December 2011

Mother Nature seems to endorse Burien’s monthly Walk-n-Talks. Brisk temperatures, but beautiful weather formed the backdrop for the fifth Walk-n-Talk on Dec. 3.

The Walk-n-Talk events launched in August with a new walking route each time. December’s destination was Mathison Park in the northeast Burien area with a tour led by Eric Mathison, “Highline Times” editor, whose family donated most of the land.

“I like that I see a lot of Burien that I probably wouldn’t see otherwise,” says Burien resident Sandy Gamrath. Gamrath is an avid and regular walker and was attracted to the Walk-n-Talk as an opportunity to meet new people. “I see a lot of new faces, but also people I know from the neighborhood,” she says.

Starting at Burien Town Square, a group of almost 20 people, and two dogs, walked a little over two miles to Mathison Park located at the top of South 146th Street, the highest point in Burien. The five-acre park was dedicated in 2006 and is ideal for walkers thanks to winding trails and a forest of resplendent trees.

By Gwen Davis

Last month, more than 1,000 workers, unemployed people, students, retirees and faith leaders rallied together at the Montlake Bridge as part of the “National Day of Action for the 99%,” hosted by Working Washington.

Protesters voiced their occupy movement message that elected officials need to stop social service cuts, create more jobs and make Wall Street pay its fair share of the burden, according to protesters.

Among those active in the Working Washington campaign is Luis Escamilla, SeaTac resident and 11th and 12th grade social studies teach at Foster High School in Tukwila.

For Escamilla, the occupy movement has been useful for his classroom curriculum, where he educates his students on issues relating to the economy, jobs and the need for change.

“I am teaching about the economy and the lack of quality jobs,” Escamilla said. “For many of my students, it is affecting not only the way they are living but also the standard of their living.”

At Foster, Escamilla teaches a large Somalian population, who he believes is particularly vulnerable in the sour economy.

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave. S.W.
206 9377169
We're counting down to the holidays and all Christmas clothing, decor and decoratoins are 75% off through Saturday, December 31st. All items with pink tags are $1.00 through the end of the year. We wish you and your family very Happy Holidays. We will close at 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve and be closed Christmas Day. The American Cancer Society Shop is open until 8:30 on Thursdays through Christmas. Regular shop hours are Sundays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. All other days 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Please consider volunteering with us in the new year.

Walks on New Year’s Eve & Day with Emerald City Wanderers
Start at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church
3050 California Ave. S.W.
New Year’s Eve: start between 4-7 p.m. and walk either 5 or 10K (3.1 or 6.2 miles). Great views on the walks. The 10K route heads down to Alki and back around Duwamish Head.
New Year’s Day: start between 9-1 p.m. with the 5 and 10K walks going through the West Seattle Junction area and the 10K continuing down to Beach Drive, along Puget Sound. Free. Sanctioned by American Volkssport Assoc. Info: Mike at m.nagan@comcast.net.

A couple of weeks ago on Dec. 7, the United States commemorated the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

For most people, Pearl Harbor is now a history lesson found in textbooks. However, 88-year-old SeaTac resident Joe Dixon was in the U.S. Navy and stationed nearby when the attack happened. His memories are a reminder that the lives lost remain far more than a historical footnote.

“I was stationed at the submarine base about six miles away (on Oahu, Hawaii). The first wave (of Japanese bombers) flew right over us. When the second wave came in, we were standing on the dock, helpless, just trying to see what was going on. We didn’t even have a pistol or anything to shoot,” recalls Dixon.

Dixon, a submarine electrician, was stationed far enough away that it was hours before he and his workmates learned the details of the attack. It was eventually determined that approximately 2,400 Americans were killed on the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt said would “live in infamy.” The event catapulted the U.S. into World War II.

“There were so many ships on the bottom and so many bodies. It was such a loss,” says Dixon.

Press release

The Highline Schools Foundation has awarded $31,608 in Excel/MAD grants for 54 grants at 30 different Highline public schools.

The foundation’s Excel Grant program was created to support classroom innovation in the district and to provide teachers resources they need to help students be successful,

An excel grant is an award of $50 to $1,000 for a specific project.

