December 2011

The Arbor Heights fire that consumed a family’s home on 41st Ave S.W. in August was an anomaly caused by the spontaneous combustion of material left in a portable fire pit stored away in the garage. The 911 call came in from a neighbor who saw smoke coming from the garage and, according to Seattle Fire Chief Gregory Dean, that’s when things started to go wrong.

Dean, along with directors from Seattle Public Utilities, attended a Seattle City Council hearing on Dec. 7 to hash out why firefighters were unable to get adequate water pressure to combat the blaze, forcing them to employ a relay system of trucks and several miles of hose over a five-block radius in order to get enough water. By that time the home was a complete loss with $300,000 in damages.

The Des Moines theater in recent months has sat as a derelict in the heart of the city. It was once a beautiful entertainment venue for the community and a glittering show place for motion pictures. Over time as the movies moved to multiplexes, and televisions grew in size and entertainment became available literally at your fingertips it's doom became seemingly inevitable. But that's about to change if plans being made come to fruition. The theater has just been purchased by developers Tom Lin and Isaiah Dummer, of Dreams Construction.

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE

Lin is a major property owner in West Seattle where he owns the historic Alki Homestead plus the land and buildings on Alki Ave. s.w. that are the site of Slices Pizza, Wheel Fun Rental and Coastal Boutique. Some of the buildings were remodeled by Dummer and it will be up to him to manage the construction makeover of the theater which has been closed for more than 18 months.

Early plans

By Christina Gramling
A consultant hired by Des Moines to study its police department suggested Dec. 8 that the city contract out its police services like Burien and SeaTac.
The King County Sheriff’s Office handles police duties for the two Highline cities.

The Des Moines police study was not what the City Council expected. The lawmakers agreed that Des Moines is not ready for contract police services, nor does the city need it.

At the Dec. 8 city council meeting, Des Moines’ Interim Police Chief John O’Leary presented the findings and conclusion of the Matrix Consulting Group’s report on the department.

“I thought this would be a tool to assist in hiring a new police chief,” said Mayor Bob Sheckler.

The Matrix Group compiled its findings through data that was supplied by the police department. It covered subjects such as tracking CAD time, which is Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) time, and patrol and staffing reduction suggestions.

Ballardite William Charney is a Grammy-nominated musician and composer whose discography is extensive and talent priceless yet undervalued.

Retired after a successful 30-year-career as a social activist, scientist, and organizer in the field of occupational health, Charney lives on social security and while continuing to work as a musician and composer, Charney said he loses money every time he produces an album or performs.

"I always call my bands the IOU's because I always end up owing money," Charney said.

Charney grew up listening to jazz and as a 13-year-old living in New York City, he would sneak out at night and run off to Apollo Theater or Slugs to stand outside the clubs and listen to some of the great jazz musicians perform.

He was always inspired by music but was never trained and can hardly read notes.

"A lot of my music, I have no idea where it comes from," he said. "It's natural ability I guess."

Charney was a full-time musician in the 1980s when he lived and toured with a band, the original IOU's, in Canada.

Charney said Canada was, and still is, a good place to be a musician because the industry is unionized.

Architects working for DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center), several Delridge area residents and the Southwest Early Design Review all-volunteer board gathered at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center on Dec. 8 for a first look at the form and mass of the supportive housing project in its quest for a permit from the city to build.

At the end of the night the board gave the project the go-ahead to move forward towards a master use permit application – taking into account a number of design changes grounded in Delridge resident concerns.

The mixed-use apartment complex will house chronically homeless people who are often battling mental illness or addiction. There will be a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week staff on hand and rehabilitation and counseling is made available to the tenants as they work towards stability in their lives.

Early design reviews are a rough draft in the Seattle Department of Planning and Development process, so the three design possibilities presented by SMR Architects were rough estimates of where they are headed.

A few highlights surrounding the design include:

The Des Moines theater in recent months has sat as a derelict in the heart of the city at 22333 Marine View Drive. It was once a beautiful entertainment venue for the community and a glittering show place for motion pictures. Over time as the movies moved to multiplexes, and televisions grew in size and entertainment became available literally at your fingertips it's doom became seemingly inevitable. But that's about to change if plans being made come to fruition. The theater has just been purchased by developers Tom Lin and Isaiah Dummer, of Dreams Construction.

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE

Lin is a major property owner in West Seattle where he owns the historic Alki Homestead plus the land and buildings on Alki Ave. s.w. that are the site of Slices Pizza, Wheel Fun Rental and Coastal Boutique. Some of the buildings were remodeled by Dummer and it will be up to him to manage the construction makeover of the theater which has been closed for more than 18 months.

Alki Homestead update

According to a Washington's Most Wanted press release, a coworker of the person of interest in the Jayme Thomas murder (see photo above)convinced him to talk with police.

The surveillance video captured the man who was with the alleged shooter on the night of Jayme's murder.

The shooting suspect was arrested on Dec. 7, the same night a fundraiser was held at her family's church.

Additional details from the press release:

Efforts by the state Department of Ecology are continuing to deal with soil contaminated in the Highline area and elsewhere by arsenic and lead blown for over a 100 years from a smoke stack at the ASARCO copper smelter in Ruston.

The smelter shut down in 1986 but the contaminated soil will continue to be a health risk for years, according to DOE officials.

Vashon and Maury Islands as well as the Tacoma area received the heaviest doses but Des Moines, SeaTac, Normandy Park, Burien and Tukwila were also among the King County communities most affected. Hillsides sloped toward the smelter received a heavier dose than inland areas.

The soil contamination is also worse in undisturbed forested areas. Landscaped land was less affected. On beaches, the arsenic didn’t bind to the sand and tended to wash away, according to DOE staffers.

The state cleanup standard is 20 parts arsenic per million parts (ppm) of soil. However, some properties registered over 100 ppm.

Ballard Writers will hold a group book signing event at Secret Garden Book Store in Ballard tonight at 7 p.m.

This is an opportunity to discover local authors and knock out some holiday shopping at Ballard's local book store.

Secret Garden Books is located at 2214 NW Market Street.

Ballard furniture stripping company will pay $45,200 to the Department of Ecology under an agreement to settle an appeal of a larger penalty issued earlier this year for hazardous waste violations, the Department of Ecology announced on Dec 7.

The Department of Ecology fined Furniture Spa, LLC, $82,200 in April 2011 for failing to properly store and dispose of hazardous wastes. The company’s owner appealed the penalty to the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board. The negotiated settlement has received board approval.

Furniture Spa’s owner will pay the settlement in installments over 30 months. The company agrees to pay an additional $8,800 if it fails during that time to comply with safety and environmental practices outlined in the settlement agreement:

Provide Ecology a list describing all wastes generated at the company’s furniture refinishing facilities, how they are generated and the plans for their proper management.
Inform Ecology of any contractor engaged to strip furniture.