November 2010

Swedish Medical Center/Ballard’s new Emergency Department and medical office building, located at 5350 Tallman Ave. N.W., will be open for public tours and a slew of other fun and beneficial community health activities on from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 6.

Here is what’s planned:

Tour the Emergency Department and Medical Office Building (11 a.m.-3 p.m.)

The best time to see an ER is when you’re not a patient – and also when there’s someone there to point out all the cool stuff to see.

Ask the Doctor (11 a.m.-3 p.m.)

Have a medical question you’ve always waned to ask? The doctors from Swedish Medical Group’s Ballard Primary Care clinic will be on hand so you can do your asking for free.

Take a Baby Bite of Ballard (11 a.m.-3 p.m.)

Some of Ballard’s favorite restaurants will be on hand, serving bite-sized samples of their most popular menu items. Restaurants include Ballard Brothers Seafood and Burgers, Great Harvest Bread, India Bistro, Plaka Estiatorio, Ray’s Boathouse, Scandinavian Specialties, The Hi-Life, The Counter and Thai Siam.

Get a Free Soccer Scarf

Dear Editor,
Thank you so much for covering Mr. Beal's Spider Safari at Camp Long. I was amazed to see how many photos you included in the story and the entire quote I sent you. It means a lot to the kids and the parents when the local media cares enough to come out and cover events like this. I appreciate your commitment to the West Seattle community!

Warm regards,
Ann Bradford

Press Release:
South Seattle Community College’s Coenosium Rock Garden has been named a Peace Garden by Gardens for Peace, an Atlanta, Georgia-based, non-profit organization that identifies and links gardens worldwide. The selected gardens are designated as places for meditation and as symbols for peace.

Gardens for Peace founder Dr. Laura Dorsey made a plaque presentation to Coenosium Rock Garden co-founders Bob and Dianne Fincham and Landscape Horticulture program staff at a dedication ceremony on October 8, 2010. The Finchams, noted conifer experts and owners of a dwarf conifer farm in Pierce County, have worked closely with Landscape Horticultural program faculty in the planning and development of the garden.

Press Release:
OrcaFest 2010, a community celebration co-sponsored by The Whale Trail and Killer Whale Tales, is coming to Alki Beach in West Seattle. Taking place on Sunday, November 7 at the Alki Bathhouse from 11 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., the event celebrates the return of the southern resident orcas to local waters. The Whale Trail is also celebrating its recent award of a City of Seattle Neighborhood Matching Grant to establish viewing locations and orca stewardship programs in West Seattle.

The event will feature storytelling, kids’ activities, a performance by the Duwamish Tribe’s dance group, T’ilibshudub, or “Singing Feet,” art created by local school children, and an environmental fair.
“There is nothing like seeing the orcas when they pass by the shores of West Seattle,” notes The Whale Trail Executive Director, Donna Sandstrom. “It is a breathtaking reminder that this is their home as much as ours. We hope this event inspires us all to take better care of the Sound, so that the orcas survive – and thrive – for generations to come.”

Twelfth Night Productions (TNP) is excited to celebrate our fifteenth year producing theater with It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Based the classic 1946 Frank Capra film, playwright Joe Landry's take on It's a Wonderful Life, comes to life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. The ensemble of characters bring the town of Bedford Falls to the stage, and George Bailey to the fateful Christmas Eve when, as he contemplates ending his life, he finally realizes what a difference he makes in the lives of others. "One of the best holiday shows around.

"This is a fresh and inventive way of reconnecting with a classic story of love and redemption." Chicago Sun-Times.

This live radio show will be performed at historic Kenyon Hall, one of West Seattle's favorite venues, December 3, 4, 10, 11 at 7:30 PM and December 5 and 12 at 3 PM. Bring the family and make this a holiday tradition!
Tickets are available online at Brown Paper Tickets, and at Kenyon Hall, 7904 35th Ave. SW, Seattle WA, on performance days. Prices are $15 for adults and $12 for students & seniors.

