June 2017

District 1 Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold has outlined changes coming to downtown transportation in her constituent newsletter, and points out potential impacts on commuters from West Seattle and Burien as a variety of planned changes are implemented.

"Since late 2016, the One Center City working group has been meeting to coordinate management of a high volume of changes coming to Downtown transportation between 2017 and 2019. The working group includes SDOT, Sound Transit, King County Metro, and the Downtown Seattle Association. Different government agencies would implement elements of the proposal.

Upcoming projects in that time frame include the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and opening of the SR 99 tunnel; the closure of the Downtown Transit Tunnel to buses with the arrival of light rail to Northgate, Lynnwood and the Eastside; the re-opening of Alaskan Way; a 1st Avenue Streetcar; a Bus Rapid Transit line on Madison; and the proposed Convention Center expansion (see chart above).

District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold is drawing attention to the imminent loss of a tutoring program at Highland Park Elementary. A Go Fund Me page has been set up to raise funds to preserve it but the deadline is coming up fast.

The Reading Partners tutoring program at Highland Park Elementary in West Seattle is facing elimination due to budget cuts. The volunteer tutors need $30,000 to continue. July 15 is the fundraising deadline– donations collected only if the goal is met.

Tutors and students work one-on-one to help students gain the skills to read at grade level. Research shows that when students can read at grade level entering 4th grade, they are 4 times more likely to graduate from high school.

Donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/Save-RP-at-HP

Donations go to the Seattle chapter of Reading Partners, a 501(c)(3) organization, and are tax deductible: http://readingpartners.org/

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Dick Fain competed in two sports at once in his days at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines.

He swam and played basketball during the winter of his freshman, sophomore and junior years before a rule change forced him to decide between the two for his senior year.

He opted for basketball...

Now he is working three jobs at once, all in the realm of broadcast journalism.

His main gig is as the host of the 5:30 a.m. sports show on KJR-Radio, and he also serves as a sports anchor for KING-TV.

But he is best known as the voice of the Seattle Storm professional Women's National Basketball Association team for its home telecasts on JOEtv.

"It makes for a long day, especially when I sports anchor at KING-5 at 3 p.m. and my last TV hit is at 11:25 at night, only six hours before I go on the radio," said the 43-year-old 1992 graduate of Mount Rainier. "Then the summer is busy with the Storm doing play-by-play on TV for them at KeyArena. But when you enjoy the job you don't worry about the weird schedule or a lot of hours."

Fain certainly enjoys his jobs after getting his start in "broadcasting" at a very young age.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

It was two tough losses to two tough opponents for the Highline Bears this week.

The semiprofessional baseball team took a 1-0 loss to the Seattle Studs at the University of Puget Sound on Tuesday night before a comeback came up just short against the San Francisco Seals on Thursday, 6-5, at Mel Olson Stadium at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center.

The Studs game was lost on a sacrifice fly that turned out to be the only run of the game, while the Seals jumped out to a 6-0 lead and ultimately held on.

Dillon O'Grady singled in the Bears' first run in the bottom of the second inning to make it a 6-1 game, and Johnny Sage blasted a bases-clearing double in the seventh to cut San Francisco's lead to 6-4.
The Bears staged another rally in the bottom of the ninth.

Chris Hollabaugh singled and Chase Hodkinson walked before Sage launched another double. Hollabaugh scored easily, but Hodkinson was thrown out at the plate to end the game.

The Bears get another shot at the Seals at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Mel Olson Stadium before going to Langley, B.C. for a 1:05 p.m. double-header Saturday.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

It was two tough losses to two tough opponents for the Highline Bears this week.

The semiprofessional baseball team took a 1-0 loss to the Seattle Studs at the University of Puget Sound on Tuesday night before a comeback came up just short against the San Francisco Seals on Thursday, 6-5, at Mel Olson Stadium at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center.

The Studs game was lost on a sacrifice fly that turned out to be the only run of the game, while the Seals jumped out to a 6-0 lead and ultimately held on.

Dillon O'Grady singled in the Bears' first run in the bottom of the second inning to make it a 6-1 game, and Johnny Sage blasted a bases-clearing double in the seventh to cut San Francisco's lead to 6-4.
The Bears staged another rally in the bottom of the ninth.

Chris Hollabaugh singled and Chase Hodkinson walked before Sage launched another double. Hollabaugh scored easily, but Hodkinson was thrown out at the plate to end the game.

King County Sherriff's Deputies and Burien Police were involved in a fatal shooting incident on June 13 with a man who appeared to be mentally disturbed. Now the 911 calls have been released surrounding the incident and they are unquestionably dramatic. The suspect involved was 20 year old Tommy Le who lived nearby the incident. Perhaps the most alarming new fact is that he was armed only with a pen.

According to Cindi West with King County around midnight on June 13th, the Sheriff’s Office received multiple 9-1-1 calls reporting a “man with a knife” and gunfire. Callers described the suspect as wearing “black shorts” and shouting “I am the Creator” and “I am the killer” as he tried to stab people.

Ten patrol units headed toward the call.

Three deputies in separate vehicles arrived first, including Deputy Cesar Molina, Deputy Matt Paul, and Deputy Tanner Owens. Several people were in the front yard of a house and on the street.

More than 200 alumni tour and take a piece of the bleachers home
Proving that our experiences in school impact us the rest of our lives, more than 200 Glacier Grizzlies gathered to say a fond farewell to the former Glacier High School.

They walked the halls, visited the spirit rock and gathered in the gym. The alumni left with shared memories and more than 700 pieces of the old bleachers for themselves and others who could not be there.

Glacier High School opened in 1960 and closed in 1980 when SeaTac Airport expanded and enrollment decreased.

Check out photos documenting the trip down memory lane: bit.ly/2sRdWSS
Later this summer, the buildings will be demolished to make way for a new middle school opening in fall 2019.

By Lindsay Peyton

The Port of Seattle selected the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden as the site to make a special announcement, launching a $1 million program to fund environmental projects in communities around the Sea-Tac Airport, on the morning of Tuesday, June 20.

The public green space, located at 13735 24th Ave S, was created to preserve gardens in the area that would have been destroyed as part of the demolition in preparation for SeaTac Airport’s third runway.

Instead, the plants were moved to a 10.5-acre site, and the Botanical Gardens were created through an organized effort by the cities of Burien, SeaTac and a number of volunteers. The Port of Seattle also funded the moving and replanting of a number of trees to the area.

“This garden is symbolic of our intent to sustain and improve the quality of life for airport communities,” Port Commissioner John Creighton told the audience gathered to hear the organization’s announcement.

He said that the Port plans to continue efforts to empower cities with similar projects that beautify the surroundings and protect the environment.

The Delridge Neighborhood Economic Development Steering Committee has announced the Delridge Business Survey and Outreach Project.

The goal of this project is to gather needed information to support community led business development in the area. They are asking Delridge area businesses to complete a survey with questions about local business. See a letter explaining the purpose to businesses at the link.

The surveying will be taking place during the months of June and July 2017 in person, online and over the phone by community ambassadors. The project report with action plan that summarizes the findings and the priorities will be shared in August 2017.

The project will target businesses in and around the Delridge corridor in an effort to catalog existing business, gather information about business resource and development needs, business owners concerns and feelings about the area. Businesses from Sylvan Way to Spokane Street will be included in this survey.