MAD Grants come from Chris Blumenthal, a graduate of Grant High School in Portland and Nanci Tangeman, a graduate of Mt. Rainier High School in Des Moines.

They started MAD Grants in 2002 after Blumenthal heard a radio story about a couple in Boston who had started a grant program for teachers in their school district as a way to give back to their community. They donate money each year to the foundation to fund a number of projects.

The piece by Julia Patterson that appeared in your paper (Dec. 9) was in serious need of a reality check.

Reality is, Yes, speculation may add a little to the price of gasoline, but other factors add far more to the price of gas.

For example, the citizens of this state voted to impose on themselves one of the highest gas taxes in the country, which, of course adds greatly to the price of gas.

This country has enough oil available to it to supply all of it's needs for the next 200 years, but Democrats and environmentalists won't allow us to access most of it so we have to depend on other countries for almost 70 percent of our oil. This adds a great deal to the price of gas.

The federal government requires our gas to be 15 percent ethanol. Ethanol damages our cars, lowers our gas mileage, adds to the cost of our food and adds to the cost of gas.

Reality is without government intervention, the price of gas would probably be half what it is today (diesel would be even cheaper.) It scares me to read about her attempt to get the government involved in oil speculators.

If she succeeds, just how high will our gas prices get?

Edward Towle
Des Moines

Yesterday, I received a document from the King County Assessor's Office regarding Area Y/White Center/North Highline.

This makes annexation by Burien of Area Y at this time as even a worse plan than originally thought.

While it was only a preliminary draft, but it shows Area Y as decreasing in taxable land value by $126,295,650 for the year 2012.

This is significantly lower than Berk or the City of Burien projected the value of the land to be in the report and the application. Of course, this means less monies coming into Burien should they annex the area.

The Assessor's office anticipates that the Fire District will receive $189,443 dollars less next year to operate in Area Y. Area Y land values dropped by 17 percent and remember that Berk projected in its report that land values would continue to rise by 2 percent annually in the area-- that is a difference of 19 percent from the report to the reality of the situation.

I am still waiting to hear the approximate amount less of total dollars this will bring in to operate the area in 2012.

The Port of Seattle shared a YouTube video of the holiday happenings at the airport.

From the Port:
Passengers on their way to or from holiday visits can enjoy some festive, fun entertainment by a big variety of talents all around the gates and Central Terminal. Santa is there, too!

When I wandered in to the SeaTac Senior Center, I didn’t need much help in finding Maxine Hankins and the Hanky Panky Band, which includes Judy Hayes, Carole Wrolgast, Pat Morrison and Larry Broad.

There was a steady flow of festively dressed seniors heading down to the dance hall for their music.

There, parked at the piano, was a beautiful older woman with brightly painted red nails and a vivid red jacket to match. Her fingers effortlessly trotting across the keyboard, as she smiled at each set of dancers that spun, leaped or glided by.

The group has quite a following and brings in an impressive crowd every Wednesday, between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.

The original band started up in 1963 and plays the great old tunes from the ‘30s and ‘40s, as well as other eras. The center has lunch for a nominal fee, too, if you’re hungry.

At the end of the set, everyone stood up, held hands in a circle, and we all sang “God Bless America.”

Finally, Maxine and I got to talk. Her mind and personality are as bright as the color she had on -– especially for just having turned 90.

By Jerry Robinson, Publisher

If you still don't have your Christmas tree up, here's a solution like we did when we were kids. You have to get up real early, before the neighbors, even.

We had no money (it was the Great Depression) but there was a big bunch of fir trees near our house. With my brother Russell, who was 10 (I was 8) we would take Dad's hand saw and climb one of those fir trees. Russell would hoist me up on his shoulders where I could stand high enough to get a branch to climb up further. I was a little tree monkey, making my way to the very top. After a few minutes of cutting, it would fall to the ground where Russ was waiting.

We had a wooden apple box near our garage. We cut a ragged round hole in the bottom to stick the tree through and poked some wire into the sides of the box to wrap it around the tree trunk to keep it from falling over.

It was ready to carry into the house. We never thought about watering the tree. We figured once it was cut, it was cut and that was it. We cleared a space near a wall. It was time to decorate.