place to live, work and play."

Applications will be accepted for the following twelve board positions:

Northwest Design Review Board

• development interests representative
• local residential interests representative

Northeast Design Review Board

• design professional representative
• development interests representative

Queen Anne/Magnolia/South Lake Union Design Review Board

• general community interests representative

Southeast Design Review Board

• general community interests representative

ArtsWest announced that they have been awarded a grant from Boeing Charitable Trust. The $15,000 grant will go toward "Measure for Pleasure," ArtsWest’s next theater production.
 
“This grant is the largest we’ve ever received from Boeing,” said KayLee Jaech, ArtsWest’s development director, “Having their increased support in these difficult financial times is a huge vote of confidence.”
 
"Measure For Pleasure," directed by Directed by Christopher Zinovitch, runs Oct. 21 through Nov. 14.

The play chases rakes, romantics and transvestite tarts through mistaken identities, duels, and double-dealings galore on their way to learning that, whatever else it may be, love is rarely pure and never simple.

"Measure For Pleasure" shows Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays, Oct.25, Nov 1, 8 at 3 p.m.
 
ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery is located at 4711 California Ave. S.W., www.artswest.org.

The cold, whipping winds and rain came like a slap in the face.

This week, Federal Way bids adieu to a warm Indian Summer that stretched into mid-October. In its place comes traditional fall and winter Puget Sound weather, brought in by gusting winds that reached as high as 50 mph in King County.

Photographer Seth Bynum captured a photo of these pedestrians huddling under an umbrella at the intersection of Pacific Highway and South 320th Street to escape a midday downpour in Federal Way.

Michael Bay played well enough on the first day of the KingCo 4A Medalist Tournament Oct. 13 to represent the Ballard High School boys golf team in the second round of the tournament today.

Bay shot an 83 on the par-72 Snohomish Golf Course. Coach Casey McMullin said he was in the middle of the pack for the day.

Ballard sent six golfer – Eric Frank, Ross Upton, Oliver Guarino, Colin Johnson, Ray McCormick and Bay – to the first day of the tournament. The top 36 golfers moved on to the second day.

The Beavers finished 10th out of 12 teams, ahead of Bothell and Lake Washington, with a score of 446. Woodinville scored 396 for a first-place finish.

A diligent reader of this column, one G.T. writes, “Mr. Anthony, is it true that people get weirder when the moon is full?”

Well, Mr. G.T., I am not qualified to answer this in astronomical, psychological or geophysical terms, but as a layman (and arguably, a weird person), I can fill you in on what I’ve learned over many moons.

It seems that the bulk of modern studies done on full moon bozo-ness do not fully support the idea that people necessarily go mad, dance naked, become insominiacs or grow longish teeth and hair in unusual places.

However, one study done in Finland did veer toward the idea that suicides were slightly higher when the big cheese is showing.

Still, on those three or four nights a month when ‘la luna’ is directly opposite the sun by 180 degrees, with the earth in between, folklore abounds with stories of people, animals and combinations of the two who claim to be affected by what has been called ‘the transylvania effect’, full on ‘lunacy’ or just plain being ‘moonstruck.’

I have a good friend, a retired cop who told me that after a couple of years on the job he learned to avoid shifts when the moon was loud and proud.

Hundreds of European hornbeam trees on 35th Avenue Southwest from Southwest Roxbury to Southwest Raymond streets will receive special attention this Friday, Oct. 16, according to the Seattle Department of Transportation.

A group of private arborists plan to donate their time to prune these trees, Seattle’s largest collection of European hornbeams, improving the sight distance of drivers and improving the condition of the trees.

Instead of being reimbursed for their work, the arborists will donate their earnings to the International Society of Arboriculture for tree research.

The arborists plan to work from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They will close the curb lane of the block in which they are working as they progress down the street.

Participating companies:

Seattle Tree Preservation Inc.
Davey Tree Experts
Thundering Oak Enterprises
Trelstad Tree Service
Trees For Life
Bartlett Tree Care
Grun Tree Care
Custom Tree Service
Mike Bray
Madison Park Tree

The Wall Street Journal asked six experts which 10 cities will emerge as the hottest, hippest destinations for highly mobile, educated workers in their 20s when the U.S. economy gets moving again, and Seattle has tied for the No. 1 spot.

Their panelists—demographers, economists, geographers and authors on urban issues—picked their cities based on the criteria they deem most important, from economic diversity to lifestyle.

Big cities dominate the panelists' forecasts. Where trendy smaller cities might have captivated youth in the past, today's recession-scarred young people are more pragmatic, placing "greater emphasis on where high-quality, high-paying jobs are created," said Ross DeVol, director of regional economics for the nonprofit Milken Institute. Northeastern and West Coast cities are ascendant, eclipsing former Sunbelt favorites such as Atlanta.

Which cities are likely to be the hottest post-economic downturn destinations for young, brilliant, and highly mobile workers? The Wall Street Journal surveyed six trend-spotting experts and they chose cities based on economic diversity, lifestyle and their own personal prejudices.

Here’s the top-10 list:

The Federal Way School Board announced today the launch of a national search for a new superintendent to replace Superintendent Tom Murphy who is stepping down at the end of the school year to retire after more than a decade of service.

“While it is sad to see such an exceptional education leader retire, our schools are financially and academically strong,” said School Board President Suzanne Smith.

“Our district is prepared for this important transition. We are committed to engaging the community, teachers and parents to ensure our students continue to receive the education our community expects and deserves.”

The district is the eighth largest school district in the state serving nearly 22,000 students with 23 elementary schools, seven middle schools and five high schools.

Federal Way has placed among the state’s top 10 performing school districts in recent years and has been recognized for its partnerships with innovative programs, such as the Technology Access Foundation (TAF) Academy and the Cambridge and College Board-Spring Board programs.

The school district is the largest recipient of your tax dollars if you live in the Federal Way School District.

Besides taking 43% of your state taxes they also are charging you over $ 4.00/1000 based on your assessment.

What are you getting for this?

The statistics just aren’t that good.

The nation is in the lower half of achievement when measured against other developed countries and the state of Washington is 43rd in the nation, down from 39th, in graduation rates.

Washington is also tied for 48th in students who meet the qualifications for admission to 4 year colleges.

Locally, according to “Education Week” the school district graduates only 45.7% of its 9th graders.

This number is below the State’s 62.4% average. The district does not have a single Black or Hispanic in the 10th grade that can place in the highest level on the state Mathematics exam.

Who is responsible for these numbers?

In this state the responsibility rests on school board directors. I believe they have defaulted.