February 2020

In a collaborative effort of community, nonprofit organizations, county and city agencies to restore Roxhill Bog’s ecosystem and provide the community with a safe and engaging natural area for recreation and education you are invited to a stakeholder project meeting to learn about this effort, its importance to the health of Longfellow Creek, its salmon and saving of one of the last peat fens in Seattle.  Climate change and urbanization have caused Roxhill Bog to degrade to a critical tipping point if not addressed now, restoration of its natural functions may no longer be feasible.   

Discover Burien invites the entire community to vote for their favorite local establishments in their Best of Burien Awards 2020. Nominations are accepted through February 12, 2020. Winners in 10 categories will be revealed at the dinner on Friday, March 6, 2020.

Please click this link to nominate your favorites!

Categories open for nominations include Educator of the Year, Best Bloody Mary, Volunteer of the Year, Business Leader of the Year, Public Servant of the Year, Employer of the Year, Best Customer Service, Best Restaurant, and the Jeff Kearney Award. The Jeff Kearney Award is an honor bestowed upon a differently abled individual who follows Kearney’s example of hard work and dedication to the local Burien community.

On January 28, 2020, Craig Peirce Tweney was convicted of assault in the fourth degree for his attack on Mayor Jimmy Matta in 2018. He was given a deferred sentence with the following conditions: within 60 days the defendant must make a $750 donation to the Seattle chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, pay $756 in restitution to Jimmy Matta, file proof of an alcohol assessment and completion of recommended treatment, pay a $500 Victim Penalty Assessment, and have no criminal law violations and no contact with Mayor Matta for 24 months outside of official meetings.

By Rachel Morgan

One hundred years after Danish photographer Jacob Riis captured revolutionary images of New York’s poor housing conditions, Seattle is experiencing parallel housing and homelessness issues.

Traveling photojournalism exhibition Jacob A. Riis: How the Other Half Lives opened Feb. 1 at the National Nordic Museum sharing Riis’ photographs with the world. Accompanying Riis’ photographs will be a collection of contemporary photographs depicting poverty and immigration titled Legacy: Social Justice in Contemporary Danish Photojournalism.

How the Other Half Lives is a glimpse into historical social justice problems that still permeate contemporary national media, especially in Washington State. 

By Jean Godden

The news is about as grim as it gets. The federal government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is determined to steal away more than 150 years of Northwest history, the original government documents and archival records.

With no advance notice, the Seattle staff of the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) learned the devastating news Jan. 13. The facility on Sand Point Way Northeast will be closed and the historic records from four states -- Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska -- will be shipped a thousand miles away, either to Kansas City, Missouri, or Riverside, California.