February 2006

Keeping up with digital criminals

Last year there were ten million victims of identity theft in the U.S. and this year, one in four people will become targets of this fast growing crime.

That was the message members of the Northwest Senior Activity Center learned last Thursday during an information session on identity theft led by Becky Pugliese, an independent associate with Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

Only one in 700 identity thieves get caught. In 2004 five billion dollars was lost to identity theft in this country.

"It's becoming the crime of the century.

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A life lived for making songbirds sing

Bird lovers are mourning the death of Kevin Dean Li, a Ballard man who played a key role in the return of the Purple Martin to the Northwest.

Li passed away on January 30 after a scuba diving accident in the waters around Whidbey Island. Hundreds of people attended a memorial service at the Center for Urban Horticulture on February 3 in his honor.

The Ballard resident was 50 years old and was a fixture in the local and national birding community.

The Purple Martin is a songbird and the largest swallow on the continent.

Neighborhood
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Boys Basketball season bounces to an end

The Ballard Beavers faced an uphill battle last week as they attempted to win three games against quality opponents to keep their playoff hopes alive in the KingCo League.

The KingCo league leading Franklin Quakers (10-1), ranked number three in the state, went on the road against Ballard last Tuesday. Ballard came into the Quaker game with a 3-8, 5-12 overall record) and lost to Franklin 67-46.

For the second time this season, the Beaver went toe to toe with the Quakers, for a half with a two point lead.

Neighborhood
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Proposition #1 gets an F from city voters

It's back to the drawing board for the Federal Way school district.

On February 7, Proposition #1, a $245 million bond measure to finance an extensive renovation and rebuilding plan of the district's schools and facilities, received a 52% approval, falling short of the necessary 60% required for passage.

Failure to garner enough votes for a supermajority passing thwarted plans to begin construction on new schools, a performance auditorium and an environmental learning center.

As a result, area homeowners will not see their property taxes increase for the t

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The day I crossed the line

Several years ago my contractor friend and fellow fishing nut Dave Stamborsky talked me and the Federal Way News print shop super Tom Retynski into a fishing trip to the Lewis river in Southwest Washington.

It was spring and the big Chinook salmon were running so Dave put his three-man boat in his big pickup and we headed south. About Centralia, Dave stopped for gas and I told him to fill it and I would pay for the gas as my share of expenses. How was I to know he had dual 40 gallon tanks and both were on empty. My bill was 70 bucks!

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