March 2012

INFORMATION FROM BURIEN LIBRARY'S TEEN LIBRARIANS:

Friday, March 23rd, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm – Hunger Games Party

Bring in your cans and boxes of food to donate and you'll be entered in a drawing to win 2 movie passes to see the Hunger Games! We'll draw a winner on Friday at our Hunger Games party. We’ll be celebrating the release of the movie with games, a fashion show, and trivia.

The Burien Library is celebrating the release of the Hunger Games movie on March 23rd with a food drive and a special program aimed at encouraging area teens to read the popular series of books.

From now until Friday, March 23rd the library is hosting a food drive for the Highline Area Food Bank called “Hunger is Not a Game.”  For every item brought in, the person donating can fill out a slip with their name and phone number and be entered in a drawing to win 2 movie passes to see the film.  Library staff will draw the name of the winner on Friday afternoon at the Hunger Games party. All members of the community, not just teens, are encouraged to donate.

The Woodland Park Zoo today unveiled its plans for the new tiger and sloth bear exhibits to open in 2013 and 2014.

The two-acre exhibit complex is the zoo's most ambitious project since the 1996 Trail of Vines construction and the zoo hopes to give visitors a sense of the tropical forests of Asia, featuring endangered turtles, colorful songbirds, squealing small-clawed otters, foraging sloth bears and tigers.

The $19.6 million exhibit will transform the current 60-year-old, outdated tiger and sloth bear exhibits into a "spacious, naturalistic and state-of-the-art home for these endangered species," according to the zoo.

According to the zoo, the exhibit complex will use sustainable design to provide the animals with a naturalistic, enriching environment that evokes lush forests and encourages natural behaviors.

To bring the behind-the-scenes care of these animals into the forefront for zoo visitors, the exhibit design includes specialized training stations where keepers will interact one-on-one with tigers and sloth bears. These training presentations will get visitors closer to live predators than at any other exhibit at the zoo.

Press release:

A quick heads up to those who use the Sea-Tac Airport cellphone lot. Starting Thursday, March 22, the lot will be reduced in size during the demolition of a building next door.

Fencing will be put up to designate the reduced size of the parking lot to help protect vehicles. The lot will regain size once the demolition is completed.

For alternate parking, vehicles can use the airport parking garage for as little as $3/hour. Traveler pickup is convenient and it is easy access to the terminal from the garage.

The most convenient access is Terminal Direct on the 4th floor for $4/hour. The rest of the airport garage levels can be accessed through General Parking for $3/hour. Drivers are reminded that parking on the drives and expressways is prohibited.

Thank you for your patience.

Press release:

South King Fire and Rescue will be holding Town Hall meetings to educate the public on the upcoming ballot measure proposed for the April 17th special election.

All the community is invited to an open house format to ask questions about the levy and the department. Following a question and answer period, the public is welcome to visit with the firefighters and look at the fire engines. Children are welcome. The schedule for these events is as follows.

Monday March 26th, Station 64, 3700 S 320th, Federal Way, 6-7pm
Tuesday March 27th, Station 62, 31617 1st Ave S, Federal Way, 6-7pm
Wednesday March 28th, Station 26, 2238 S 223rd, Des Moines, 6-7pm

This ballot measure, referred to as Proposition One is an excess levy that would authorize the fire district to collect $3.5 million annually at an approximate rate of $0.29 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

No, this isn’t something out of an H.G. Wells novel nor an Orson Wells radio broadcast. It’s a gathering of high school age kids from all over the northwest in a showcase of science and technology in the 2012 Seattle FIRST Robotics Competition being held this weekend at the Century Link Events Center.

FIRST or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology is the brainchild of Segway creator Dean Kamen. From humble beginnings in 1989 FIRST now has teams in high schools on every continent, inspiring young people's interest and participation in science and technology. FIRST is an exciting mentor-based programs that builds science, engineering and technology skills that inspire innovation and foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

If you own a copy of West Side Story, the official history of West Seattle originally published in 1987 by the West Seattle Herald and Robinson Communications, there's good news.

