February 2021

Burien businesswoman Viola Mae Steinman took time away from helping to run and garden around Boulevard Park Place, an active north Burien retirement community she and her late husband, Merle Steinman, built in 1996 to celebrate her 90th birthday on February 3rd.

Residents creatively stood on balconies and patios, banging pots and pans and wishing her “Happy Birthday” while Vi passed by in a decorated cart followed by the North Highline Fire truck, lights and sirens shouting their congratulations.

By Ken Robinson

Managing Editor

You know that old saw about trying to get 10 pounds of something into a 5 pound bag? You must have a sense of this if you leave the house and go into almost any part of town. If you get on I-5 or 405 during daylight hours, you will know what I mean.

In 1990,a census of King County revealed a population of 1.5 million people. In 2020, that number had swelled to 2.26 million. 

It is the 15th largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States and is home to over half of Washington's population.

As a lifetime resident, we do have a longing for the ‘old days’ when Boeing was the state’s biggest employer and you could drive from Federal Way to the U District in 30 minutes at 70 MPH. In a rainstorm.

By Jean Godden

Jenny Durkan has promised to complete her one term as Seattle mayor by working to help the city recover from the corvid crisis. While that's all to the good, the reality is that, at this time next year, Seattle will have a new mayor, its eighth chief executive since 2000.

Many lament that Seattle with its strong activism and many challenges is simply not governable. They say it is not possible to please every faction and seldom possible to satisfy even one. When labor forces are made happy, it may come at the expense of business interests. Or when neighborhood goals are favored, it may leave developers at odds.

This update was shared by District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold in her newsletter to constituents:

I’ve heard from many District 1 residents over the past week concerned, frustrated, and confused about the difficulties of receiving a COVID vaccination.  As many of you have discovered, vaccine providers are generally not offering appointments for the vaccine, because they do not have sufficient numbers of vaccines to distribute.  The problem we are all experiencing is systemic – the federal government is neither producing nor able to purchase enough vaccine for everyone who is now eligible to receive it.   

By Jennifer Danner

Seattle Police Department Southwest Precinct

Crime Prevention Coordinator

The SW Precinct is seeing an uncharacteristic increase in aggravated assault incidents, with the majority of these being domestic violence related.

Given this, and nature of the last year, the Seattle Police Department would like to offer the following crime prevention newsletter focus on domestic violence- including what is domestic violence, what types of resources are available, and how to report domestic violence to law enforcement. 

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has filed a second-degree rape case against Mahdi M. Hussein.

In this case, Mr. Hussein is accused of attacking a complete stranger at a bus stop in West Seattle. The defendant physically and sexually violated the victim before the victim was able to break free from the defendant. The defendant pursued the victim before forcibly raping the victim in a public space.