April 2017

information from SDOT

Seattle is kicking off Pothole Palooza on Monday, April 17, a campaign to aggressively repair potholes across the city. Beginning today, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is asking community members to report neighborhood potholes so we can map them out as our Pothole Rangers move throughout the city.

There are three ways to report potholes:

• Calling our Pothole and Street Repair hotline 206-386-1218
• Using the Find It Fix It App
• Filling out our online Pothole Report form

During the campaign, SDOT crews will be assigned to specific districts around the city. SDOT Crews will be joined by crews from Seattle Parks and Recreation who will assist with these efforts.

Construction has begun near Top Hat of a $72 million 298 unit mixed use affordable housing project called Southside by Vintage by Vintage Housing of Newport Beach, California. They bought property in September for $4.3 million. It's the former site of Bernie and Boys Market at 11225 First Avenue South.

The company will get up to $55 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. The notes will be placed by Citi Community Capital.

Inland Group out of Spokane is the general contractor for the project.

Southside will have four five-story buildings, some commercial space, parking on the surface and underground, a business center, bicycle storage and a playground.

In keeping with affordable housing goals rents in Southside by Vintage will be limited to 60 percent of area median income, with projections of $960 for one bedroom and $1,327 for three. Twenty percent of the units will be reserved for people with disabilities and another 20 percent will be for large households. Eighteen units will be designated live/work.

Around 12:30 am on Wednesday April 12, a man in his 20s was shot and killed behind the AM/PM in the 13600 block of Ambaum Blvd. SW.

The King County Sheriff's office says the victim appeared to be waiting for someone. Potential gang ties are possible. The Sheriff's office believes there were at least 2 shooters. They will be working with SPD and Federal Way Police to see if this shooting is in any way connected to their homicides last night.

information from the Whale Trail

Biologist John Calmbokidis of the Cascadia Research Collective speaks on the return of humpback and gray whales to the Salish Sea on Thursday, April 20, at 7:00 PM at the Dakota Place Park Building, 4304 SW Dakota St., Seattle. His talk is entitled The New Giants of the Salish Sea. The presentation is part of The Whale Trail’s Orca Talks Series and tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2921040

“John’s talk is an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest research on the health of these gentle giants who are returning to our waters, as well as the challenges facing all of the whales we treasure,” said Donna Sandstrom, executive director of The Whale Trail.

Calmbokidis will also discus the latest findings from the autopsy conducted by scientists on the juvenile humpback whale that died of starvation and washed up on Anderson Island at the end of last month.

About the talk:

information from King County Sheriff

King County has settled a multi-million dollar lawsuit brought by two former deputies and one current deputy for $1.35 million, according to Sheriff John Urquhart.

“The settlement was negotiated by King County,” said Sheriff Urquhart. “I did not take part in the negotiations because I was adamantly opposed to any settlement before trial.”

Sheriff Urquhart continued: “This settlement denigrates the anguish suffered by a Metro bus driver who was targeted by deputies. The public deserves to have all the facts laid out publicly where everyone would be forced to testify and be subject to cross-examination under oath, including myself. Now that will not happen.”

The original claim against King County totaled $8 to $9 million. The lawsuit was settled during mediation on Thursday, April 6th. It does not involve the re-hiring of two of the deputies, who were fired for cause in 2015.

By Amanda Knox
 
In my pre-teens, I chose to ignore the sour tang that had crept into my relationship with my little sister Deanna. I dismissed her suddenly miserable, disdainful attitude towards me like it was nothing more than one of her frequent bouts of carsickness. She’d get over it.
 
It’s not like I had done something. In fact, from the way she seemed to be angry with me about everything, I deduced that her frustration wasn’t really directed at what I did, but at me. Me personally. And it was baffling. What happened to the kid who crawled into my bed whenever she had a nightmare? The little girl who counted on me to look after her on the playground, and be her voice when she was too shy to speak? Why didn’t she like me anymore?
 
The answer was obvious to everyone else. “It’s just sibling rivalry,” the adults said. “Don’t take it personally.” But it felt personal, and I was at turns skeptical and angry. I wasn’t competing with my sister, so why should she compete with me?
 
Now, nearly two decades later and in the thick of Deanna’s wedding planning, we texted the following exchange:  
 

Police are investigating after two suspects assaulted a man near a bus stop at 15th Avenue N.W. and N.W. 85th Street on March 28. The victim called police after the incident and told officers that he was waiting at the bus stop with the two suspects when it happened. He didn't know their names but he said he knew them. As they waited the female suspect came up behind the victim and placed him in a chokehold. She demanded his phone. The victim struggled. Then the male suspect grabbed him too and demanded the victim’s phone. The victim said he knew that the two wouldn't kill him, but he said that he got “beat down.” Once they gained possession of the man’s phone, they fled. The victim had no visible sign of injury and refused medical treatment. He said he just wanted to leave the scene and buy a new phone. He did not provide a description of the two suspects.

information from WordsWest

April is National Poetry Month and WordsWest #25 pulls out all stops to celebrate with two nationally acclaimed poets. Don't miss this rare chance to see National Book Award Winner, Terrance Hayes, and his former student, Seattle poet Jane Wong, read their work as a "living anthology"-a distinctive WordsWest reading format that weaves the ideas and images of each poet's work into a never-to-be-duplicated performance of echoes and connections. One night only!

This evening is supported in part by a grant from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

information from SDOT

Contractors working for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will be replacing several short segments of pavement on the SW Spokane St corridor on Harbor Island this coming Wednesday, April 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The segment of 11th Ave SW just south of SW Spokane St (and north of Klickitat Ave SW) will be closed for paving.

Detour information:
Westbound traffic onto Harbor Island will not be impacted. Traffic leaving Harbor Island westbound to West Seattle will need to detour east off Harbor Island to under the Alaskan Way Viaduct for a turnaround on surface Spokane St, to return westward.

In addition, several small spot repairs will take place on Klickitat Ave SW, just west of the driveway into the office park on the south side of the street. These repairs will not require any detour.

By Katy Wilkens

I’ll join my husband soon in Argentina where he will visit on business. The people of Argentina, the eighth-largest country in the world, enjoy a wide and varied cuisine. Argentinians eat a lot of meat, more than 120 pounds per person a year, and that number is actually lower than in the past!

I am looking forward to street food in Buenos Aires, Spanish-influenced food in the southern tip of the country and the hot, spicy food of indigenous peoples in the hot and humid north.

I also look forward to Italian food, such as wood-fired pizzas, homemade pastas and gnocchi. Argentina has perhaps the best Italian food outside of Italy, thanks to a huge influx of Italian immigrants in the 1900s.

Argentina reportedly also has the best ice cream, or gelato, in the world. I see it as my duty to thoroughly research the gelato. I will generously sample, take rigorous notes and report on the quality when I get back!