December 2005

I was cruising through a New York Times article about big drug companies and their image problems when I was stopped by some numbers that simply don’t compute.

It wasn’t the drug companies’ declining prestige that surprised me.

The Times cited all kinds of reasons: prices consistently higher than in other countries, safety concerns such as the Vioxx withdrawal, questions about antidepressants and hormone replacement therapies, more use of generics, and pervasive advertising that has gotten downright irritating.

The Times cited a poll taken las

The King County Sheriff’s Office provided information on Dec.

After four months of separate committee meetings, Des Moines community leaders gathered together again Dec.

While the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council was recommending joining Burien, and the Burien Planning Commission was saying no, attendees at a community forum on annexation expressed interest in joining Seattle.

The Dec.

The operating subsidy that would be required if the North Highline Unincorporated Area were annexed by the city of Burien could increase over the next six years.

This prediction topped the information about the proposed annexation of North Highline that was presented to the Burien City Council Dec.

On Monday, December 12, Burien City Manager Gary Long announced his departure from the City effective January 1, 2006. Long said he has worked out a transition agreement with the Burien City Council. Long said: "I have consulted with the Councilmembers who will remain seated in January. They have indicated they prefer to select new management in 2006."

Mayor Noel Gibb thanked Long for his seven years of service to Burien "Gary has been very successful in moving Burien forward these past seven years.

This year's alternative to the annual Robinson Newspapers office Christmas party at the West Seattle old folks home was really exciting.

The new activity combined two of my fond memories -- sailing on an Argosy tour boat and seeing the Christmas Ship.

This year our newspaper family celebrated the season with many other families and couples by cruising on the Christmas Ship to Des Moines and Redondo.

Sailing on Argosy's Spirit of Seattle reminded me of Marge and my wonderful wedding 17 years ago aboard Argosy's Goodtime II.

We designed our own weddin

Last week as we were about to enter Big Lots in Burien, Elsbeth and I spotted Santa. He was standing by his red kettle waving a little silver bell and I said, "Are you really Santa Claus?"

He smiled and said, "Well, I was until I burned half my beard off.

Has anyone else noticed the wall at the north end of our unwanted new runway? I know there are funds set aside for art, but when I looked over while driving on the freeway, for the life of me it looks like they have an angel carved in the bricks of that wall!

Are public funds now paying for religious art? Are they going to change it each season? Are they hoping no one will notice?

I'm sure that up close the wall is too big for it to be seen, it can only be viewed from a distance. If it's not an angel, what else has wings and a womanly form, fairies?

Fiscal restraint is needed

It is astonishing how briskly our Burien City Council is willing to cough up $311,797 of our tax dollars to fund the shortfall to the Environmental Science Center Board, an independent, non-profit organization, for their proposed learning center in Seahurst Park.

It would seem that the City’s offer in 2003 to provide the property, access, and maintenance for such a facility at a cost to the ESC of $1 per year was already quite generous, provided the ESC fund the cost for remodeling the existing caretaker’s building, thereby