December 2011

For those who are wondering, Colorado was brilliant and beautifully sunny. I walked on a frozen lake for the first time, resulting in so much snow packed into the open toes of my walking boot that I wasn't sure if I had toes anymore. But worth it. Now I am back just in time for my birthday. Thank you, thank you. I am now the blissfully boring age of 23.

Something I overheard on a Criminal Minds episode had me wondering just where the birthday tradition came from. So I thought I would do a little digging and share my curious findings with all of you.

The celebration of birthdays wasn't possible until Ancient Egyptians started taking their astrology very seriously. They came to believe that the alignment of the planets and stars at the time of one's birth had drastic and far reaching consequences. And while the astrologers and astronomers of the time might not have cared about Joe Blo down on the street corner's birthday, the pharaoh’s was another matter. Because the pharaoh was revered as a deity and considered to be the middleman between the people and the gods, his fate theoretically determined the fate of the nation as a whole.

The Suburban King County Coordinating Council on Gangs (“the Council”) is a unique partnership between the Center for Children and Youth Justice and high-level decision makers from across South and East King County that is focused on creating a coordinated and collaborative response to gang violence.

The goal of the Council is to create a comprehensive plan that brings together efforts in prevention, intervention, suppression and re-entry. The planning process begins with, and is driven by, a thorough community assessment designed to identify the nature and scope of gang activity and youth violence in King County’s suburban communities.

Community Resident Survey
No picture of a community’s gang crime problem is complete without the views of community residents. The attached survey gives respondents an opportunity to share their own experience or beliefs about gangs and gang activity in their community. Answers to the following questions will be sought:

• Do community residents believe a gang problem exists in the community? If so, what is the problem?
• Are there significant differences across groups? What are those differences?

press release:
Fifteen of the region’s top chefs will participate in South’s 2012 Gifts from the Earth gala, the annual event that celebrates the hospitality industry and raises funds for college programs and student scholarships. The singular event provides food and wine aficionados, donors, and sponsors a unique opportunity to interact with celebrity chefs and South students while enjoying innovative cuisine and the finest Washington wines.

The festivities, sponsored by Food Services of America, take place Saturday, January 28, 2012, at South Seattle Community College beginning at 5 pm. The evening features hors d’oeuvres, wine tasting and a silent auction, followed by dinner and a live auction that includes unique wine and dining packages.

It’s the can’t-miss event of the year, as the region’s celebrity chefs create their own menus and prepare a multi-course gourmet feast for two tables (10 guests per table) each. All the courses are paired with fine wine from Washington wineries, poured by student sommeliers from South’s own Northwest Wine Academy.

The book "Adios, Nirvana", released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt a year ago October, is due out in paperback by Jan. 10. The author, Conrad Wesselhoeft, a Fauntleroy resident, set the book's story, considered young adult fiction with crossover appeal, in a variety of West Seattle locations, including Easy Street Records, Schmitz Park, Admiral Way, and Delridge Way. A view from under the West Seattle Bridge is depicted on the newly designed cover by well-known Hungarian-born illustrator, Istvan Banyai. His work has appeared in "Rolling Stone", "Time", and on the cover of "The New Yorker".

Watson is a Chinook and he's relatively rare. His owner Tara Breitenbucher said, "He's one of only 800 in existence. Chinook's are a rare breed of sled dog."

The weekly West Seattle Herald Police Blotter includes a list of residential burglaries that occurred over the prior week, and our most recent column showed a significant drop since Thanksgiving.

There were 24 reported burglaries the week after Thanksgiving and 11 last week.

Southwest Precinct Captain Steve Paulsen shared his insight on the recent drop, due in large part, he said, to making residential burglaries the precinct’s “major priority.”

Since Thanksgiving, the West Seattle community had experienced a significant increase in residential burglaries. The men and women of the Southwest Precinct have made apprehending the suspects in these crimes their major priority. Each time a suspicious circumstance call is dispatched, multiple officers have been dropping what they had been doing and rushing to the area.

On Wednesday evening, when Winter Solstice brings us the longest night of the year, WHEEL and the Church of Mary Magdalene will host a vigil to remember all the homeless people who died outside or by violence this past year.

The vigils organized by WHEEL and the Church of Mary Magdalene are known as the Women in Black and have occurred over 20 times this year. Their records show that as of mid-November, 23 people died outside in the cold or by violence in King County in 2011. Four of them occurred in Ballard.

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) had certified Swedish Ballard along with three other Swedish campuses to provide emergency cardiac care services to patients throughout the Puget Sound region.

Swedish/Cherry Hill and Swedish/Edmonds received Level 1 designations, and Swedish/First Hill and Swedish/Ballard received Level 2 designations.

The DOH recently developed the emergency cardiac system to provide a consistent, statewide certification program that recognizes the level of emergency care available to cardiac patients in medical facilities across Washington state.

"This new designation confirms Swedish’s long standing role as a leader in providing critical cardiac care in emergency settings," according to Swedish.

Swedish/Ballard was designated a Level 2 cardiac center indicating that the site can provide intermediate and immediate medical therapy to stabilize patients before transferring them to Level 1 facilities for further intervention and treatment.

Press release

Airports Council International-North America has honored Seattle-Tac Airport, along with Portland and Spokane Airports, with the Environmental Achievement Award for Special/Innovative Projects for their work with the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest Program (SAFN).

"We are proud to be recognized by our peers in the airport industry," said Mark Reis, Managing Director of Sea-Tac Airport. "The Port has been one of the leaders in our region to push for ways to reduce our environmental footprint. This is another example of our leadership role to benefit the entire region."

"Airports remain focused on better understanding and mitigating impacts to their natural environment and local communities by implementing inventive programs that reduce the environmental effects of their operations," said Greg Principato, ACI-NA president. "ACI-NA's Environmental Achievement Awards provides the opportunity to showcase how committed airports are to green building, sustainability and environmental management in their construction projects and everyday operations."

Press release

The Sound Transit Board of Directors has unanimously elected new leaders for the next two years, including longtime board and King County Council member Julia Patterson as vice chair.

“Sound Transit’s challenges are particularly pressing due to the recession’s impact on revenues in South King County. Our transit riders are relying on us for funding solutions,” Patterson from SeaTac said. “I look forward to continuing to work for commuters in South King County and throughout the region.”

The board elected Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy as its new chair.

“I look forward to working with leaders across the region to continue Sound Transit’s track record of delivering major projects and serving thousands of riders each day,” McCarthy said. “Expanding public transit services is critical to ensuring the Puget Sound region has the infrastructure it needs to move people and goods as we attract new investments, jobs and residents in the years ahead. The opportunities ahead of us are great as we work together to navigate the challenges created by the recession.”