November 2012

UPDATE Nov. 2
A team of volunteers swarmed the site of the playground construction and made quick work of assembling the first parts of the framework for what will become two "castles" on the site. Organizer Mat McBride said, "This is great and we're happy about all these people but there will be a ton more on the weekend." The volunteers were across the board from those skilled with power tools to people just there to carry materials to be installed. This initial phase of installation is expected to be complete by Tuesday.

Original post

Led by the folks at Navos Mental Health Solutions, a non-profit with locations in West Seattle and Burien, the Coalition for Drug-Free Youth is growing in strength and looking for additional members to help set policy and goals in reducing drug, alcohol and tobacco use in the Highline School District and White Center/Burien communities.

Anyone interested in joining will be asked to attend monthly coalition meetings and come ready to contribute ideas as the group eyes a March 2013 implementation that will start with youth surveys.

The Coalition is fueled by a five year grant from the King County Department of Community and Human Services. The funding ultimately comes from the federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant.

For more information, please check out our prior coverage.

Organizations, private business and individuals interested in learning more about the coalition can contact Rudy Garza at Navos Mental Health Solutions, 206-439-2288 or at Rudy.Garza@navos.org.

Coalition members at this time include:

Easy Street Records has earned yet another honor, after first winning the title of Small Business of the year in King County last month. Mayor Mike McGinn announced on Nov. 1 that the company was being recognized for "stability, longevity and involvment in Seattle's music community."

Easy Street has two locations, one in the heart of West Seattle in the Junction and the other in the Queen Anne neighborhood.
 
The mayor's office issued a press release about the recognition:

Today Mayor Mike McGinn recognized Easy Street Records for their stability, longevity, and involvement in Seattle’s music community, while embodying Seattle’s pioneering spirit and reflecting Seattle at its best.

The Seattle Public Schools issued their State of the District report, as delivered by Superintendent José Banda on Nov. 1 and they report improved academic performance and growing enrollment. Only the 10th grade reading and writing proficiency scores and a new biology exam results suffered. Enrollment rose to 49,864 students and is expected to grow by 7,000 in the next decade. The full report is downloadable at the link and West Seattle schools and their individual results are available at the links below.

The report states:

Successes at Seattle Public Schools
Academic gains. Seattle Public School students met or exceeded standard on the state exams in every tested subject in grades 3–8, falling behind only in the high school reading and writing proficiency exams in grade 10 and the new biology end-of-course (EOC) exam. Compared to 2011 results, Seattle students achieved a 12 percentage point increase in 7th grade reading, a 4.6 percentage point increase in 4th grade reading, and a 2.4 percentage point increase in 5th grade reading.

There has been a not-so-subtle remark, from the Right, that President Obama seeded hurricane Sandy that is now devastating the East Coast.

Apparently, he could both divert news attention from the economy, as the election looms, as well as get lots of mileage out of his heroic rescue efforts.

What an utterly ridiculous idea!! Is God supporting Obama, to allow this national disaster to occur on his watch? Otherwise, The Almighty could have waited until the end of January, until Romney believes that he will be President instead.

GW Bush had his chance with Katrina - and blew that!! He kept reassuring the public that all was going well – with just the opposite being the truth. Yes, there were Bush critics that pondered whether the Bush Admin was behind the attack on 9-11, to give a surge to his presidency and provide an opportunity to pull the US into Iraq for his (and Big Oil’s) ulterior motives. Or at least that they let it happen.

I am writing in support of John Urquhart for King County Sheriff. He has spent the last 36 years of his life serving the public as a police officer and has worked in all levels of the Sheriff's Office.

Prior to becoming a full-time police officer, he was a successful small business owner with over 60 employees. John's background makes him the best candidate to handle the $160 million budget of the Sheriff's Office.

John retired last year, but was urged to run for Sheriff by individuals up and down the ranks of the Sheriff's Office. Let's be blunt, the Sheriff's Office has received two devastating audits, lost over 100 citizen complaints (including many in our area), failed to properly review officer-involved shootings, and has a $9 million sexual harassment claim against it.

I am concerned that small issues of integrity are larger indictments of mismanagement we have seen in Mr. Strachan's short time as the appointed Sheriff.

press release:

SeaTac- Burien detectives located a stolen turquoise 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible vehicle last night after serving a search warrant at a house in SeaTac. The car had been featured on the news after it was stolen on September 23rd from a Burien auto shop.

On Monday, October 29th, detectives received information that the suspect was attempting to trade the stolen car for another classic car that was for listed for sale in Colorado on the internet. The suspect texted the man in Colorado, who had the classic Impala listed for sale, asking if he was interested in a trade.

The Colorado man received a text picture of the stolen Bel Air and became suspicious because of the cars value. The man searched the internet in Seattle for information and found a news article about the stolen car. He immediately called the Burien City Garage where the car was stolen from.

The shop owner passed the information on to detectives who began an investigation into the matter. By Wednesday, detectives had enough information to obtain a search warrant to search a garage in the 17300 block of 33 Ave S in SeaTac.

While many dished out Snickers Bars and Reese's Cups on Halloween night, Shadowland Bar & Restaurant, 4458 California Ave. SW, in West Seattle, offered eye candy and athleticism. The Seattle Aerial Arts School, with a West Seattle location at the end of 53rd Ave. SW, represented with five female performers from its troop.

SLIDESHOW: Click on photo for more or see gallery below

And while some of their costumes and dance movements on draped fabric, and an elevated hoop and metal anchor, fastened to the tall ceiling in the back, may have appeared provocative by some, it was their coordination and muscle tone that seemed to wow onlookers, bar patrons, many in costumes of their own, during the two-hour show.

Casia Townsley, who was tending bar at Shadowland during the show, is also with the aerial troop and helped bring them in to perform.

You might say the "ringleaders" of Seattle Aerial Arts School in West Seattle are aerial artists Simonne Garritues and Bruce Magnotti.

Developers have submitted the Land Use Application for the block housing The Viking and 2 and 1/2 Happy Barbers on NW 24th Ave, between NW 64th St and NW 65th St, according to the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) Land Use Information Bulletin.

The application will move forward plans to turn the block into the "Ballard Lofts," a six-story, 90-unit apartment complex with two or three levels of below-grade parking. One part of the building has already made it through the permitting process, so this application is only for the southern side, which comprises 60 residential units and where businesses 2 and 1/2 Happy Barbers and The Viking sit.

The development caused some online controversy last July, when many residents found out for the first time that The Viking tavern, which has been around since 1950, might be developed over. At the time, the property owner and developer Bill Parks said he had not set anything in stone whether or not he would include The Viking in the new apartment building.

Press release:

Volunteers are urgently needed to advocate on behalf of vulnerable adults living in long-term care facilities in the Burien, Tukwila, Des Moines and SeaTac communities.

These volunteers work to ensure the dignity, civil rights, and well-being of elderly and disabled adults living in Nursing Homes, Boarding Homes, and Adult Family Homes. The four-day Washington State Certification Training for new volunteers is Nov 13, 26, 27, 29, 8 a.m.-5pm daily.
As a volunteer ombudsman, you'll join approximately 400 other ombudsmen across the State of Washington making regular visits to long-term care facilities to meet with residents and their families, providing information on resident rights and working to resolve problems on behalf of residents. Ombudsman services are completely free.

Volunteers must attend the initial training to get state certified, and then must devote 4 hours/week to visit and monitor assigned facilities. Ongoing training is provided as needed.