February 2006

Please lock your cell phone keypads and turn off the 911 autodials. Seattle's 911 system is being overwhelmed with 700 calls a day being triggered accidentally when phones are jostled in a pocket or purse. And if you give your child an old cell phone to play with, please remember to remove the battery first, as the phones can still be used to make 911 calls, even if your account is no longer active.

The arbors aren't too high in one part of Arbor Heights, where someone sheared the limbs on one side of several newly planted trees.

When's the last time you pondered playing dodgeball or even heard the word? In grade school, perhaps?

Maybe Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn's slapstick comedy flick of the same name reminded you of the sport when it was released in 2004.

"The Creator planted a garden eastward in Eden." Genesis 2.8. "Then the Creator took the man and put him in the garden to tend and keep it." Genesis 2.15. By this account, gardening (not that other activity) is the world's oldest profession.

So, last week the region held the annual homage to gardening with the Northwest Flower and Garden Show.

This week's tip: Eat nuts.

Remember when you refrained from them because they were too fatty? Well, they are high in fat, yes, but that's not considered a bad thing any more. High in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat (the good fats) they actually help decrease the bad LDL cholesterol and improve the good HDL cholesterol.

Studies are showing that those that consume a handful of nuts on most days of the week maintain a healthy weight and decrease the risk of heart disease.

A wise man once suggested that we do an editorial that inserted after ever other word a snarl to note yet another big, smashing bump in the roads of West Seattle. We thought the idea over, but rejected it as being a boring repetition.

Imagine a full page of, growl, ouch, grrrrrrrr, mutter and assorted other words of frustration.

Why are our streets falling apart!

I want to thank all the wonderful staff and volunteers at Providence Mount St. Vincent Nursing home. It is truly a jewel for those in need of experienced care.

My mother, Gloria Thompson, spent the final five months of her life there. She was given nothing short of the finest care anyone could ask for.

Just a quick note to say in this day of bad news I'm happy to express good news.

The flow of my water pressure has been diminishing, so I called to inquire if the water was now being contaminated.

Here we go again: Howard Schultz, billionaire owner of the Sonics, threatens to move his team unless we submit to his attempt to extort $200 million dollars from taxpayers to renovate his basketball facility.

Sometime in the early 1900s, my father and his small family moved from Indiana to the West Coast and soon settled in Seattle. There he began his career in the Seattle Parks Departments, working in Woodland Park helping to develop the rose garden there. Soon he was transferred to take care of Hiawatha Park in West Seattle and moved his family into a small house in the park, facing Walnut Avenue.

Supporters of the newly filed Energy Independence Initiative say their measure protects electricity consumers from volatile fuel prices, boosts the state's green energy economy and decreases dependence on foreign oil, but is their real goal to discourage hydropower and stop new coal-fired power plants?

The Northwest Energy Coalition's initiative would require the state's larger utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from non-hydro renewable energy sources by 2020.