In journalism, as in most enterprises, even the best and strongest of rules are made to be broken. We have such a case here because of a letter to the editor that was published on Nov. 16.
This will be the last week any letters on this subject will be printed. No exceptions.
Debbie Loop, the very nice lady who wrote the original letterm, has apologized. See her letter as the first letter in the column below.
As King County Executive Ron Sims pointed out recently, over 59 languages are spoken in the unincorporated North Highline which includes the areas of White Center and Boulevard Park. Almost 50percent of our 32,000 residents are from communities of color. North Highline is one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the state.
As newly elected members of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council and as members of communities of color, we acknowledge the initial efforts of the council to facilitate public discussions regarding annexation options for our neighborhoods.
While the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council was recommending joining Burien, and the Burien Planning Commission was saying no, attendees of a community forum on annexation expressed interest in joining Seattle.
Saturday's forum at Mount View Elementary School brought out more of North Highline's ethnic minorities than previous public meetings about future governance of White Center and Boulevard Park. Half of the approximately 120 attendees said they would prefer being annexed by Seattle.
The forum on annexation was sponsored by a group called Trusted Advocates.
As the state's economy grows stronger and more people are finding work, many community colleges are experiencing lower enrollment, according to the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, but expansions of departments at South Seattle Community College are not only enhancing campus enrollment but are also drawing in a wider range of students, says Dr. Jill Wakefield, the college president.
Nursing program expands
A federal grant of more than $700,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor has recently been approved for the college's nursing program.
Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin will lead the Council as president for the two year term, 2006 to 2007.
Conlin, who chaired the Council's Transportation Committee for the past four years, has four priorities for his term as president.
When a person in a neighboring apartment building saw an argument between father and son in a stairwell, he called 911. Officers arrived and discovered that that the boy was OK, but had not wanted to go to school that day. As a result, the father decided the boy should just go to school in his pajamas. This did not sit well with the would-be truant, who lay down on the floor and started screaming. Officers encouraged dad to speak with the school about help with truancy issues.
A local woman has been missing since Thanksgiving, when she failed to appear at a family holiday meal.
Dear Sir: The article, "Rotary's Hidden Industry," in the November 16, 2005 issue of the Ballard News-Tribune, reported on the Rotary's excellent program and effort that is both thoughtful and efficient, for getting fresh produce to those in need.
However, your statement, "the USDA...found 12% of households in Washington State were food insecure, compared to 11.6% the year before; an increase of more than a quarter of a million households," puzzles me.
According the USDA, in 2003, 275,000 households in Washington were food insecure or 11.6% of the total.
Last week my car was in the shop for a couple of days, so I decided to take the bus home. It takes an hour and a half to get home on the number 18 bus to downtown, followed by the number 36 bus making its way south on Third Avenue, through the Chinatown International District and onto Beacon Hill.
I boarded the number 18 on Northwest Market Street on Halloween. There was a woman with a pirate's hat.
At least 14 development projects with a total value approaching a quarter of $1 billion are in process in a 100 acre area around downtown Ballard. When these projects are finished, there will be at least 1500 new residential units, more than 1000 parking stalls and 200,000 square feet of commercial and retail space in the same area.
Changes are coming to Ballard.
Months after the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation decided to implement the Loyal Heights Playfield Improvement project, which will add synthetic turf in place of natural grass and additional lighting, some Ballard residents have formerly appealed the process through Seattle’s Office of Hearing Examiner.
The parks department asserts that synthetic turf and other changes to the playfield will increase the usability of the field as well as pose “insignificant adverse impacts upon the environment,” according to the parks department’s Determination of No