John Kelly, long time West Seattle resident has completed a self-described labor of love by indexing the book for the first time. Kelly volunteered spare time for many years, with his first wife Elizabeth, at the Log House Museum.

Elizabeth, daughter of Rupert Hamilton, the former publisher of the Herald, has passed on. Hamilton, as a side note was honored by the naming of Hamilton Viewpoint at the tip of West Seattle in the Admiral neighborhood.

John remarried Jacqueline Carey, who helped him get started on the index. When Jacqueline died in 2008, the project languished. John moved into The Kenney and resumed his work with the help of Tim Van Liew.

The Herald is very proud to support John's efforts by making the index available at the link above. where you can view and/or print a copy.

Chief Sealth’s annual Multicultural Night had a packed parking lot and well fed visitors (including Principal Christopher Kinsey who was asked to try all the amazing food available). Set in the Galleria in the center of the campus the event had performances from the Vietnamese, Polynesian and Filipino clubs. Also showing off their considerable talents were the CSI break dance club (The Break Animals) and the Sealth drum line.

Kinsey said, "I think this is an amazing opportunity for our students to showcase the work that they're doing. This is student led and student run. This is great example of the wonderful things that are happening at Chief Sealth."

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE

His favorite thing at the event? "The lumpia I have in my hand right now and I'm looking forward to all the food here. Students have prepared it and put a lot of work into it. I'll be pretty full by the end of the night I'm sure," he said chuckling.

UPDATE Saturday, March 24, 7:00 p.m.

Colleen Gaffney, owner, Goodie Gumdrops Toys, Games, Books & Candy, 816 SW 152nd St., was "mobbed ", but in a good way, today. She was thrilled. That shop was chosen in the Cash Mob Burien event on Intl. Cash Mob Day. Cash Mobs is a new movement supporting local ma & pa businesses.  A Cash Mob is a Flash Mob, but instead of dancing Cash Mobbers join together and each spend $20 at a local business. Discover Burien's new Exec. Dir., Gina Bourdage, and Board VP, Lori A. Alden of Prudential, met about 30 folks at Bison Creek Pizza. Bourdage's mother announced the surprise location, and they fled for the toy shop.

"I've been here six years in April," said Gaffney. "They chose us. I think it's so great for the town and I hope we are able to do this with other businesses every month. We have a great retail core and I think the economy's been tough on a lot of us here. But a lot of us are weathering it through and we just need our local residents to remember to shop local when they can."

By Elizabeth Wang, Intern

Viking Robotics, Ballard High School’s fast-growing robot-sports team, is back for season four as they compete at FIRST Robotics Competition, Rebound Rumble this weekend. The BNT caught up with the students as they prepared for the competition last week.

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is a program designed to inspire students to continue and pursue careers in science and technology. Creating fun events and afterschool activities catered to learning, FIRST provides fun and interactive ways to get students involved in these fields.

Joseph Kaiser has been a part of Viking Robotics since his freshman year. Now a senior and the lead programmer of the team, he feels he has learned a great deal from the FIRST program.

“It really does teach a lot of real-life experience,” Kaiser said. “I know kids that have come into the program and they’re really shy and have blossomed into this. can give public speeches now and it’s an amazing program.”

Though we just started spring the Admiral Neighborhood Association wants you to know they are presenting their 2012 Summer Concerts at Hiawatha. The events are staged at the Hiawatha Community Center at 2700 California Avenue SW in the Admiral Neighborhood.

Concerts start at 6:30pm on six Thursdays beginning in late July – July 26, August 2, August 9, August 23 and August 30. The August 16 concert will be held on Alki Beach.

The bands have not yet been booked for the concerts but note the dates on your calendar.

Your hosts will include local celebrities and West Seattle residents Marty Riemer and Jim Dever. Check out their web site to learn more about the bands once they're selected: http://www.admiralneighborhood.org/.