November 2012

The progress on the Roxhill playground "castle" project has been remarkable with a small army of volunteers busily making the new play equipment and fixtures a reality.

With the Tuesday deadline looming however, the need for volunteers to keep up the pace of construction is continuing say organizers.

If you'd like to take part in this unique community/city/business partnership head to the site as early as 8 am on Monday or Tuesday Nov. 5 or 6 and sign up. You can work as many or as few hours as you like but every bit of your effort will go a long way toward getting the project done.

The park is located at 9200 29th SW, across from Target in Westwood Village, and just off Barton Street SW.

You can learn more about the project on their site http://roxhillcastle.wordpress.com

The West Seattle Community Orchestra is preparing for their annual Fall Gala Nov. 10 and the event this year will offer a wide range of auction items (both live and silent), food and of course plenty of music.

The event will be held at the Highland Park Improvement Club, 1116 SW Holden Street. Doors open at 5:30pm

Auction items include 4-hour Whale Watching cruise with San Juan Excursions, a 6-month membership to the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA, music lessons, a variety of gift baskets, and more. You can see the list of auction items at www.WSCOrchestras.org/GalaAuction.html.

Entertainment will include a Clarinet Quintet, the 1st movement of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, a Clarinet Trio playing a “Nintendo Medley”, and a selection of fiddle tunes played on a Hardanger Fiddle by Rachel Nesvig.

Organizers say there are still plenty of tickets available. Adults $25, children $10.

To the Editor;

Who is funding and running the Area Y/North Highline/White Center annexation campaign?

Why is annexation being pressed for so hard right now by Burien politicians?

In the local blogs and media sources for Burien and White Center it is assumed that the Pro Annexation Campaign is being pushed for and funded by Area Y/White Center residents. This is not true!

The People For Burien PAC has not been transparent in who is donating to it and running it. People For Burien PAC was established in 2006 with Jerry Robison (at his attorney address) and Liz Giba( a current North Highline Fire Commissioner for North Highline) as the co-chairs and Stephen Lamphear( ex Burien City Council member) as the Treasurer. It was filed as an on going PAC. In June- 2012, the PAC was re-filed but listed Lamphear as the only officer. As it filed to use mini-reporting, it did not have to disclose its donors and expenditures to the public until 8 days before the election. So no one has really known who is behind People For Burien PAC until now.

As responsible White Center business owners, we support annexation to Burien.

Burien does not have a problem with vandalism, open alcohol, drug dealing, or prostitution in its commercial district, and we think that’s a good idea for White Center, too. Burien is in better fiscal shape than 90% of Washington cities and wants to maintain our public library and parks rather than having them closed or fall into disrepair with the county. Burien wants to maintain the uniqueness of White Center and give us an active voice in shaping the future together, including economic development and zoning.

Compared to Highline High School, which remains open since 1924, Glacier High School, also in the Highline School District, came and went in the blink of an eye. The former school, now a lonely collection of vacated buildings and covered outdoor walkways punctuated by tall stalks of pampas grass on South 142nd St. opened in 1960 and close just 25 years later. The extension of SeaTac Airport caused a demographic population shift resulting in the closure, and those of Puget Sound Junior High, Beverly Elementary School, and others.

Long after its disappearance, its alumni still express school pride. The first graduating class held its 50-year reunion Oct. 6 at nearby Rainier Golf and Country Club. Reunion committee member Harland Eastwood has been publishing a monthly newsletter, "The Avalanche" with old stories and photos pertaining to Glacier High School, plus grade schools and middle schools Glacier alumni had attended.

Compared to Highline High School, which remains open since 1924, Glacier High School, also in the Highline School District, came and went in the blink of an eye. The former school, now a lonely collection of vacated buildings and covered outdoor walkways punctuated by tall stalks of pampas grass on South 142nd St. opened in 1960 and close just 25 years later. The extension of SeaTac Airport caused a demographic population shift resulting in the closure, and those of Puget Sound Junior High, Beverly Elementary School, and others.