The following list of recommendations represents our choices for candidates public office and various ballot measures in the Nov. 2, 2010 general election. Please vote.

Initiative 1053----Yes

Requires a 2/3 vote to raise taxes

King County Proposition 1--Yes

Raises taxes .2 of one percent to preserve police and court operations

Seattle School Levy--No

8th Congressional District--Suzan DelBene

DelBene is a superior candidate. Reichert has had ample opportunity to perform on behalf of his constituents and has been unimpressive, preferring to follow the pack. We think DelBene will be more effective in the role give her background and experience.

US Senate--Patty Murray

In a letter sent to every member of the Seattle City Council the City Neighborhood Council expresses its concerns about the disparities in the City Budget from a "Budget Letter" the council sent to the Mayor's office in July.

Here is the new letter:

October 29, 2010

Seattle City Council
CNC Recommendations for the 2011-2012 Seattle Budget


Dear City Council member:

City legislation assigns to the City Neighborhood Council and the thirteen District Councils that comprise it an important role in the budget process.  CNC has reviewed the Mayor’s budget proposals, and finds that they are significantly at variance from our July 2 budget letter to the Mayor. We summarize below the key disparities and their relation to our priorities of community-building, public services, stewardship, equity, efficiency, and sustainability.  

Community-building and public services:

The Tukwila Pool is facing closure, as money to support it has run out from the City of Tukwila.
Malcolm Neely, aquatic program coordinator at Tukwila Pool, says they would "definitely like to keep it open."

"For full-time people, this is a career for us," he says. "We like doing what we do."

Neely describes the environment of the pool as being like a "big family."

In the morning, Neely says, there are at least 12 to 15 people waiting at the door to do laps or water walking.

The idea they are looking most toward to save the pool from closure is to establish a metropolitan parks department, which is what saved the Mt. Rainier Pool from closure a year ago.

Tukwila Pool is funded by the City of Tukwila until Sept. 2011. According to Neely, a vote will take place in February, but if something does not pass the pool will close that September.

"We are trying to stay optimistic," Neely says.

Many Tukwila residents are in support of saving the pool.

Efforts to save the pool, however, have already taken form.

One of the more loyal graduating classes of Highline High School (1950) recently celebrated their 60th reunion with nearly 100 attendees headed up by Patti Stewart (Burgess) with an assist from Guy Harper.

"How wonderful it was to see a lot of the "old" gang again at the reunion", Harper said. Patti, Blanche Black and their helpers planned and executed a most successful dinner event.

Of the 100 folks attending 60 or so were from the original HHS '50's bunch. Murray Andrews was there who regularly completes in marathons and rows from his beach house on Vashon Island. He and his wife, Jill, just wrote a book on the history of Vashon. Bud Hallowell retired from his veterinarian job however Bob Hogan, also a vet, is still working as are a few others.

Terry (Jarvis) Anderson is the mayor of the City of SeaTac and doing very well. Gene (Moose) Steier recently lost 35 pounds and looks great.

The following is a list of those grads attending the reunion:

• Terry Jarvis Anderson
• Murray Andrews
• Jack Angove
• Carl "Bud" Banks
• Delores Cross Bernstein
• Blanche Black

They've messed up a lot of cars in the past few years; crushing them, placing them upside down, removing the roofs and doors, literally tearing them apart piece by piece.

But in September, members of South King Fire & Rescue extrication team were ruining cars with one thing in mind: competing in at the World Rescue Organization's World Extrication Challenge in Cork, Ireland and the North American Vehicle Rescue Challenge in Calgary, Canada.

South King serves Des Moines and Federal Way.

While the events in Ireland and Calgary were opportunities where the team could compete, they are really learning symposiums where members can learn from the best of the best from the world in challenging scenarios.

Firefighters are exposed to new rescuer and patient safety considerations, the latest in extrication techniques, new innovations in extrication tools and receive information on new vehicle technology.

Evidence has shown that the utilization of the rescue challenge concept and associated training can and has reduced occurrences of secondary injuries.