December 2011

The 33rd Annual Festival of Lessons & Carols returns to Holy Rosary Church Friday, Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m.

The Northwest Boychoir celebrates this tradition with the presentation of its 2011 Christmas Concert with nine regional performances December 9 - 21. The concerts showcase the combined chorus of the Northwest Boychoir and Vocalpoint! Seattle. Presented by Seattle Symphony, the Northwest Boychoir will perform its final concert of the season with members of the Northwest Sinfonia on December 21 at Benaroya Hall.

Patterned after the Christmas Eve observance at King’s College in Cambridge, England, A Festival of Lessons & Carols has become a holiday tradition in the greater Seattle area with nine holiday readings, each followed by a traditional carol performed by the choir, and another carol sung by the choir and audience.

Five West Seattle youth will participate. They include:

Jackson Cecil (Age 10)
Janelle Maroney (Age 16)
Cael Mulligan (Age 10)
Connor Steen (Age 14)
Hayden Wainwright (Age 10)

(Janelle Maroney is with Vocalpoint! Seattle.)

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting Dec. 1 heard from Mike Martin, Burien City Manager regarding the annexation efforts of North Highline that have been underway. He has been in discussions with both the King County Executive's office and legislators in Olympia regarding the retention of the sales tax credit that Governor Gregoire has proposed be reduced. Martin has said previously that Burien would lose $50,000 annually under that proposal. As the law exists now it will continue for another 8 years.

The White Center and Boulevard Park libraries once again received a reprieve from closure after King County Library System trustees voted Nov. 29 to postpone action on a staff recommendation to consolidate the two libraries into one facility near Southwest 128th Street in Burien.

The consolidation appeared to be a “done deal,” as some previous speakers characterized it, after two of the five trustees spoke in favor of the recommendation. Trustee Lucy Krakowiak, also a Burien city councilwoman, recuses herself from library system decisions affecting Burien because of her dual role.

However, trustee Rob Spitzner noted that officials from the King County Executive’s office, the county council and the city of Burien had requested the library board delay its decision until the possible annexation of White Center becomes clarified.

Spitzner moved that the decision be postponed until after the state Boundary Review Board rules on Burien’s request to annex the unincorporated North Highline area.

Have you toured Burien's Mathison Park yet at 533 S. 146th St.?

This Sunday, December 4, the monthly Walk-n-Talk will begin at Burien Town Square, S.W. 152nd St. and 5th Pl. S.W. and walk over to Mathison Park, with a guided tour by Highline Times editor Eric Mathison, who grew up there.

The total, round-trip distance is about 2.1 miles.

PLEASE CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE FOR MORE, INCLUDING A MAP OF SUNDAY'S WALK

Brief history of Mathison Park:
This five-acre park was dedicated on Sept. 15, 2006. Ted Mathison donated five of the six acres in 1999.

On April 16, 2003, two sisters, Eleanor Carver Nelson and Dorothy C. Carver, donated a key parcel allowing the park to connect between South 146th and 148th Street. They gifted their property to the Burien Parks Department in memory of their grandfather, Herman Nickolas Peters, who homesteaded in Sunnydale in 1889.

For Normandy Park residents dealing with the detour caused by the rebuild of the Sylvester Bridge on Sylvester Road S.W., the end is in sight with King County Department of Transportation predicting a late February/early March completion.

Completed so far (from DeAnna Martin with KCDOT):

- Old bridge demolished (in July)

- New bridge drilled shaft substructure foundation completed

- 2 new bridge abutment and wing wall supports completed above drilled shafts

- 2 temporary shoring towers for new bridge girder erection completed

- All 12 segments of the new concrete bridge girders were launched on Nov. 19 and 20 via cranes. There are 4 new girder lines which will support the new bridge, each girder line includes 3 girder segments that eventually get “closed” together with concrete and rebar above the temporary shoring towers, then eventually tensioned to final position

Freelance photographer Brett Fish took photos of the girder launching on Nov. 20, presented as a slideshow above. Here is Fish’s report:

UPDATE: 6:45 pm The lights are now on! See the images at the end of the slide show.

Original post
A crew of men, led by Josh Menashe were a blur of activity at the home of his parents Jack and Linda Menashe at 5605 Beach Drive s.w. where again this year for the 20th time they are putting on a spectacular display for the public.

"There are at least 15,000 more lights in the display this year," said Menashe but he has no idea how many there are total. Building, storing, and adding to the display every year has been a cumulative process with each year getting a little more grand.

As the West Seattle Herald reported last year the home was featured in a television show for the TLC network called Invasion of the Christmas Lights(though this clip does not feature the Menashe home).

press release:

The City of Seattle’s Neighborhood Projects Fund (NPF) is now taking applications for neighborhood-generated projects focused on park or street improvements. Applications are due February 1, 2012 at 5 p.m.

The NPF is made up of two funding sources – Cumulative Reserve Funds (CRF) and Neighborhood Street Funds (NSF). The fund will accept applications for projects valued up to $90K for park or street improvements, such as pathway upgrades, tennis court repaving, accessibility improvements, traffic calming, playground upgrades, school zone speed limit signs, etc. This funding source is not recommended for sidewalks, as sidewalks are typically more expensive than this funding allows.

You may apply to the fund by completing the application form which is available from your Neighborhood District Coordinator or online at http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/btgnsfcrf/. Applications can be submitted by mail (PO Box 94649, Seattle, WA 98124-4649, Attn: Wendy Watson), by FAX at 206-233-5142, or by email to NeighborhoodProjectFund@seattle.gov.

The Aggressive Driving Response Team was busy on Highland Park Way today and caught two drivers speeding at 20 miles an hour over the limit, one at nearly twice the posted speed.

Posted by Detective Jeff KappelSeattle Police Blotter

On December 1st an Aggressive Driver Response Team officer patrolling Highland Park Way SW issued the following citations:

Highland Park Way SW – 30 mph zone

1 at 57 mph

1 at 51 mph

2 at 48 mph

2 at 47 mph

3 at 46 mph

1 at 45 mph

2 No Proof of Insurance

1 Seat Belt violation

The Seattle Police Department encourages all motor vehicle operators and bicyclists to be familiar with and obey all local and state traffic laws and to always drive with due regard for all others on the roadway.

Luso Food and Wine offered a public food wine tasting Friday night. Adam Frol with A&B Imports poured Portuguese red wine, and white port from Ferreira, a Portuguese winery. Owner Fatima Eremita Hemmons is from Goa, India, and of Portuguese descent. Her shop specializes in Portuguese food and wine.

The West Seattle Herald did a recent article on Luso during a celebration at the shop here.

Phone: (206) 694-3524
Place: Luso Food and Wine LLC
9988 15TH Ave SW Suite C

A 26-year-old Oregon man pleaded guilty on Nov. 30 to vehicular homicide in the death of 3-month-old Burien infant Gabriel Arthur Pena, according to The Columbian.

According to the report, Christopher A. Roman admitted to being drunk when he lost control of his Acura and ran into Gabriel’s parents vehicle, pulled over in the median to fix a flat tire near Vancouver.

Gabriel’s parents, 21-year-old Terra Pina and 23-year-old Angel Pena (different spelling on last names), were traveling back to Burien from a camping trip in August when the crash occurred. They sustained minor injuries.

Clark County Prosecutor Kasey Vu told The Columbian Roman is “accepting responsibility and admitting fully what he did … That counts for something.”

Vu said prosecutors will recommend the lower end of the sentencing range – between four and a half and five and a half years in prison, according to the report.

Roman will be sentenced on Dec. 9 in Clark County Superior Court.