February 2006

I read with great interest the article written by Jerry Robinson several weeks ago. It basically talked about all that Debra George had done for the Burien community. I must say in looking at the Discover Burien Web site referenced, it appears little work is being completed.

Do you find this to be acceptable work? I hope the editorial staff remembers there probably would have been nothing started in Burien, if I had not taken the approach of bringing the business community together. Nearly everything that is being done in Burien was created in Merchant of Burien meetings.

Even if you do not recognize Burien's Lorin Sandretzky by name, it is likely you have seen him.

If you are even remotely interested in sports, you have probably seen this sports fanatic at Qwest or Safeco fields, among other places.

You can't miss him.

The Burien City Council took the first steps on Jan.

Mayor Greg Nickels is launching a campaign to get Seattle to annex all or part of the North Highline unincorporated area.

The mayor plans to suggest the Seattle City Council take the first steps toward annexing North Highline this year.

Designating North Highline as a "potential annexation area" would widen the analysis of making White Center and Boulevard Park part of the city of Seattle.

City planners have been analyzing some of the potential costs to the city.

The Burien City Council selected an independent outside agency on Jan. 23 to investigate allegations of ethics violations raised against new Mayor Joan McGilton and Councilman Gordon Shaw.

The Seabold Group, a Seattle-based professional investigation and organizational consulting firm, also will look into an alleged leak of confidential information.

These allegations came before lawmakers on Jan. 9. The ethics complaint was raised in a Dec.

Des Moines Beach Park is now a nationally recognized historic district.

The Des Moines City Council was informed of this latest development at their Jan. 26 meeting.

"It's very exciting," said Councilwoman Susan White, who has pushed for the historic designation during the past four years.

SeaTac now has a franchise agreement for a pipeline containing flammable jet fuel that flows through the city.

Lawmakers approved Jan. 24 an annual $12,960 franchise fee for the Olympic Pipeline Co.

The fee will be adjusted yearly for inflation.

Olympic will also pay a one-time $2,000 application fee.

Olympic had a franchise agreement with King County before SeaTac incorporated. However, the pact expired in 1989.

After the deadly 1989 pipeline explosion in Bellingham, cities began to require franchise agreements.

The next Citizen's Police Academy for residents of SeaTac and Burien and business owners and employees in the two cities will begin Wednesday, March 8.

Sponsored by the King County Sheriff's Office, the academy, designed to increase understanding between citizens and their police departments, meets for 13 weeks at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien.

To apply, call 206-973-4917, 206-973-4915, or 206-296-3333.

A woman reports that she was abducted from Harbor Avenue Wednesday morning after pulling over to fix a flat tire. Two white men in their twenties, one armed with a gun, allegedly held her for 24 hours before releasing her. She also reports that twice in the past month, a pickup truck has pulled in front of her home and two white males have taken a photo of her through a sliding glass door. The investigation is ongoing.

While patrolling North Admiral, an officer pulled a car over for having expired tabs.

My husband read the newspaper article about the new stage production of The Grapes of Wrath. It brought him back to the year 1926 when the Kunkel family made the move from South Dakota to the Yakima Valley in Eastern Washington. Times were hard on the farm since Norman's father was a hired hand who found it difficult to manage with eight children to care for. Norman's oldest brother had already left home to find his fortune in Yakima and it was this brother who urged the family to buy a truck and make the trip also.

The Joad family of The Grapes of Wrath expected to go west to the land of milk and honey. The Kunkels were no different as they had heard about the wonderful fruit crops out west and expected more opportunity if they could just manage to get there. Little did they know that those who owned the land of milk and honey were not about to share much of their harvest with the likes of the poor Kunkel family. Nevertheless, they had hope and determination.

The old Ford flatbed truck they bought was fitted out with a canopy, much like the covered wagons of old.