November 2015

By Michele Smith

Burien residents have an outstanding police department, with the recent change to the new 4-10 schedule, there are shift overlaps that give double coverage, faster response times and more proactive policing for our community. The Burien Police Department is contracted with the King County Sheriff’s Office, there are 42 full-time officers with capacity for more from the Special Crimes Unit with King County as needed. Currently the department is made up of 1 Captain, 1 Chief, 2 Sergeants, 7 Detectives, 25 Patrol, 1 School Resource Officer, 1 Community Service Officer and 4 Special Emphasis Officers who’s specialty range in Marine Rescue to SWAT to Hostage Negotiators.

A Des Moines Spanish-language interpreter charged with overbilling the state has repaid more than $5,600 for mileage and patient appointments that authorities say never happened.
 
Bersabed Boling, 41, appeared in Thurston County Superior Court on Tuesday, and paid back the full amount that she was accused of stealing from the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I).
 
The department had paid Boling to interpret at medical and other appointments that assist limited-English-speaking workers recovering from workplace injuries. The case resulted from an L&I investigation.
 
“Interpreters play a key role in helping us serve injured employees in our diverse workforce. They help injured workers understand what their doctors say, and how to return to work when they’re healthy,” said Elizabeth Smith, assistant director of L&I’s Fraud Prevention & Labor Standards.
 
“This is an important service, and we will not tolerate abuse of it.”
 
Original charge: first-degree theft

Urogynecologist Scott Poehlmann, MD, FACOG, FPMRS is  board-certified and fellowship trained in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery and, is now accepting new patients at Franciscan Women’s Health Associates in Des Moines. Dr. Poehlmann specializes in helping women manage disorders such as pelvic organ prolapse and urinary and fecal incontinence.
 
Dr. Poehlmann is an AAGL Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology designee and provides patients with a wide choice of treatment options including state-of-the-art robotic and laparoscopic surgery. These less invasive surgeries generally result in less pain and faster healing than traditional operations because they can be completed using small incisions. Franciscan Women’s Health Associates is located in the Highline Medical Plaza, 22000 Marine View Drive S., Suite 200 in Des Moines. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (206) 592-5940 or visit us at www.chifranciscan.org/womens.

By Tim Clifford

On Oct. 29, at about 4:13 p.m., SeaTac police received numerous calls reporting gunfire near the intersection of S. 154th St. and 24th Ave. S., just north of the airport. When police and medics arrived on the scene they found 28-year-old Andrae Medina-Wong dead and learned from eye witnesses that another man had fled the scene on foot.

The fleeing subject was described as a black male in his 20s wearing a black shirt with a gold star on the front. Guardian One was deployed to provide air support and a K-9 unit was used to track the fleeing subject to a wooded area northwest of the scene.

According to Sgt. Cindy West with the King County Sheriff’s Office SWAT officers were alerted to the location of this subject by a witness report of a man jumping a fence. After setting up a perimeter officers then heard a single gunshot from the woods and moved in to apprehend the subject. They soon learned that this subject was actually a second victim of the shooting who had fled the scene in fear for his life.

by Michele Smith

A puppy purchased via Craigslist and that soon died of the Parvo virus became the center of a small claims lawsuit brought upon by the seller.

On October 27, 2015 the matter was heard in the King County District Court, Burien Courthouse. The seller, Kelly (Coughlin) Tanksley immediately requested Judge David M. Christie grant a continuance on the matter so that she could make a change to her paperwork that would increase her claim from $437 to include Civil Harassment from the buyer. Judge Christie denied her request, giving her the option to dismiss the claim and re-file with the superior court or to split the claims. She opted to split the claims and the case continued, opening the door for the buyer's counter claim of $2,024.26 to cover the vet bills incurred by trying to save the puppy.

Information from King County Sheriff

About 8:20 tonight we responded to an accident at S143 and 1st ave S. A motorcycle occupied by a 25 year old man and a 26 year old female passenger was southbound in the northbound lanes on 1 Ave S. Witnesses said the motorcycle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it hit a northbound vehicle. The female died at the scene and the male attempted to flee but was caught and arrested. He received minor injuries and is being treated at Harborview.

No injuries reported of driver of car.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Still earns shutout for SMU

Mount Rainier graduate Chelsie Still earned her first shutout of the year as a goalkeeper for the Saint Martin's University women's soccer team in its 1-0 wiin over Northwest Nazarene this past Saturday.
Still is in her senior season.

McPherson hits double figures

Kennedy graduate Jennica McPherson, who is also in her senior season of college, scored 12 kills and 14 digs for the Western Washington University women's volleyball team in its 29-31, 25-20, 25-1, 25-21 victory over Simon Fraser last Tuesday.

Contact us at sports@robinsonnews.com with information for our Keeping Track column.

By Marjorie Young

It was recently my pleasure to visit the McClure Middle School in Queen Anne to speak about my fantasy/adventure series, ‘The Boy with Golden Eyes.’ As participation was strictly voluntary, I was gladdened to find about two-hundred students in attendance. It may sound like a cliché, but to look out at those very young, very eager faces was an inspiration and delight. It also proved heartening to learn that not only were they avid readers, but that many were already active writers. One young lady had even written her own five-part fantasy adventure!

Many aspects of being an author were touched upon that day, but one thing I hoped to emphasize was that any creation, once sent out into the world, takes on a life of its own. In my case, I have been fortunate to receive fan feedback from a wide variety of people, and am always amazed at the unforeseen ‘after-effect’ the saga has produced, ranging from the amusing to the profound.

Burglar makes off with $5,000 of scrap metal

A business on the 1100 block of N.W. 52nd St. is missing $5,000 worth of scrap metal after a string of burglaries occurred in October. The business manager said that he came to work after the weekend on Oct. 14 and found that a container that stored machinery in the yard had been broken into. The padlock had been pried off. The yard is fenced around with a ten-foot high fence. Police suspect the burglar pulled down some overgrown shrubs to climb over the fence. The manager said that this was the second burglar to happen in the last two weeks. The time before the suspect made off with the scrap metal, which was being stored in the yard. However, the manager never reported it. With no surveillance footage, police were unable to recover any leads.

Bike-thieves leave bolt cutters and bicycles after being run off

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Oct. 31
Volleyball
Puyallup 3, Mt. Rainier 2
The Rams were outlasted, 25-9, 25-16, 25-27, 23-25, 15-10, by Puyallup to open South Puget Sound League tournament play Saturday.
Kentridge 3, Mt. Rainier 0
Mount Rainier finished eighth in the SPSL tournament with Saturday's second loss, but still qualified for this week's West Central District tournament.
The Chargers put the Rams away, 25-20, 25-23, 26-24.
West Seattle 3, Chief Sealth 1
The Wildcats won against the Seahawks in a loser-out Metro League tournament match Saturday.
West Seattle 3, Bainbridge 2
West Seattle followed up on its win over Chief Sealth by defeating Bainbridge in the contest for the Metro League's ninth and final berth into the Sea-King District tournament.

Boys cross country
Westside Classic 4A
Mount Rainier took eighth place as a team in Saturday's West Central District action held at American Lake with 256 points, but had no qualifiers for this coming Saturday's state meet.
Westside Classic 3A