August 2013

By Katie Nelson
HIGHLINE TIMES

An aerobics class geared toward women who are in treatment for or have beaten cancer began in June at Burien’s Highline Medical Center.

The class is sponsored by Team Survivor Northwest, a nonprofit organization started in Seattle in 1995 to encourage female cancer patients and survivors to engage in regular physical activity as part of their recovery.

“This one is … for strength training and for women regaining their strength, especially after surgery [and] treatments,” said Ann Ford, the class instructor. “It gets them up and going … in a safe manner, working within their range of motion.”

Ford has been teaching classes like these for the past 13 years. She is a certified aerobics instructor and licensed yoga teacher, and has been a volunteer instructor with Team Survivor Northwest for several years. Ford also teaches a similar class at Swedish Medical Center. She said she is consistently amazed by the tenacity of cancer survivors in her classes.

A distant relative of Burien’s namesake traveled from Germany to the city last week to research his family’s past.

Uwe Burian’s great-great grandfather, Karl Burian, was Gottlieb Burian’s brother. In the 1880s, Gottlieb Burian homesteaded 120 acres on the southeast corner of what was later named Lake Burien.

Uwe Burian can not explain how the lake and the city named after his relative acquired an “e” in place of an “a.”

Both Gottlieb’s birth and death certificates list his last name as Burian, according to Uwe.

But Uwe can confirm two Gottlieb myths are not true.

Some of Gottlieb’s contemporaries thought he spelled his last name, “von Boorian.” Uwe attributes that to Gottlieb’s heavy German accent.

He also said that Gottlieb’s family did not descended from Prussian nobility.

Earl F. Charvet had previously debunked the two myths in research for the Highline Historical Society.

Uwe has traveled several times to the United States while on summer break from his job as a high school Physical Education teacher.

Kiteboarder Tony Bergrude tests the waters off the Des Moines Marina fishing dock earlier this summer. The sport is also sometimes known as kitesurfing.

In the second photo, Bergrude relaxes at Des Moines Beach Park.

Burien will still enjoy its private freeway, SR-509, shown here on a weekday afternoon, as the state Legislature recently rejected a transportation bill that would have extended the freeway and brought an influx of freight trucks.

Press release:

The Burien Community Center is pleased to present the paintings of Normandy Park artist Roxanne Fawcett. Roxanne’s painting will be on display until September 30th.

Artist Statement:

Making art. Addiction? Meditation? Therapy? Joy? Frustration? Satisfaction?

Yes.

My art is generally done in a quasi-representational style with acrylic paint,
playing with different mediums applied to canvas or paper with brushes, pallet
knife, fingers, squirt bottles, sheet rock knives, rollers ...

I am inspired by nature in its many forms, colors and moods: the soft color of
a flower, the play of light on ceramics and organics, the contrast of night and
day. I am constantly striving to take form and simplify it, take color and
intensify it, to capture energy with line and texture and to add my own sense
of the world.

In this submission I have chosen to concentrate on the Floral:

Flowers are so intriguing to me. On their own or in groups, in the wild or
contained, communicating the light and texture of petal and leaf with single
strokes or a mass confusion of color is all part of the adventure. The floral

I have always been a handy guy. I have fixed any number of things over the years from the weekly honey-do list I got from my wife.

I fixed cabinet hinges, wobbly toilet handles, doors that squeak and even stepped on a spider or two. It was my calling. I suspect it was her job to keep me busy. Otherwise I would have been in my easy chair with a glass of lemonade reading about the trouble in the Middle East.

What I am not good at is assigning my own tasks. Like deciding to clean the gutters. I neglected to wear an old shirt. I came in with wet leaves stuck to my Arrow shirt. Her look alone coulda killed me.

I know I should have put on the old paint shirt but I am basically impulsive and also in a hurry to get to my next project, like tossing out old things that have been in the garage for years.

How was I supposed to know she had her mother's favorite lamp stuck in the back corner? I figured it was burned out and not working. I'm a sensible guy. When she learned it was on the Goodwill truck SHE was burned.

They say coaches are hired to be fired.

In much the same way, newspaper editors are hired to write their farewell column.

This is mine.

My 66th birthday is Aug. 22 so I’m retiring before the government ups the official Social Security collection age again. In the newspaper game these days it’s quite an accomplishment to leave on your own terms.

My entry into journalism out of college was rocky so I consider myself the King of Second Chances to have been able to come back and edit my hometown paper.

Speaking of second chances, I owe the biggest gratitude to my wife, Marge. Through constant support (and a little trickery) she got me here.

I also owe gratitude to previous editor Maggie Larrick who hired me. It might have been a safer choice to go with an eager beaver young Journalism school grad. Maggie expected excellence and expected I would expect excellence from myself. She once said, as I was retreating out her door to get still more detail on a story, “We aren’t the New York Times but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to be.”

By Tram Le, DVM
Burien Veterinary Hospital
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

When your male cat takes frequent trips to the litter box, crying and straining to urinate without producing any urine this may be a sign that he is blocked (urethral obstruction.) This condition is often in male cats as their urethra is extremely long and narrow.

Female cats have a much wider and shorter urethra. The blockage may be due to stone(s), gritty material with thick secretions, excessive scar tissue, or in some cases no physical obstructions but spasms blocking the urine.

Many times symptoms are sudden, but a few start off as cystitis (bladder inflammation) or bladder infection, then progress to full blockage. If left untreated kidney failure can develop. And if left untreated too long death can occur.

The pain of not being able to pass urine is extreme and bladder rupture can occur. It is important not to wait if you notice symptoms, whether in the middle of the night or weekend, emergency clinics are open 24 hours.

By Julia Patterson
King County Councilmember
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

Thousands of people throughout South King County ride public transit every day. Many of these riders do not own cars and depend upon buses and trains to get to work and school, and to access essential goods and services such as groceries and healthcare.

I have fought for quality transit for South King County throughout my career because of the many benefits that transit provides and the difficulties that our community would face without access to transit services.

This op-ed explores the need for transit, highlights upcoming changes for South County riders and warns of possible service cuts to King County Metro due to budget challenges.

With a little help from his friends, Jimmy Shane combined the inside advantage, great boat speed and an outstanding job of driving to hold off defending Seafair champion Steve David in the 1 Oh Boy! Oberto and put the 5 Graham Trucking in the winner’s circle Sunday at the 2013 Albert Lee Appliance Cup on Seattle’s Lake Washington.

The help from friends came during the scoring up for the Championship Final Heat when Graham had secured lane one and was joined by Kip Brown in the 95 Spirit of Qatar in lane two and J. Michael Kelly in the 37 Miss Beacon Plumbing who took lane three, forcing David out to lane four.

The 95 Spirit of Qatar boat is run by the Our Gang Racing team that includes Des Moines resident David Bell as the crew chief.

David was asked about all the “kids” taking the good lanes and forcing him out to four and replied, “Yes I think we might have had a shot at him from lane two but four was just too far out. I made a run to catch him once I got over into two but he’s just too fast to catch if he’s that far ahead.”