Long after its disappearance, its alumni still express school pride. The first graduating class held its 50-year reunion Oct. 6 at nearby Rainier Golf and Country Club. Reunion committee member Harland Eastwood has been publishing a monthly newsletter, "The Avalanche" with old stories and photos pertaining to Glacier High School, plus grade schools and middle schools Glacier alumni had attended.

Free lessons and treatments will be given by Hue Loc, an expert of Vietnamese "Dien Chan Facial Therapy", at the Vietnamese Cultural Center, 2236 SW Orchard St., West Seattle, through Nov. 11. The public is invited. The instructor lives in Houston and has been touring the Pacific Northwest, volunteering.

His instructor was Bui Quoc Chau, who is featured in the above YouTube. He is considered the developer of this acupressure method and lives in Ho Chi Minh City. They don't use needles like acupuncture, or medication. Practitioners have identified pressure points all over the body that they believe link to other organs. They press with fingers, and use small massage devises and heaters.

Hue Loc said he earned an Oriental Medical Physician Certification and has practiced this for 32 years. The point of learning the method is when you return home after treatment from Hue Loc you can teach you partner or a friend who can continue treatment for you.

Tre Thuy Vo of Olympia said she has suffered from insomnia and feels better after being treated by Hue Loc for three days.

Residents of the 36th District have been receiving harassing robo-calls claiming affiliation with the Gael Tarleton campaign, according to a press release sent out by Tarleton's campaign.

Voters reported to the campaign that they have been receiving up to a dozen of these robo-calls within a half-hour from the campaign, on Thursday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The press release states that Tarleton nor her campaign staff have anything to do with the calls.

The calls were from the number 720-862-2044. The owner of the phone number has been traced to an out-of-state company called J2 Solutions.

In the press release, Tarleton was suspicious of the calls.

“I really don’t know if these calls are coming from misguided supporters or it’s a dirty trick. But after three weeks of big-money attacks against me paid for by a $100,000 independent expenditure by friends of my opponent, it is suspicious. It certainly feels deliberate and intended to harm my campaign,” Tarleton said.

The Vietnamese Cultural Center, 2236 SW Orchard St. in West Seattle broke ground on its second temple, to be built just south of its current temple. It will be twice the size. These relatively small structures contain a statue and alter where worshipers briefly enter to pay their respects.

The existing temple honors Vietnam's national hero, Saint Tran Hung Dao, Supreme Commander of the "Dai Viet" armies that repelled two major Mongol invasions in the 13th century. Two marble tigers stand guard on each side of the entrance.

The second temple will greet worshipers with pink marble dragons instead of tigers. They were shipped from Vietnam and just arrived. This temple will honor Emperor Hung Vuong, the king who founded the nation nearly 50 centuries ago.

It is the Vietnamese tradition to begin excavation at a very specific moment to honor the disruption of the trees, and, in this case, also to honor the king. The backhoe began to dig at 8:50 a.m. The "Dragon Hour" is from 7.00 a.m. to 8:59 a.m. This is also the Chinese, and Vietnamese, Year of the Dragon.

Information from Det. Mark Jamieson, Seattle Police Department Blotter:

The efforts of officers working an auto theft/car prowl emphasis patrol paid off early this morning when they responded to a report of a car prowl in progress and took into custody the two suspects.

At about 2:20 this morning radio broadcast a car prowl in progress in the 3800 Block of 45th Avenue S.W. Several William Sector officers were in the area already on an assigned auto theft/car prowl emphasis patrol. Two officers located the described suspect vehicle one minute later, and stopped it at S.W. Spokane St. and 46th Avenue S.W. The vehicle and one suspect were positively identified by a witness, and a large quantity of apparently stolen property, including at least 8 car stereos, was visible inside the car. These suspects are also likely responsible for a car prowl from earlier tonight, in which the suspects were seen leaving in a dark 2-door Honda.